Lighting up the Neighborhood

    

Sustainable 19125 gives out CFLs on MLK day. Image info.

I missed a chance to meet up with the folks at Sustainable 19125 last week for their MLK day of service event, but it sure looks like they had fun mixing with Philly's Kensington community while helping to "light up the neighborhood" with free CFL bulbs for local residents. Toby from their office told me it was a great success and that a swarm of volunteers came out to help.

CFLs, or compact flourescent lightbulbs, can greatly reduce electric usage over standard incandescent types because they give off more light and require less energy. They also, on average, last much longer. Switching to CFLs is often the first reccomendation suggested when an energy auditor evaluates a home for energy savings.

For more on this topic and the good efforts of Sustainable 19125 check in at their informative website www.sustainable19125.org.--D.A DeMers

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Helping Keep Your New Year's Resolution
Sound advice from EnergyWorks and the ECA: 
  

Image by D.A. DeMers. GNU license.

The number one New Year’s Resolution for 2011 is to save money, and while many financial experts would recommend increased savings, investing or getting out of debt; with electricity prices and the cost of gas going up, the best way to keep your New Year resolution of saving money is to save energy.

Not only does saving money on energy bills provide home owners the best return on your most valuable investment; your home, it also increases the comfort of your home and can earn 6% to 20% return on investment, compared to a savings account which barely yields ½ percent and a Certificate of Deposit that may get you 4% or 5%. By investing in energy saving work for your home you also avoid the impact of rising gas, oil, and electricity costs.

With EnergyWorks, homeowners in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties can upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes and save money through an unprecedented combination of rebates, tax credits, and low interest loans, together with highly trained and certified energy analysts and contractors.  Energy Works is designed to help homeowners maximize their return by strategically investing in saving energy at home.

For example, a $2,000 investment = 10% reduction in your monthly energy bill with a $180 monthly bill, 10% x $180 = $18 per month. $18 x 12 = $216 per year. Therefore, a $216 savings/$2,000 investment = a 10.8% return on your money! You can’t get that return on investment at any bank, investment bank or on the stock market. Here are some other ways to save money and energy in the New Year.

• Install a programmable thermostat and turn it back by 10 to 15 degrees when you’re asleep or not at home can save around 10% a year on heating and cooling bills.

• Keep your hot water heater at 120◦ F and install a hot water heater insulating blanket. These two tips can save up to 5% to 10% in water heating energy cost.

• Unplug appliances when you’re not using them.

To learn more about Energy Works or schedule a home energy assessment, visit www.ecasavesenergy.org/energyworks and start saving now!

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Green is the New Red, White and Blue
Peter Bycks film Carbon Nation picks up the pride.
                             

Texas Wind Farmer Cliff Etheredge. Image info.

 

Empire State Building retrofit check. Image info.

Coming to theaters this February is an inspiring, entertaining new documentary from filmmaker Peter Byck that beautifully captures the zeal, heart and might of the rapidly growing clean energy movement in America. The film portrays the industry in a non-partisan, personable fashion, telling the remarkable story of how everyday people with a renewed sense of American ingenuity are doing amazing things to help lead us to a brighter future.

"We made this film for my Uncle Phil – a conservative who finds my liberal ways amusing," says Mr Byck, on his blog. "We made this film for the folks who see solutions to climate change as a national security issue – we have a chapter solely on the green hawks in the Department of Defense. We made this film for people who simply see huge profits to be made in energy efficiency. We made it for the great many Americans who don’t want to be told they’ve done something wrong, but do appreciate clean air and clean water."
    

Carbon Nation trailer.

For more information on this wondrous film, including theater locations or how you can participate in spreading the word, see the Carbon Nation website at www.carbonnationmovie.com.--D.A DeMers.

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Shadowing a Home Energy Inspector
Sourced from Jonathon Hickes and Grist. 

I was sent this link in my email a couple months ago, and sure feel bad for not getting to it sooner - been a busy time recently for Home Science. Regardless, Jonathan Hickes's inside look at the Energy Auditor job is a spectacular, informative piece, and well worth re-posting--D.A DeMers

Blower door air leakage test. Picasa image.

