CleanTech OC Daily - 9/5/12

When it comes to start ups timing really is everything

GigaOM talks with angel investor Andy Bechtolsheim about the role timing plays in life of a startup. Yes, the founders, market opportunities, advisers and the team are all important factors, but timing is everything. To illustrate Bechtolsheim’s point, read about the demise of Onlive, a cloud gaming service that found no traction.

Philadelphia Trains Using Smart Grid Technology to Store Braking Energy

The South Eastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia has come up with a way to harness its train’s breaking energy and will begin using a regenerative braking system this June. The trains will be outfitted with a system similar to hybrid and electric cars, except the trains feed captured energy to the electric third rail where it is stored in system of batteries. From there, SEPTA has partnered with smart grid technology company Viridity to set up a system for selling that stored power back to the grid during peak demand hours.

Which Is Greener, New Construction or Retrofitting?

According to a recent report from Preservation Green Lab of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the benefits of retrofitting outweigh new construction. The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse report provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental benefit of building reuse and concludes that building reuse almost always offers environmental savings over demolition and new construction.