• Solar powered washing machines: They're just one part of a test to see if people are ready for the smart grid in Breda, The Netherlands. (via Crisp Green)
  
  
• ENERGY STAR certification for senior facilities: Living and care facilities for elders are now among new commercial building types eligible for ENERGY STAR certification (via Earth Techling)
  
  

• Are smart grids smart for cities?: Stephen Hammer at Harvard Business Review wonders if smart grid technology is the most efficient way to make our cities more sustainable.
  
  
• New portal features green tech ready for funding: Looking for a green technology investment opportunity? The US Department of Energy's new Technology Commercialization Portal features over 200 marketing summaries of technologies ready for investment or licensing. (via Environmental Leader)
  
  

• Solar that doesn't stand out: Or, not as much, anyway... Iowa's Powerfilm has developed "thin, flexible solar sheets that can be integrated with architectural building materials." (via Springwise)
  
  
• Eco wifi: Australia's D-Link has announced its Green Ethernet^TM technology which "automatically detects link status and network cable length, then adjusts power accordingly." It's also allows a user to schedule wireless up time (like thermostats).
  
  

• Google... the solar company?: The company announced on Wednesday that it's "working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more."
  
  
• Wind power from the air conditioner: Renewable energy company EarthSure has announced its WindAir system, which is designed to "[transform] the exhausted air flow from central air conditioning units into a source of renewable, clean energy."
  
  

Techies rejoice! Here's your weekly run-down of some of the cooler green tech stories out there...

• Free energy? There's a ton of it out there -- 7 quadrillion BTUs -- in the form of wasted heat. The Department of Energy has announced funding opportunities for R&D on how to tap this massive source of energy. (via Cleantechnica)
  
  
• NYC -- the wind energy capital? It seems counterintuitive, but the Carnegie Institution and California State University have found that high-altitude winds, which are concentrated over the Big Apple (among other places), "contain enough energy to meet world demand 100 times over." (via Green Living Ideas)
  
  

• Funding priorities: Is a national smart grid the best investment right now? Or would local micro-grids fed by renewable power serve us better?
  
  
• More proof that teenagers do know it all: Fourteen-year-old David S. Dixon built "a street-legal quadricycle with a solar-powered electric motor" for a middle school project. (via Gas 2.0)