UPDATE: Congratulations to ecodads for achieving their funding goal of $20,000, with 6 days left to go.  So far, there are 69 backers and $20,562 pledged for the project of making Touchable Textbook Apps a reality!

For the past few months, Michael Leifer, a Cultural Anthropologist, has been creating some really fun and Educational (Interactive Textbook) Apps for Kids and Teens, with his friend Jory Prum, (who has worked with Jim Henson / Muppets, Pixar and Lucas Arts).

Here’s a demo video link that they put up to give it a kickstart :   Kickstart, is a crowd funding way to help promote your idea or project.  Note the deadline is in nine more days, and Michael and the ecodads group is very close to reaching their goal. Currently, their project is 77% funded.  It will be funded if at least $20,000 is raised by 8:39AM on Thursday, December 27,2012. They only need $4,535 to make this happen! Your support of this project, can help make a difference in educational needs across the country.

The California next-generation parenting movement ecodads® co-founded by Michael Leifer, have created a new form of fun Interactive Textbook (iBook) Applications for the Apple® iPad® called “Touchable Books.”  They target and engage the iGeneration of digital-native students. These iBook modules bring to life classroom units with touch-based local habitat maps, 3d views from atop the Golden Gate bridge, time lapse cinematography, videos from award-winning directors, interactive slideshows, an instantly accessible glossary, flashcards, games and content review quizzes. A demo video of the technology, full description and strategic roll-out plan for the apps can be viewed at the Kickstarter crowd-funding project.

For the 1st set of iBooks, they have selected a landmark CURRICULUM called “Education and the Environment” (which has been unanimously-approved by the CA State Board of Education and is for K-12th graders).  It also works with Common CORE and STAR Testing Education Standards, so teachers can easily integrate these apps into their classrooms.

The K-12 curriculum is comprised of 85 units teaching select science, history and social science academic standards. Naturally, the successful elements of this effort could be utilized to benefit schools across our country, AND produce generations of environmental stewards, that learn and seek environmental jobs of the future.

I would like to encourage you to review the video demo and brief plan, and to consider lending your support. What better way is there to give educators a wonderful way to merge experiences in the classroom with enriching activities in school gardens, parks, aquariums, and science centers, than with these interactive apps?

According to CalRecycle Director Caroll Mortensen, “Our biggest challenge in bringing the EEI to teachers and students is the high cost of printing and distribution. The proposed EEI apps will significantly reduce costs and give students an improved and interactive environment-based curriculum.”

If we as a nation are serious about providing our students a world-class education, be it home school or whatever option we choose, we need a plan that leaves no school and no child offline, or left without this option.  This is achievable, by making these apps widely available, and by reaching the funding goal.

Together, with your help and support, we can collectively demonstrate a new guiding model for the antiquated textbook publishing industry.  This can and will improve both our student comprehensive and education system overall, and it can happen nationwide.  Lets invest in our children, their future, and a green future for everyone. Together we are working toward many brighter tomorrows.

Related articles

• Touching Base with Touchable Books, a Kickstarter Project

Prospects for Recovery in HVAC Manufacturing Look Strong in 2013,
According to a New Research Report

PRESS RELEASE

Rockville (MD), December 6, 2012 — Economic prospects are looking brighter for the HVAC industry approaching the New Year 2013, as companies involved in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and related industries see potential for growth.  A resurgence in the housing market, coupled with consumer interest and investment in “green” HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning)  equipment, is evident according to a new report from energy market research publisher SBI Energy.

English: A huge double HVAC exhaust of an office building. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HVAC market showing signs of recovery

The U.S. market for HVAC manufacturing is recovering from a period of economic setback that started in 2008. HVAC manufacturers had previously enjoyed a period of steady growth between 1997 to 2006, when equipment sales for heating systems and air conditioners increased 41% and 45%, respectively.

But, the economic downturn led to a depressed real estate selling market, a reduction in homeowner remodeling, and a virtual stoppage of new residential and commercial construction. This trend eventually led to layoffs and temporary work stoppages at factories that manufacture HVAC equipment.

HVAC- manufacturing is impacted by the recovery in the housing market

“Growth of the industry will begin to accelerate by 2015,” says Darren Bosik, analyst with SBI market research publishing, “when the impact of government-funded initiatives is felt in U.S. construction and housing industries, most notably the movement to construct zero-energy buildings (ZEB).” Critical to the growth of HVAC manufacturing, is the resurgence of U.S. household remodeling and the recovery of new construction and housing, as well as, related industries such as steel.

HVAC demand will increase with an expected boom in construction projects

Driving the total HVAC equipment manufacturing growth to 2017, will be heat transfer equipment (4.4% CAGR) and air source heat pumps (4.9% CAGR). The two categories are characterized by lower unit costs, and demand will increase with an expected boom in construction projects that require replacements of these products.

Sustainable technologies and products, including electric air source and geothermal heating pumps, and a trend toward constructing ZEB’s – buildings that produce as much energy as they consume – will further fuel a return to growth in the HVAC market. SBI Energy projects the total shipment value of HVAC manufacturing products to reach $14.5 billion in 2012, growing to nearly $17 billion by 2017.

HVAC, 3rd Edition from heavy industry and energy market research publisher SBI analyzes products, manufacturers and trends in the U.S. market for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). The report contains comprehensive data on U.S. shipments, imports and exports, and end-use markets, and the growing market for high efficiency, green HVAC equipment such as geothermal units, remote monitoring and control devices, programmable thermostats, and smart cooling fans. It also identifies key issues and trends affecting the marketplace. The report profiles major manufacturers and includes market projections and expected growth rates for the period 2012 to 2023.  Follow this link on the HVAC 3rd Editon report   for more information.

About SBI Energy

SBI Energy, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes research reports in the industrial, energy, building/construction, and automotive/transportation markets. SBI Energy, also offers a full range of custom research services. To learn more, visit www.sbireports.com

It is encouraging to know that there are signs that the housing market is recovering. With an uneasy and unpredictable climate , it is also nice to know that HVAC systems will be readily available for both new construction and remodels.  Both industries should be showing positive signs of job growth, in the near future.  The future is looking brighter, as we are working toward better and greener tomorrows!

It takes a special kind of person to live in the Southwest, and BMW is coming up with a line up eco-friendly vehicles that have their own knack for suiting the Southwest lifestyle. Fuel efficiency comes with the territory on all its new vehicles, a must in order for BMW sales to compete with the other eco-focused competition. BMW sales may easily soar above the rest due to the features and versatility that can make Southwest living as awesome as its supposed to be. It’s high time to trade in that used BMW for something sporty, sexy, and seriously efficient.

The Sexy Single

Style and BMW have always gone hand-in-hand, and when the BMW i8 Spyder version hits the market it will include an Earth-friendly option. This dashing and daring specimen has the style of its namesake, with doors that open upwards to mimic a spider’s legs. Nice! Doubly nice is the expected zero to 60 mph in a mere 4.8 seconds noted by PlugInCars.com. That’s plenty of oomph to merge seamlessly onto the desert highways and avoid getting stuck behind semis on Interstate 10.

The Cruising Couple

Cruising the Southwest can be even more fun with your significant other or with pals en route to a double date. The 2013 BMW i3 will easily let you do both. HybridCars.com says the battery-powered electric vehicle will be large enough to fit four passengers, but still stylishly small enough to be considered a subcompact car. Small children and big dogs can easily hitch a ride. A carbon-fiber passenger cell keeps the overall poundage lightweight, as does a 22-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The i3 features a notable acceleration time of zero to 60 in under 8 seconds, 170 horsepower, and nearly 93 miles of cruising on the battery pack alone.

The Happy Camper

If desert camping is your thing, than the BMW Active Tourer is your vehicle. This plug-in hybrid has four doors for easy gear access as well as a specified cargo area for packing that gear in the first place. All that and it still retains a fairly small footprint at 171 inches long, 72 inches wide and 61 inches tall. “It’s an exercise in maximizing space within the footprint,” the Washington Post notes, and that exercise is successfully executed.

Another major perk of the Active Tourer include its sunroof, MotorTrend.com says, which lets you adjust the amount of light you want with the flick of a button. If your camping expeditions typically involve unexplored terrain, you can also benefit from the eDrive system. This system offers options for keeping fuel-efficiency at a max while traversing your route.

The Feisty Family

The Active Tourer scores big points in the family category, again for its roomy interior and fairly small exterior. MotorTrend.com notes more family-friendly features. A multicolored head-up display keeps your driving info readily visible, an impressive 10.3-inch screen instead of the usual instrument cluster and an infotainment screen lets you easily select how to entertain the kids. Kids in the backseat get even further entertainment thanks to the “Seismic Surf” game that is part of the eDrive system. The game, run on an iPad app, incorporates actual driving conditions into the game.

The Trendy Anyone

Anyone who keeps up with the latest trends will find themselves completely on the mark with an eco-friendly vehicle in the near future. HybridCars.com points out 43 new hybrid, plug-in, diesel or electric vehicles are expected to be available once the 2015 models stream into the showrooms. All these options are also expected to boost eco-friendly vehicles from their three percent market share up to five percent.

This post is authored by: David Gray, who combines his love for cars with his background in money and banking. He writes loans by day and blogs by night in the Los Angeles area.