Weatherizing homes to cut heat waste makes all kinds of good sense -- it lowers utility bills, makes homes more comfortable, creates building-industry jobs, saves energy, is both a floor wax and a dessert topping, etc. Grist has sung the praises of building efficiency so often we've taken to recycling our old jokes (and they're not even good ones). We're usually looking at the big-picture questions of climate, economy, and jobs. For example, there's nothing better Congress could do right now than pass a well-designed retrofit program like the Home Star bill, which would save 44 times the amount of energy that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico this summer.

Blah, blah, green jobs, blah. Screw all that top-level policy for a moment. Let's take a look at how this stuff works on the ground.

I ventured out into the Real World (soon to be acquired by Google) last Friday to shadow Paul Holt, who runs home-energy inspections for the Seattle company EcoFab. Paul remodeled homes for much of his career, then moved into selling high-efficiency windows until he realized that "wasn't really the answer to energy efficiency." So he studied for the Building Performance Institute home performance certificate and passed the test two years ago. He's also a photo and printmaking artist. Read more...


Related articles

• A Brighter View of CFLs (switchboard.nrdc.org)
• Energy Switch: Compare Switch & Save (globalthoughtz.com)
• How To Reduce Energy Usage (ideagreenshop.com)
• Marketing an Energy-Efficient Product as 'Money Saving' Just Doesn't Work - Here's Why (environmentalleader.com)
• Builders' Show: Lowe's puts energy savings front and center (blogs.consumerreports.org)

A Turning Point

   

The need to save energy is a notion that everyone seems to agree is of great importance these days. Whether you're short, tall, wealthy, poor, liberal, conservative, pink, green, or purple - the idea that you might be burning up dollars for no reason strikes a common nerve.

That's why it's comforting to know that professional guidance for the "power to save" has come to the greater Philadelphia region in the form of EnergyWorks, a comprehensive energy solutions program for home and commercial or industrial building owners. EnergyWorks experts help owners find ways to reduce their building’s energy use, and EnergyWorks’ low-interest loans help them pay for the upgrade.

At Energywise PA, a site sponsored by the new Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, Deputy Philadelphia Mayor Alan Greenberger describes the program as follows:

"Energy Works pays to send auditors to a home or business to pinpoint specific changes that can save energy and money. I have a big house in Mount Airy and, even though I'm an architect, I can actually think of 10 things to do, but I don't know which one is the most bang for the buck."

Many homeowners can get a $400 energy audit and only pay $100 for it. Likewise, low-interest loans are available for improvements. The $25 million program is available in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.

An auditor views a home systems model at the ECA training center.

Last month Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Campus Apartments CEO David Adelman announced the first full commercial application of EnergyWorks in the launching of an impressive $50 million hotel project in Philadelphia's University City community.

A press release by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation quotes the Mayor as saying "The city was able to pull levers in a difficult economic climate to obtain financing and make this project happen. By making a smart economic and environmental investment in Philadelphia, this project will bring new, quality jobs for our citizens and a brand-new, environmentally-friendly hotel for visitors. It’s a win for everyone involved.” 

The project will be the largest of its kind to utilize EnergyWorks trained contractors, an aspect that helps guarantee the investment will be fostered by an energy efficient, green-building methodology. That way, the return on the city's dollar is less likely to simply go up the chimney, literally.

A flamingo-like wind farm in the UK.

In essence, we seem to be at a real turning point in the building trades and with our society in general regarding issues of energy conservation. Notions of saving the environment and saving money have begun to merge at a mainstream level; they are seen as one and the same.

For Energy Coordinating Agency director Liz Robinson, the two were never far apart. Her 26 year old organization sprouted from the need for a local community resource to help mitigate issues related to some of the less attuned policies of utility companies and their often unhindered rate hikes.  

Describing the ECA's beginnings in an interview with Home Science, Ms. