Buzzword: Recalibration

What it means. Calibration is typically associated with things like measuring instruments and electronics gear, which need to be tweaked for optimal performance. And President Barack Obama got into the calibration game after he reviewed his initial response to the July 2009 arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., saying, "I could have calibrated those words differently." When it comes to the U.S. economy and consumers, the key phrase these days is recalibration.

"We're in a state of recalibration," says Edward Farrell, a director of the Consumer Reports National Research Center, which produces the monthly Consumer Reports Index, the latest installment of which came out this week. His observation came after several months of uninspiring consumer sentiment in the CRI, a monthly telephone poll of a nationally representative sample of American adults.

Why the buzz? While green shoots might hint at a stabilizing economy, a full recovery hasn't arrived yet, and during this time of recalibration, American consumers have adjusted to that new economic by changing how they spend. "We've seen a loss of confidence by consumers in the old rules, for example, that they'll have more money in their house 10 years from now or that their 401(k) will help carry them through retirement," says Farrell.

Paco Underhill, retail consultant and author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, agrees. "We are never going back to the we way were," he says. "Americans have had a considerable financial shock. Virtually everybody has traded down, and conspicuous consumption is now viewed as bad manners."

None of this bodes well for holiday sales. But neither Farrell nor Underhill is predicting a bloodbath from now through Black Friday and beyond. "A rally might actually be under way for retail heading into the holidays, with personal electronics leading the charge," says Farrell. He notes that according to the latest CRI, a quarter of consumers plan to buy personal electronics this month, up 5 percentage points from October.

Underhill anticipates healthy sales for comfort gifts, such as food baskets, fine wines, and beauty products. "I think this holiday season will be better than many retail pundits are predicting because people want to show compassion in troubled times." For his own gifts, Underhill says, "When people ask me what I want, I tell them one pair of black cashmere socks. They are warm, they are eminently practical, and I wouldn't buy them for myself because they're expensive. But for $20, it's the ultimate answer of what to get an aging male."

Farrell would like to see continued stability in the Consumer Reports Sentiment Index, which captures respondents' attitudes regarding their financial situation. "Yes, we want people to spend and save responsibly," he says. "But we also need there to be a feeling of optimism."

Without that, instead of talking about recalibration we could be discussing a lost decade. Also check out our growing roster of Buzzwords.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Follow all the news related to holiday shopping by following Tightwad Tod on our Money blog.

Shale gas holds promise, but drilling for it is controversial

As we covered in Buzzword: Shale gas, this natural gas contained within fine-grained, sedimentary rock is a topic of much interest for the energy industry. There are vast reserves of shale gas nationwide, and energy companies are working hard and fast to tap these natural-gas sources through what's called water fracturing, also known as hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking. (The graphic below details how hydrofracking works. It was created by Al Granberg and is being used courtesy of ProPublica: Journalism in the Public Interest, a site that features lots of coverage of shale gas and gas drilling.)

As you might expect, there's more to shale gas than the promise of abundant supplies of natural gas and lower prices for consumers. There's also concern that the process used to tap into the shale-gas reserves presents serious environmental and health risks.

Today's New York Times features an interesting story, "Gas Company Won't Drill in New York Watershed," on the decision by Chesapeake Energy not to drill for natural gas in upstate New York after the Oklahoma City-based corporation's plans met with strong opposition. If you're interested in the topic of shale gas, give it a read.—Steven H. Saltzman | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: If you haven't already, get your heating system tuned up. And to save money on your utility bills, install a programmable thermostat, read our buyer's guides to furnaces (more details here), solar water heaters, and pellet stoves, and follow our overall advice for using less energy at home.

Buzzword: Pop-up store

What it means. "A store that opens in an empty retail location and then deliberately closes after a few weeks or months," writes Paul McFedries, of Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to New Words. McFedries cites a couple of references to pop-up stores in recent articles in the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune and indicates the earliest citation is from 2004, although jeans giant Levi's is credited with having pioneered the pop-up concept in 1999 with temporary digs in New York City.

Why the buzz? While pop-up stores are nothing new, you'll likely see more of them thanks to the proliferation of vacant retail locations brought on by the recession. Michigan-based Halloween USA, for example, currently has more than 250 pop-up stores nationwide. Expect to see more pop-up shops between now and the end-of-year holidays.

Many major chains, including the Gap, Target, and Toys "R" Us, have signed short-term leases in empty spaces, hoping their pop-up emporiums will generate buzz about a new product or be a cost-effective way to venture into a new market. "It's something that's just getting bigger and bigger every day," Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group, told the Los Angeles Times.

The pop-up model has even gone green. BoHo Bodega (shown), which was located on the border of the Lower Manhattan neighborhoods of SoHo and NoLita during its recent October 21-25 run, called itself the "world's first eco-educational pop up shop." The store, done as a partnership with the Council on the Environment of NYC, sold eco-friendly versions of household products, food, and beverages. The items were marked down considerably in the hope that once shoppers go green, they won't go back.

Pop-up stores are often able to offer their merchandise at discount because of their generally low overhead. So if one appears in your neighborhood, it might be worth popping in.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Seen any cool pop-up stores in your area? Let us know by leaving a comment below. And with the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program expected to go live later this year, maybe some manufacturers or retailers will open up cash for clunkers for appliances pop-up stores.

Photo courtesy of Makemakes.com

Buzzword: Socket Saturation

What it means. Socket saturation represents the number of lighting fixtures that use compact fluorescent lightbulbs in this country, according to the folks who run the federal government's Energy Star program.

But the term is actually a misnomer: Although 70 percent of all U.S. homes have at least one CFL—the average is 4.4 CFLs per household—only around 11 percent of all residential sockets are fitted with a CFL, according to Energy Star's March 2009 "Big Results, Bigger Potential" market profile (PDF). Hardly a saturation point. That Energy Star report even acknowledges that "Despite recent market growth, CFL household saturation is still low throughout the United States, even in regions with successful and long-standing energy efficiency programs. . . . Overall, there is still plenty of room for the CFL market to grow." Rush Limbaugh, bombastic basher of CFLs, would probably be happy to read about this less-than-significant saturation.

Why the buzz? Given that CFLs are not an emerging technology and that they can save you significant money over their life span, you'd think that their market penetration would be deeper. Plus, all the coverage of these energy-efficient lightbulbs—including our October 2009 report, which includes ratings of two dozen different CFLs (available to subscribers)—seems like it would have been a sales booster, too.

There are a number of likely causes of this modest socket saturation, including problems with the bulbs themselves, such as cost, quality, performance, and light quality. Recession-driven belt-tightening by consumers is another reason for the shallow penetration. Indeed, even as the price of CFLs has come down, their 2009 sales have dropped 25 percent from their 2007 peak, according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

The long CFL life span and fewer available in-store promotions and incentives from utilities haven't helped sales either, according to Christina Kielich, a spokeswoman for U.S. Department of Energy.

If you want to take advantage of the money CFLs can save you—about $56 over the average bulb's life—follow the buying advice from our October 2009 report and remember:

• CFLs aren't ideal for every application. They work best in light fixtures that remain on for long periods since frequent cycling on and off can shorten their life, and you won’t get the maximum energy savings from fixtures that are left on for only a few minutes at a time.
• Color is key. As with all lightbulbs, CFLs come in different   "temperatures"—that is their yellowness, blueness, or whiteness. So learn about their various colors as well as their light output (lumens). And since it might take some trial and error to find CFLs that work in your surroundings, save your receipts so you can return bulbs that don't work for you.
• CFLs take time to fully brighten. Since run-up time ranges from 27 seconds to 3 minutes for the bulbs in our tests, don't use CFLs in areas where you need instant light.
• Energy Star-qualified bulbs are best. In our tests, most non-Energy Star CFLs had lower overall scores than Energy Star models. e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential reading: CFLs, including all we've tested, contain small amounts of mercury. To keep mercury from being released into the environment, don't throw CFLs out with the trash or your regular recycling. To learn how to dispose of them properly, contact your local department of public works. And if a CFL breaks, follow these clean-up instructions. Finally, if you have you avoided or stopped using CFLs at home, tell us why by leaving a comment below.

Buzzword: Clunkernomics

What it means? This mashup of clunker and economics is inspired by the 2005 book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. The most notable example of clunkernomics is the Car Allowance Rebate Program, or cash for clunkers, which spurred car sales over its run last summer.

Why the buzz? Cash for clunkers has plenty of imitators in programs whose model consists of consumers trading in an old product for a new, presumably more-efficient, one. One next-gen example of clunkernomics is the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program. The federal government’s cash for clunkers for appliances initiative, details of which are still being worked out by the U.S. Department of Energy, will give you a rebate of up to $250 per appliance on the purchase Energy Star-qualified models. Note: You likely won’t have to trade in your old dishwasher, refrigerator, or washing machine when you buy a new one.

Private enterprise is dipping its toes into clunkernomics, too, including a program centered around lighting. Philadelphia-based LED Saving Solutions announced last week that it will offer a $10 rebate per lightbulb for high-efficiency LED bulbs. “We see this initiative as a way to take the momentum created by the federal government to a new level and make a dramatic impact in our collective goal to make America more energy independent,” said Charlie Szoradi, president of LED Saving Solutions.

As clunkernomics expands, perhaps “clunker hangover” will set in, and maybe the cash-for-clunkers model has jumped the shark. After all even a New York City FM-radio station has its own clunkers deal. The WPLJ Web site says, “The government thinks a clunker is an old beat up gas guzzler. But here at ‘PLJ a clunker is a terrible song that somehow became a hit!” After a clunker airs, the 25th caller wins $5,000. Recent musical clunkers include “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” by Bobby McFerrin and “We Built This City,” by Jefferson Starship.

But Jack Hidary, the chairman of SmartTransportation.org who is credited as being the driver behind the automotive version of cash for clunkers, isn’t concerned. “I’m happy about all the copycats,” he says. “Let’s move our country away from rampant consumerism to a focus on the utility and the efficiency of products.”—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential reading: When you're ready to replace you're appliances, be sure to check out the free buying guides on our appliances hub and learn about the best places to buy appliances. Save up to $1,500 on your annual utility bills, read our reports on pellet stoves and solar water heaters, and find out which compact fluorescent lightbulbs top our ratings (available to subscribers).

Buzzword: Shale Gas

What it means. Shale is a fine-grained, sedimentary rock formed from compacted clay. Shale gas is the natural gas contained within the flakes and fragments of that rock. Geologists have long known that this country has abundant supplies of shale gas, as seen in the map (right), which shows shale-gas basins in this country. The map is from "Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer," a paper prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Why the buzz? What's generating interest in shale gas is a drilling technique that enables producers to extract the previously unreachable natural gas from deep beneath the earth's crust. The two-fold approach combines horizontal drilling with water fracturing, or hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking. After penetrating a mile or so into the shale, the drill turns sideways to establish maximum contact with the gas-bearing shale formation. A water-based liquid, called fracking fluid, is then pumped into the formation under high pressure, fracturing the rock and releasing the gas up through the well.

Thanks to the drilling innovations, today's natural-gas reserves are considered 35 percent higher than they were just two years ago. On National Public Radio, Tom Gjelten has reported this week on the Marcellus Basin, a 400-million-year-old formation that stretches from New York to West Virginia and is said to contain 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, or the equivalent of 80 billion barrels of oil. Overall, this country sits atop more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to a separate industry study, enough to meet current projected natural-gas demands for many decades to come.

Those vast reserves could lead to lower natural-gas prices for you. Read about the Long Island Power Authority's move to give its customers $144 million in credits, which are directly linked to the price drop for natural gas.

Natural gas burns more cleanly than coal and produces less carbon dioxide. That has some environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, calling natural gas a "bridge fuel" that would allow the U.S. to burn less coal and oil while production ramps up on solar, wind, and other renewable-energy sources.

But not all environmentalists are gung-ho for shale gas. The National Resources Defense Council, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Riverkeeper, and others have come out against hydraulic fracturing, contending that the chemicals involved contaminate drinking water. A U.S. Senate bill, the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, would overturn a 2005 law that essentially exempted fracturing fluids from the Safe Drinking Water Act and also require natural-gas companies to disclose the chemicals used in hydrofracking operations.

Read more about the issue in the Department of Energy's "DOE-Funded Primer Underscores Technology Advances, Challenges of Shale Gas Development."—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Before the start of heating season, get your heating system tuned up. And to save money on your utility bills, install a programmable thermostat, read our buyer's guides to furnaces (more details here), solar water heaters, and pellet stoves, and follow our overall experts tips for cutting your energy costs.

Buzzword: Energy Leasing

What it means. A major roadblock to wider residential use of renewable and alternative energy—whether wind, solar, biomass, or geothermal—is often the sky-high cost to buy and install the systems. In our October 2009 story on solar water heaters and pellet stoves, for instance, we report that it could take 20 years to recoup the initial $4,000 to $8,000 investment of either system. Never mind the payback period on a whole-house solar or wind system, which can top $50,000.

With energy leasing, also called renewable-energy or green-energy leasing, rather than purchase a system, you lease it from a provider, just as you would a car, paying a fixed monthly fee that's less than what their electric bill would otherwise cost. A power-purchase agreement (PPA) is like leasing, except that you pay for the energy you use, not a flat fee. The leasing companies profit from the lease agreement and also reap any available tax credits and rebates, which you forfeit your claim to.

Why the buzz? Energy leasing and PPAs exist in some states, including California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Two bills before Congress (S. 1379 and H.R. 2336) hope to create a nationwide market by luring increased private capital. "I've introduced the [bill] to help save consumers money on their energy bills and jump-start the market for renewable energy in Rhode Island and throughout the country," said Sheldon Whitehouse, the Rhode Island Democrat whose Senate version of the bill is known as the Energy Efficiency in Housing Act of 2009.

Representative Ed Perlmutter sponsored the House counterpart, known as the Green Act of 2009. In an e-mail, the Colorado Democrat explained that "right now there is a patchwork of renewable energy and energy-efficiency regulations and incentives in the country" and that establishing federal standards will "end this confusing landscape while allowing states to continue to develop programs customized to their needs."

Both bills are currently in committee.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Find out how to slash your annual energy bill by up to $1,500 and visit our Energy Saving & Green Living guide for more information on boosting the efficiency of your home and saving money on heating and cooling your home.

Buzzword: Reburbia

What it means. Reburbia is the name of the design competition in which sponsors Dwell magazine and Inhabitat.com asked "future-forward architects, urban designers, renegade planners, and imaginative engineers" to reimagine cookie-cutter suburban communities like those we covered in our Buzzword on boomburg/boomburg.

Here's how the folks in charge described the goals of the competition:

"In a future where limited natural resources will force us to find better solutions for density and efficiency, what will become of the cul-de-sacs, cookie-cutter tract houses and generic strip malls that have long upheld the diffuse infrastructure of suburbia? How can we redirect these existing spaces to promote sustainability, walkability, and community? It's a problem that demands a visionary design solution and we want you to create the vision!"

Why the buzz? The Reburbia competition kicked off on July 8, with participants submitting entries through the end of last month. After judging, 20 finalists were selected, and the public had until August 17 to vote online for their favorite entry.

Among the concepts were the Miller|Hull Partnership's plan to turn a strip mall into a soilless farm, Forrest Fulton's concept of converting big-box stores into greenhouses and restaurants, and Alexandros Tsolakis and Irene Shamma's idea for "airbia," a way to link suburbs and city centers.

The grand-prize winner was announced today. Calvin Chiu will receive $1,000 for his vision of converting a McMansion into a biofilter water-treatment plant (shown).

"I love [Chiu's] trans-species approach, the acceptance of certain economically obvious shifts that are occurring already in many a recently constructed suburb, and the hydrological inventiveness. It's poetic, not practical ­, and that's exactly why this project is positive evidence of how we might really rethink suburbia," said Geoff Manaugh, a Reburbia judge and the author of BLDGBLOG.

Chiu's concept will be featured in the December issue of Dwell.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Learn more about the leading edge in planning and home design by reading "Buzzword: Rightsizing" and our 10 Questions for . . . interviews with architect Marianne Cusato and architect Sarah Susanka.

Buzzword: Bamboo-zle

What it means. Bamboozle means to deceive, dupe, or hoodwink. But this green-era alt spelling of the term—bamboo-zle—adds a new meaning, specifically covering dubious claims made by manufacturers of bamboo clothing and textiles. Bamboo-zle is akin to greenwashing, another of our Buzzwords.

Why the buzz? The Federal Trade Commission this week charged four clothing and textile manufacturers with making false product claims about bamboo-based products. In its August 11 press release, the FTC said the "bamboo-based textiles, actually made of rayon, are not antimicrobial, made in an environmentally friendly manner, or biodegradable." Sami Designs, LLC, Jonaeno, CSE, Inc.(d.b.a. Mad Mod), and Pure Bamboo, LLC have settled the FTC's complaints, but litigation continues against The M Group, Inc. (d.b.a. Bamboosa).

"When companies sell products woven from man-made fibers, such as rayon, it is important that they accurately label and advertise those products—both with respect to the fibers they use and to the qualities those fibers possess," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, in the release.

While rayon, an artificial fiber, can be created from the cellulose found in plants and trees, including bamboo, it's processed using a harsh chemical that releases air pollutants. In our past tests of towels, cotton and bamboo blends were softer after washing than all-cotton towels, though they were also more expensive.

Another popular bamboo product, flooring, is a bit more environmentally friendly than wood, since bamboo, a fast-growing grass can be harvested in as little as four years. (That's a bamboo forest shown.) In our latest report on nearly 50 flooring products (full story and ratings available to subscribers), two bamboo products outperformed other wood alternatives.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: If you're planning to remodel your kitchen with new flooring, cabinets, or appliances, check out our recently updated Kitchen-Planning Guide.

Buzzword: Pay As You Throw

What it means. In most municipalities nationwide, households pay a flat annual fee to have their garbage hauled away once or more a week. The cost is often rolled into property-tax payments and doesn't fluctuate regardless of how much waste a household generates. With pay as you throw, or PAYT, household waste is treated more like a utility, with each household getting charged for how much garbage its sends to the curb.

In most PAYT programs, households sign up for a specific containers—say one 32-gallon and one 64-gallon receptacle—and are charged extra when they go over that limit in a certain period. Other PAYT programs use logoed bags that consumers buy from municipal centers or participating retailers; these are the only bags they can use to throw out their trash.

Why the buzz? As recycling grows—curbside programs are up 500 percent in the last 5 years, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—so does PAYT. It's now in 7,100 communities nationwide, according to the Skumatz Economic Research Associates, up from 5,100 in 2001 and 1,000 in 1993. Communities on the West Coast, in the Northeast, and in the north-central region of the country participate the most in PAYT programs, according to the EPA.

PAYT is designed to offer several benefits. By encouraging recycling, composting, and yard-waste reduction (mulching lawn clippings and leaves instead of bagging them, for example), PAYT reduces the amount of residential material in landfills by an average of 17 percent, claims SERA. That reduction helps communities cope with the rising costs of waste management and also curbs the attendant greenhouse-gas emissions.

Consumers stand to benefit as well. In Louisville, Colorado, for instance, residents who had been paying $200 annually for trash removal, not including recycling, can now pay as little as $100, including recycling, provided they produce less than 32 gallons of trash per month. That's an easier proposition for a one-person household than for a family of six. And, in fact, Louisville residents who need a 96-gallon container now pay $250 a year under the PAYT program.

PAYT critics argue that such a scenario favors smaller households. But through precycling and other aggressive forms of waste management, experts believe that most households can at least break even with PAYT.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook