When the energy auditor came, years ago, he told us we could save $60 a year if we switched refrigerators; we'd been using the one that came with the house since we moved in five-and-a-half years ago. But we never pulled the trigger.

But now, for a pretty short period, we can get $200 in rebate from Mass Save, a state program whose wind-power program we supported for better than a year, if we buy an Energy Star model, and of course we'd do that anyway.

When I think of ecotourism, I think of jungles and rain forests. Get in, get out, leave as little trace as possible.

For her new effort leading travelers overseas to investigate, and work on, sustainability projects, Andrea Atkinson has a different take: “We’re going beyond not leaving a footprint to leaving a positive footprint, having an impact on the place you’re visiting, and leaving that place with knowledge and wisdom useful in your business.”

Writer/filmmaker/activist/stuntman Colin Beavan will be in Boston this week promoting his movie, "No Impact Man," which opens today at the Kendall. 

I've written several times about the annual Green Buildings Open House event, most recently here. But now the event is next weekend (Sat., Oct. 3) and it's worth checking back in.

I would consider myself a success if I could grow up to be like Dan Phillips of Huntsville, Texas.

NESEA's 2009 Green Buildings Open House will return the first Saturday in October, which falls on the 3d this year, and I highly recommend it. Last year, G. and I went out to western Mass. and toured five or six great places, and then had the chance to follow up with a couple of other places on a second trip. A lot is happening out there.

Wolfgang Feist, founder of the Passivhaus Institut in Germany and co-originator of the Passive House concept, will be the featured speaker at a second annual gathering of Passive House building enthusiasts around Greater Boston.  

Paul Eldrenkamp, the Newton-based builder and building-efficiency leader who helped bring about the first gathering last year, said time, place, and registration fee have not been set, but the site will be near Boston, he says. The fee will pay for Feist's travel expenses.

I have neither the time nor the means to attend this event, but I'd sure like to — Chu, Gore, Pickens, Podesta, and others. The National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 is at UNLV  on Aug. 10.

A couple of dozen participants in the Energy Smackdown gathered for pizza, veggies, soda, and celebration last night at the Regent Theatre in Arlington to cap off the energy-saving competition's second season.

About 30 families from Arlington, Medford, and Cambridge vied for team and individual honors in the yearlong effort, whose larger purpose was to explore, experience, and model strategies for reducing humankind's impact on the planet.

The Energy Smackdown, a high-spirited, good-natured competition among teams of energy-conscious households will mark the end of the most recent campaign — and look forward to its next — Wednesday evening at the Regent Theatre in Arlington Center.