Asheville, N.C. (PRWEB) November 21, 2008 — Appalachian Solar Energy announced today that it has been acquired by Vanir Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Vanir Group of Companies Inc. Vanir Energy will be headquartered in Fletcher and staffed by the former personnel of Appalachian Solar Energy with support from Vanir management in Sacramento, Calif.

The announcement, which was made during the AdvantageWest Annual Banquet at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, was well-received by the federal, state and local leaders in attendance because it means $14 million will be invested in solar thermal technology projects throughout North Carolina in 2009.

Vanir Energy will own and operate the solar thermal systems it installs, allowing its customers to “go solar” without making capital expenditures.

“This represents more great news in our growing environmental enterprises cluster because it means new jobs, an influx of targeted capital and momentum to put Western North Carolina on the map as the sustainability capital of the U.S.A. as we pursue worldwide leadership,” said Dale Carroll, CEO of AdvantageWest, the regional Economic Development Commission based in Asheville. “This announcement is right on track with a major initiative we call ‘AdvantageGreen,’ a green-collar jobs strategy the AdvantageWest board and staff began to devise in 2007 as part of our Vision Plan. Vanir Energy is proof positive that AdvantageGreen is an idea whose time has come.”

Andrew Tate, President and CEO of the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development, said: “We’re tremendously proud that a company with roots in Fletcher has become a national player in the alternative energy revolution.”

With more than 30 years of construction management and development experience, Vanir Energy is well positioned to lead North Carolina and the nation in converting to solar thermal power, said Steve Hunter, COO of Vanir Energy.

“Our immediate focus will be to own and operate $14 million worth of solar installations in North Carolina,” Hunter said.

The world’s largest solar thermal installation for heating and cooling

Executive Vice President Scott Clark said the first Vanir project will be a solar thermal installation at Fletcher Business Park, a 900,000-square-foot facility where the company is headquartered. “With the Fletcher Business Park project, we’re creating 58 jobs in less than 60 days,” Clark said.

The business park will be the largest installation of solar thermal heating and cooling technology in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.* The 640 panels will produce 1.5 megawatts of power. Vanir Energy will own and operate the system at no capital expenditure to Fletcher Business Park, a model the company plans to repeat across the state.

Hunter told the audience at the AdvantageWest banquet that “the Fletcher Business Park project is the first step in achieving Vanir Energy’s vision to be a worldwide leader in providing cost-effective alternative energy solutions for our clients while providing for the needs of our people and communities in which we work.”

* Note: Fletcher Business Park will be the largest installation of solar thermal heating and cooling technology in the world, according to a database maintained by the Solar Heating and Cooling Program of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

About Vanir Energy
Vanir Energy is a North Carolina-chartered business and a subsidiary of Vanir Group of Companies Inc., a woman- and minority-owned business enterprise (WMBE) with a diversified portfolio of construction, construction management, real estate development and energy service companies. Vanir Group of Companies is headquartered in Sacramento, Calif. with offices located throughout the United States and Dubai.

About AdvantageWest
AdvantageWest Economic Development Group is Western North Carolina’s regional economic development commission. Chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1994, AdvantageWest is a non-profit, public-private partnership whose primary focus is marketing the North Carolina mountains to corporations seeking to relocate or open a new facility, expand an existing business within our region, and those who might otherwise improve the quality of life for citizens within our region through activities such as filmmaking, entrepreneurship and tourism. For more information, visit advantagewest.com.

Erie, PA (Vocus/PRWEB) November 20, 2008 — Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC, Pennsylvania’s first large-scale biodiesel production facility, is the leading producer of biodiesel in the Northeastern United States and will soon be introduced to millions of households nationwide by way of primetime television.

“Shades of Green,” a new television documentary on The Discovery Channel, will showcase the cutting edge technology and on-site laboratories that Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC utilizes in its state-of-the-art facility. While emphasizing the importance of biodiesel in today’s global economy, “Shades of Green” will provide an inside look into the production of biodiesel and the incredible impact it could have on our planet’s future.

The show’s main focus is to highlight the very latest topics and trends impacting the world by providing its viewers with information on alternative energy and sustainable living. Each feature segment of “Shades of Green” will focus on a specific renewable energy source, such as wind, fuel and solar power. Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC was chosen by The Discovery Channel to represent the biofuel industry because of its unique facilities that produce 45 million gallons of biodiesel annually.

Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC’s Desmet Ballestra designed continuous-flow technology represents the vanguard in industry processing methods. Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC is a fully accredited BQ-9000 producer and marketer of biodiesel, a rigorous certification process that guarantees the highest quality standard in the industry.

Once considered an experimental fuel, biodiesel is now one of the most thoroughly tested alternative fuels on the market and is being integrated by various industries across the globe. Biodiesel is a clean burning fuel that is produced from domestic renewable resources. Oilseed crops and fats can be used to produce biodiesel such as soybean, canola and beef tallow. It can be blended at any level with standard petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend.

In comparison to other alternative energy, biodiesel has proven to be the most efficient alternative energy and is a registered fuel and fuel additive with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Automotive and engine makers are among the largest industries that have shown support for the production and wide-spread use of biodiesel because the use of biodiesel does not require major engine modifications. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel application - cars, trucks, aircraft, farm equipment and furnaces that use home heating oil.

With the current financial crisis and impending fear of global warming, industries across the world are fervently seeking ways to cut energy costs and reduce harmful carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. Biodiesel benefits are numerous, from reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil to creating local manufacturing jobs and helping local farmers.

Filming for “Shades of Green” will take place at Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC on November 20 and is scheduled to air on national television in February of 2009.

Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC was founded in 2007 and is Pennsylvania’s first large-scale biodiesel production facility. A fully accredited BQ-9000 producer and marketer of biodiesel, Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC is the leading producer of biodiesel in the Northeastern United States. Its on-site laboratory facilities for ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 testing guarantee its biodiesel to surpass accepted industry standards for performance and quality.

Contact:
Lake Erie Biofuels
1670 East Lake Road
Erie, PA 16511

Glenn Green
814.528.9216 Ph.
814.528.9201 Fx.

New York, NY (PRWEB) November 20, 2008 — Global Markets Direct, a leading global market intelligence company, has published the new research report, “The Top Ten Global Energy Trends in 2009″, which analyses the various issues and trends the global energy industry will face next year.

To view more information on the report click here - The Top Ten Global Energy Trends in 2009

Global Markets Direct has identified the following trends as being the key energy issues for 2009.

1. Capital expenditure on oil exploration and production will continue to stagnate in 2009

The global financial crisis will continue to impact oil exploration & production projects in 2009. Global Markets Direct expects more projects to be delayed as companies respond to a lack of available capital, higher financing costs and fears of a lower return on investment from a lower oil price.

2. Oil price volatility to continue in the short term but likely to stabilize within a lower narrow band by the end of 2009

Over the past year, oil prices have been extremely volatile. There have been considerable movements in the oil price in 2008, initially increasing rapidly and later decreasing by more than 50% from its high. Global Markets Direct expects OPEC, which accounts for about 40% of the total oil production, to further try to control supply and reduce production with cuts of up to 1.5 million barrels per day likely from November 2008.

3. Clean energy projects will play a crucial role in the long term energy needs of the world although there will be reduced investment in 2009

Global Markets Direct expects various governments to continue to seek to diversify their energy sources, reduce dependence on imported oil and gas and seek to reduce carbon emissions in response to global warming and the need to comply with the deadlines set by the Kyoto Protocol. The shift of investment in renewables remains an immediate and ongoing trend, however Global Markets Direct expects the current financial crisis to slow the rate of investment growth due to a reduction in available capital and higher potential capital costs. Global Markets Direct expects this to impact a number of projects in 2009.

4. New investments in unconventional oil and gas projects will decline in 2009

The unconventional energy sector saw unprecedented growth in recent years as suppliers sought to alleviate or exploit higher oil prices by increasing supply from unconventional sources. The global financial crisis and the decline in crude oil price to below $50 per barrel have made many new investments unfeasible. Canada alone, which has one of the largest reserves of oil sands, has seen more than $45 billion worth of investments in oil sand projects placed on hold. In the short term, this trend is expected to continue in 2009.

Nonetheless, the peaking of the conventional oil and gas supply and advancements in technology in extracting oil from unconventional sources are likely to have a positive impact on the industry. In the long term, investments in the unconventional oil and gas projects are likely to return.

5. Coal will continue to be the highest consumed energy source in 2009 despite a shift towards nuclear and alternative sources

Coal remains the major source of energy worldwide. According to the EIA, coal accounted for around 27% of the world energy consumed in 2007 and is expected to increase by 2.6% each year until 2015. Even though coal is the most carbon intensive energy resource it remains popular due to the low cost and wide availability in resource rich nations like India, China and the US. The consumption of coal is expected to increase to 3530.5 million tons of oil equivalents (mmtoe) in 2009 and further to 3680 mmtoe by 2010.

6. Nuclear energy will play an increasing role in meeting the global energy needs even though some new projects might be delayed in 2009

At the beginning of 2008, more than 30 nuclear plants were under construction and another 100 projects were being planned along with new proposals for around 200 plants. Global Markets Direct expects nuclear power to increase in importance as countries seek to diversify supply and move towards reduced greenhouse gas emissions, though the current economic climate will result in project delays and a slow down in the rate of new construction.

7. European countries’ will continue to increase efforts to reduce their dependence on Russian natural gas in 2009

The European Union currently relies on Russia for almost 38% of its natural gas imports. Natural gas accounts for about 24% of the total EU energy source and a desire to reduce coal consumption has resulted in an increase in the use of natural gas which is likely to continue. As demand for natural gas increases particularly from non EU countries such as China Global Markets Direct expects this to provide opportunities for Russia to potentially raise the price for central and western European countries. To counter this, there have been major efforts to build pipelines that minimize the dependence on Russia, The Nabucco pipeline backed by the EU being one and Iran recently proposed to build the Pars pipeline, in competition to the Nabucco and the South Stream pipelines. European countries are also looking at options of building LNG re-gasification terminals which may become a more reliable substitute for securing future natural gas supplies.

8. Demand for natural gas to continue to increase in 2009

There has been an increased usage of natural gas in the recent years as an energy resource throughout the world. World natural gas consumption was 2637.7 mmtoe in 2007 and is expected to increase by 1.0% per year for OECD countries and 2.3% for non-OECD countries. According to EIA estimates, the US natural gas consumption is expected to increase by 2.7% in 2008 and 2.2% in 2009. Natural gas is the least carbon intensive energy source among the fossil fuels thereby making it attractive for governments trying to reduce green house gas emissions. With increased environmental focus and volatile oil prices the demand for natural gas is expected to continue to increase in 2009. As a word of caution, transportation of the natural gas and geopolitical factors would act as a challenge for the easy supply of natural gas.

9. Electricity generation capacity to grow in 2009 while distribution and transmission would require further investments

World electricity generation is increasing steadily and is expected to continue to grow in 2009. The worldwide electricity generation in 2007 was 19.9 trillion KWh which is expected to increase to 21 trillion KWh in 2010. The main driver for the growth is from non-OECD countries. Coupled with this increased demand, there will be a need to expand and invest in the distribution and transmission systems as power generation shifts to broad based and localized renewable sources. As a result Global Markets Direct expects there to be continued interest in smart grid technologies.

10. Rise in construction costs will delay projects in the refining sector

The refining sector has witnessed considerable investment in the past two years, mainly in the Middle East and Asia. Global refining capacity in 2007 was 4378 million tones per annum (mtpa) and is expected to increase to 4599 mtpa in 2009. A capacity crunch in the refining industry and a move to diversify away from oil production to delivering end products saw a surge in new refinery projects in the Middle East. However, this coincided with huge investments in other infrastructure sectors leading to a shortage of essential raw materials such as rebar, cement. Jubail and Yanbu refinery in Saudi Arabia, Paradip refinery in India, Qinzhou refinery in China are only a few of the new refineries that have seen an increase in their capital costs. This trend is expected to continue in the future as a result of the reduced capital availability. In addition, the refining sector will also witness a greater shift towards semi-complex and complex refineries especially in the Middle East and Asia.

For additional information on the The Top Ten Global Energy Trends in 2009 report Click here or contact Craig Pickering.

To view other Energy related research reports from Global Markets Direct, visit the Report Store

About Global Markets Direct:
Global Markets Direct is a global market intelligence services company providing information research and analysis products and services.

Our highly qualified team of Researchers, Analysts and Solution Consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, analyze and represent the latest and the most reliable information essential for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.

Contact Details:
Craig Pickering, Marketing Manager
Global Markets Direct
+44 (0)161 227 0662

Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) November 19, 2008 — Advanced Lumonics, LLC, an early leader in the direct replacement LED light bulb market through its consumer oriented EarthLED brand announces its latest product, the EarthLED ZetaLux.

Following on the success of the EvoLux launch earlier this year, the EarthLED ZetaLux LED light bulb offers a price/performance ratio unmatched in the industry. The ZetaLux only consumes 7 watts yet offers performance comparable to a 50-60 watt light bulb. With a price of under $50 USD, the ZetaLux offers an unprecedented payback time of just over 2 years when operated 8 hours per day.

ZetaLux is built upon the latest LED engine technology from CREE® allowing for amazing efficiency, high output and a new benchmark in Color Rendering Index (CRI) performance. CRI is a a good way to determine the quality of light and its faithfulness to render colors correctly, EvoLux features a a CRI of 75 for cool white and 80 for Warm White making them exceptional for LED Light Bulbs.

The ZetaLux has been designed to the most exacting standards of any LED light bulb currently on the market. From its oversized aluminum heat sink to its flame retardant plastic, to its shatter proof lens, the ZetaLux is built to perform safely and efficiently for over 50,000 hours. The ZetaLux’s rugged design also allows it to perform under the harshest conditions including frigid -50 degree frost all the way up to scorching 180 degree heat with 95% humidity.

Advanced Lumonics is also announcing enhanced versions of their successful EvoLux line. All EvoLux bulbs now feature lumen outputs exceeding 1000 Lumens along with a higher CRI and even greater efficiency. These enhancements further cement the position of EvoLux as the most advanced direct replacement LED light bulb on the market today.

The ZetaLux along with the new enhanced EvoLux will be among the first direct replacement LED light bulbs to achieve UL certification later this year along with compliance with new DOE EnergyStar standards for LED lighting in 2009.

Both ZetaLux and enhanced EvoLux are available today from The EarthLED Store and Advanced Lumonics distribution partners.

The new ZetaLux and enhanced EvoLux join a fresh new lineup of EarthLED LED Lighting products for 2009 including:

TriSpectra 3 - The World’s Most Powerful LED Based MR-16 Solution
DirectLED-HL - The First Direct LED Replacement for G4 Halogen Lamps
DirectLED-PL - The First Direct LED Replacement for PL Fluorescent Lamps
DesignoLux - LEDs Designed Specifically for Decorative Lighting
GrowLED - A Comprehensive Range of Affordable LED Grow Lights

For additional information on EarthLED ZetaLux visit: EarthLED ZetaLux LED Light Bulbs

To learn more about EarthLED EvoLux visit: EarthLED EvoLux LED Light Bulbs

For information on the rest of the EarthLED LED lighting products range please visit EarthLED.com - LED Light Bulbs or call 1-877-855-1625.

About Advanced Lumonics, LLC
Boca Raton, FL based Advanced Lumonics, LLC is an early leader in the direct replacement LED lighting market. Through their popular EarthLED brand, Advanced Lumonics has rapidly increased awareness of LED lighting as a true alternative to CFL and incandescents in the consumer marketplace by offering the highest performance direct replacement LED lighting available.

Contact
Advanced Lumonics, LLC
Attn: Media Relations
7491 N. Federal Highway
#C5-251
Boca Raton, FL, 33487
Phone - 1-877-855-1625
email - media @ earthled.com
Web - EarthLED.com Home

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 19, 2008 — TerraPass Inc.TM, a leading online retailer of carbon offsets and home energy efficiency products, today launched its selection of gift ideas for the 2008 holiday season at TerraPass Holiday Gifts 2008.

Including gifts that help save energy and reduce carbon emissions and green gifts “just for fun,” the special selection will be available through December 31, 2008 and features a variety of convenient shipping options including expedited delivery until December 23.

Highlights include:

* Wind Power, by Thames & Kosmos, a chance for kids of all ages to assemble a working miniature wind turbine, complete with electric generator.
* Climate Change Chocolate, a treat that tastes even sweeter when you discover that every purchase includes 133 pounds of carbon offsets, equivalent to the average American’s daily carbon footprint.
* The Power Cost Monitor, an easy way for residential electricity customers to watch their energy use and costs with a portable wireless monitor. A great way to cut back on unnecessary energy use and expense.
* USB Rechargeable Batteries, a simple stocking-stuffer that lets road warriors recharge their AA batteries directly from their laptops.
* Carbon Offset gift certificates, available both electronically or in the mail, are a simple and effective way to help your family and friends balance out carbon emissions from their driving, flying and home energy use.

About TerraPass:
Launched in 2004, TerraPass Inc is a leading retailer of carbon offsets and consumer energy efficiency products through www.terrapass.com. The company also works with developers of greenhouse gas reduction projects to bring to market verified carbon credits. Individuals, families and businesses who are balancing out the global warming impact of their flying, driving and home and office energy use have collectively made more than 150,000 purchases of carbon offsets from TerraPass and its partners. Together, TerraPass carbon offsets have funded reductions of over 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, the primary cause of climate change. TerraPass works with clean energy and carbon emissions reduction projects throughout the U.S., including wind power, farm power, and landfill gas capture projects. 100% of TerraPass carbon credits are verified against a broadly accepted standard such as VCS or CCAR by independent, third-party verifiers. For more information, visit www.terrapass.com.

TerraPass Media Contact:

Erik Blachford
pr @ terrapass.com
(415) 692-3411

TerraPass Inc.
568 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 692-3411
www.terrapass.com

Media:
If you would like more information about products offered over this holiday season, or about TerraPass, please contact us at pr@terrapass.com. Full pricing and delivery information is available on our website at www.terrapass.com. High-resolution photography is available for most products; just send a request to pr @ terrapass.com.

Winter Haven, FL (PRWEB) November 19, 2008 — In light of recent announcements from several Florida utility companies who will be raising their power rates by 20 to 30 percent due to rising fuel costs, QuickBeam Energy would like to announce that the rates for solar generated power will remain unchanged. The price customers pay to use sunlight to generate electricity will not be increased and will continue to be available for free throughout the State of Florida.

“For those businesses interested in locking in rates on long term energy futures, we feel we are able to guarantee the same low rates for sunshine over the foreseeable future,” comments Jim Grebey, COO of QuickBeam Energy.

As the costs for energy generated from fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas, continue to escalate at record levels, users of solar voltaic systems will continue to see continually improving savings on their utility bills. Owners of commercial properties enjoy not only the potential savings as the gap between fossil based energy and sunlight generated energy continues to widen, they also benefit from savings due to State and Federal incentives, tax depreciation, and increases to their real property value due to increased earnings from the buildings.

“We expect to see an uninterrupted supply of sunlight that can be used to create energy made in the USA. It only surprises us that the Public Service Commission and our state leaders have been so slow to recognize the benefits of sunshine in the Sunshine State that they have not tied stricter requirements for the generation of solar energy by the utility companies to these fossil fuel driven increases,” said Grebey. If even 1% of these increases were used to support a solar feed in tariff, the State of Florida would quickly move from 26th to 1st in the United States in the use of renewable energy.

QuickBeam Energy designs and installs solar power systems. The company works with owners of commercial properties and large residences in the State of Florida to design and install customized photovoltaic systems that will reduce their energy costs, increase the value of their property, and benefit the environment. To learn more about QuickBeam Energy, call (863) 401-2725 or visit www.quickbeamenergy.com.

Mission Viejo, CA (PRWEB) November 18, 2008 — LinkCentral.org, a Company with over 25 topic-specific, human edited search engines, announced today the launch of GreenLinkCentral.com, a simple and easy-to-use “green search engine” for people interested in living an environmentally-conscious lifestyle.

In addition to providing a green search engine, the Company offers:

* Green Website Reviews: People won’t have to spend five to ten minutes to determine what a site has to offer or if they’ll be interested in it. The Website reviews enable people to quickly preview key components of Websites.
* Green Article Search: People can preview articles from a variety of green blogs on the Internet. To view full articles, simply click through to the blog Websites.
* Top Searches: Quickly discover popular searches on the Web.
* Web Thumbs: Snapshots of Websites for easy visual recognition.

The editors at GreenLinkCentral.com search the Web to find environmentally-conscious Websites to list in the search engine results. And Website owners can request to have their high quality links included in the search engine, articles section, and Website review section.

Each Website on this green search engine is selected based on quality and relevance to living an environmentally-conscious lifestyle. For instance, if you search clothing you’ll quickly find organic cotton and hemp clothing, or if you search building you’ll easily find sustainable building resources.

“Whether or not you’re an experienced Internet searcher, you’ll find GreenLinkCentral.com is simple and easy-to-use,” says Douglas Doughman, co-founder of GreenLinkCentral.com. “You won’t have to search through hundreds of search results to find high-quality, environmentally-conscious, topic-specific Websites.”

GreenLinkCentral.com was developed to help environmentally-conscious people quickly and easily find high quality resources for products, services, articles, and information available online.

About LinkCentral.org:
LinkCentral.org has developed more than 25 human edited, vertical search engines with targeted search results to help you quickly and easily search specific topics. The company’s topic-specific search engines include GreenLinkCentral.com, PetsLinkCentral.com, CookingLinkCentral.com, and CouponLinkCentral.com. For a complete list, please go to: Partner Search Engines.

Contact:
Lara Tuttle
949-874-1618
laratuttle @ greenlinkcentral.com

Seattle, Washington (PRWEB) November 18, 2008 — EnerG2, an innovative engineered materials company with a strong track record of backing from the public and private sectors, including clean-tech venture capitalists, announced today that it is introducing advanced nano-structured materials for energy storage breakthroughs.

The five-year-old firm’s state-of-the-art solution revolves around customized electrode materials that enhance energy and power density in ultracapacitors, one of the essential engines of the new energy economy.

Ultracapacitors, which are dependent on the performance of their materials, store and release more energy faster than conventional batteries. The size and make-up of the electrodes’ surface area helps ultracapacitors store and supply large bursts of energy; the materials also effectively enable limitless cycle life.

Looking forward, ultracapacitors containing EnerG2 materials will be increasingly embraced by the automotive industry for hybrid electric vehicles, by electronics manufacturers for enhancing the life and usability of consumer goods, and by a variety of industrial customers to deliver an ever-increasing breadth of new ways to improve energy efficiency.

Materials That Matter:
“We believe that efficient, reliable and cost-effective clean energy storage will be an essential element in the New Energy Economy,” says Rick Luebbe, CEO of EnerG2. “And that’s why we’re approaching the problem with engineered materials solutions. It’s the materials that matter in energy storage devices.”

EnerG2’s unique process controls the molecular structure and assembly process of pure carbon materials at the earliest stage possible. The benefit of this ground-up approach is that it leads to greater flexibility, lower costs and maximum performance.

Overcoming Energy Storage Limitations:
“Rather than accept the limitations of naturally occurring materials, EnerG2 uses materials science to assemble cutting-edge products at the molecular level,” explains Lee Cheatham, Executive Director of the Washington Technology Center (WTC), an original supporter of EnerG2. “As a result, the company shows great promise for overcoming today’s energy storage limitations.”

In addition to WTC, EnerG2 and its scientific approach to energy storage has been backed over the past five years by the University of Washington, WRF Capital of Seattle, Washington, the Sustainability Investment Fund of Portland, Oregon, OVP Venture Partners of Kirkland, Washington, Firelake Capital Management of Palo Alto, California, and members of the Northwest Energy Angels.

Last month, EnerG2 raised $8.5 million in Series A financing. The financing was led by OVP and Firelake.

In the future, EnerG2 materials may be used to improve natural gas, methane and hydrogen storage as well as lithium-ion batteries.

Los Angeles, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) November 18, 2008 — The Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach, CA. was one of six competition winners at the 2008 AFLA Green Gala, hosted by the Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Jim Wirick, Managing Principal at LPA Inc., accepted the award at the Wallis Annenberg Building in Los Angeles.

“Everything about this project has a sustainable story and we’ve seen it become an architectural statement that the community is really proud of,” comments Wirick.

This project is the first LEED Platinum building in Orange County and the 11th in the state of California. The Environmental Nature Center is also recognized as the Best Green Building of 2008 by California Construction. Project team members include LPA Senior Designer Rick D’Amato, Project Manager Dave Duff and Project Designer Ti Thang.

Additional awards garnered recently by the design experts at LPA include: The Zweig Letter 2008 Hot Firm list, for the 200 fastest-growing architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms in the country; California Construction Higher Education Award of Merit for the American Career College in Ontario, CA; and the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) 2008 Excellence Award, also for the American Career College (ACC).

“This is our first engineering award and we are obviously honored,” explains LPA Project Engineer John Wilson. “It is wonderful that our peers recognize how great a project can be when the design process integrates architecture with structural engineering.” Wilson accepted the award on the team’s behalf at the 2008 SEAOC Convention in Hawaii.

The ACC Ontario campus is a 64,000-square-foot higher education facility for students in the healthcare industry. LPA Managing Principal Chris Torrey, Design Principal Glenn Carels, Project Manager Fern Calderon, Project Designer Silke Metzler, Interior Designer Winston Bao, and Landscape Architect Rich Bienvenu contributed to the success of this project.

LPA is a design-centered company that provides services in architecture, engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, planning, signage and graphics. With more LEED-certified buildings than any other firm in the state, LPA houses the top sustainable design experts in both Northern and Southern California. Founded in 1965, LPA has more than 260 employees with offices in Irvine and Roseville, CA.

The Environmental Nature Center:
1601 16th Street
Newport Beach, CA 92663
Click here for the Online Photo Gallery.

The American Career College Ontario Campus:
3130 East Sedona Court
Ontario, CA 91764
Click here for the Online Photo Gallery.

For more information, visit www.LPAinc.com.

Cambridge, United Kingdom (PRWEB) November 18, 2008 — CambridgeIP Ltd today announced the publication of its online “Patent-based Analysis of the Technology Activities of IP-intensive AIM-listed Companies”: providing a unique patent-based perspective on technology-intensive companies (see www.cambridgeip.com/reports/AIM). CambridgeIP identified 68 patent-intensive companies in industries ranging from clean tech, to biotech to communications.

The top ranking company by number of patents published and patents filed was Imperial Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Imperial College, University of London. It was followed closely by IDA Tech (a US-based fuel cells manufacturer) and Transense Technologies (a developer of surface acoustic wave sensors). However, when measured by total number of patent citations (a measure of the industry impact of a company’s technology), IDA Tech was ranked number one by a wide margin, with 451 total patent citations. IDA Tech was also ranked first by the number of US Patents, while Transense was ranked first by number of Chinese-registered patents.

CambridgeIP’s CEO Ilian Iliev set the context of the research: “CambridgeIP’s seeks to uncover the high-performers in technology-intensive industries, and help participants in the technology economy understand their patent landscape. As markets adapt to the impact of the current financial crisis both entrepreneurs and investors will seek to identify and nurture core value in technology enterprises. Patents are an underused ‘hard’ measure of a company’s intangible assets that can help technology companies communicate value to investors and clients - while keeping their R&D investment secure. At the same time, it is increasingly important to use sophisticated measures of patent quality to deal with inflation in patent numbers in recent years in some technology sectors”.

The Alternative Investments Market (AIM) is an important location for innovative businesses to seek growth funding. Since its launch in 1995 over 2,500 businesses from the UK and internationally have raised in excess of £34bln. Recent years have seen a diverse range of technology-intensive businesses access growth funding on AIM: from the UK and abroad.

About CambridgeIP:

CambridgeIP is a provider of actionable Intellectual Property (IP)-based intelligence to the technology community. The company has a proprietary platform enabling efficient handling, real time analysis and online display of large patent (and other structured data) datasets, unique analytics, and highly granular focus at the level of individual technology, inventor or organisation. CambridgeIP’s Online Reports provide a unique on-demand source of information to technology companies and their service providers. Visit www.cambridgeip.com for more.