Dr. Tom Rand is an Action Canada Fellow and Cleantech Venture Capitalist. His Celsias project is The Hotel Diaries. Cigarette smoking, the credit crunch and global warming don't seem to have much in common. One is a habit of huddled figures on street corners and in doorways. Another is ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in November 2008, about Climate Change, Environment & Wildlife, Environmental Disasters, Philosophy & Religion
Tom Rand is an Action Canada Fellow and Cleantech Venture Capitalist. His Celsias project is The Hotel Diaries. When philosopher Francis Fukuyama wrote that liberal democracy heralds the ‘end of history', neo-conservatives loved the idea, because then we could get on with business. It was not the lofty notions of ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in August 2008, about Agriculture & Food, Biofuels & Alternative Energy, Clean Technologies, Climate Change, Coal & Oil, Consumerism, Economics, Environment & Wildlife, Environmental Disasters, Finance & Money, Global Dimming, Industry & Business, Philosophy & Religion, Politics & Government (1 comment)
Tom Rand is an Action Canada Fellow and Cleantech Venture Capitalist. His Celsias project is The Hotel Diaries. Remember Victory Bonds? Citizens buying bonds backed by the government to help win a war? There's a new bond in town - the Green Bond: a bond to fight climate change. Green ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in July 2008, about Clean Technologies, Consumerism, Economics, Emissions, Energy Saving, Finance & Money (1 comment)
A green roof in Norway Editor's Note: We continue with Tom's excellent Hotel Diaries series, learning how to turn an old dilapidated Toronto building into a fully functional green hotel - aiming at an 80% reduction in daily energy use when completed. Check out previous posts in this series ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in February 2008, about Architecture
Last time I explained how geothermal (or geoexchange) systems work – they save energy by exchanging heat (or cold) with the ground beneath a building. The picture on the right is the old furnace in our building – this will soon be replaced by some version of the Water Furnace heat pump ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in January 2008, about Architecture, Clean Technologies, Industry & Business
Editor's Note: Continuing with our down-to-earth Hotel Diaries series, Tom Rand, starting with an old shell of a building as raw material, is taking us on a virtual tour of the development process as he works to create a green hotel in Toronto, Canada -- aiming at an 80% carbon ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in December 2007, about Architecture, Clean Technologies
The raw material - soon to be a 100-bed hostel/hotel with a difference! So – in Week 1 of this series, I identified the Hotel Diaries project: retrofitting this building to be a green hotel; by ‘green’ I mean a quantifiable reduction in carbon output of 80%. Last week I defended ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in December 2007, about Architecture
Editor's Note: Continuing our Hotel Diaries series, Tom Rand pauses in his work to explain why he's aiming for an 80% reduction. I’ve been repeatedly asked: why aim for a 80-90% reduction in carbon output, when Kyoto only calls for 6%? (1) “Hey – hotshot - what’s the ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in November 2007, about Architecture, Climate Change
Editor's Note: Today we introduce a new series by jack-of-all-trades Tom Rand - a series that I'm sure will attract and maintain your interest! Tom does a great job of introducing himself and his project, so I'll cut this short with a big "Welcome Tom!" Chapter 1 See ... keep reading
Written by Tom Rand in November 2007, about Architecture
