Is Going Green Sustainable?

Nah! man green is seasonal, always has been

This is UL promoting another parasite business that will suck the blood out of productive firms.

This will be just like the electrical safety inspections done by their technicians that don't know very much and charges hundreds of dollars a few times a year to come and check if your meter's calibration is up to date. They only are concerned about the parts used bearing the UL logo that ensures that the MFG has paid its due to them. Ther effect on safety is marginal and does not justify the high cost for the society.

I don't believe in UL's certification more than the manufacturers claims.

This also applies to VDE, CSA ....

Where did the UL come into this? I will buy UL approved - you buy what ever junk you choose.

UL is the one in the article promoting its new business of "green" qualification. Are you ready to pay them for this service?

Really hard to say - probably 90% of the stuff advertised as green and with the small eco firms being the worst offender are far from being green. Make that 95%! The ventures of Khosla are pushed as green but that generally refers to the color of the money he hopes to pocket. Serious Materials which is promoted by another ex-silicon valley type is another one that beats the green tomtom but is just another standard business with a big mouth.

The Smart Grid is probably not a very good system because this is new and one of the 1st initiatives towards more sustainable solutions. However, let's be more optimistic than what I saw on previous posts! Sustainability can be significantly improved in many equipments, especially in Appliances due to the electrical consumption. Other ways of reducing environmental footprint of Appliances that will for sure lead to many more efforts in the future are reduction of water and use of chemicals. E.G: Washing machines. Some brands increased their efforts on building low electrical consumption machines, and reduced water consumption. I truely think consumers are looking at these data more than ever before choosing their brand and model. Proving these efforts with scientific and reliable measurements is easy; but selecting what to measure is another story! And consumers point of view is to take into account; it's not a question of experts only...

The smart grid will use power in the grid more efficiently. İn the next ten years (or more) it will mean nothing more than TOU (time of use) billing to customers which may well mean higher electric bills for most. The improved (more electric/water) efficient appliances are available today. Check Energy Star for the ratings - www.energystar.com

Time of use? Does it mean that will be able to weld all kinds of stuff and still pay the same bill?

Yahlasit

I wish the UL would poll me on my thoughts about this whole mess. Green is reflected in the cost of a product. Products produced efficiently cost less. Specifications tell us about operating efficiency. I don't need no stinkin' UL to tell me about these two things. Let the UL stick to the safety issues. I couldn't care less what some marketing wonk tells me about how "green" their product is. Greenwashing does not sway my purchase decisions.

Energy efficient products should be expensive as they spent more money on materials,expensive technology,high quality labour etc

If someone wants to pay more for green, that is their choice.

I believe that UL is cheapening the value of their brand when they offer a trendy green certification. In my mind, the UL rating stands for safety and as such adds value to a product. If the UL brand will now also stand for other types of trendy certifications, it will become confusing to the end user. For example, if I am a small unscrupulous manufacturer and I learn that a UL green certification costs less than a UL safety certification, I might just buy the UL green. Uninformed buyers might not realize the difference as everyone knows that a UL mark means that this product is safe to use.

If UL wants to expand into GREEN, my recommendation is that they do so with caution and use a UL GREEN labeling that cannot be confused with UL SAFETY labeling.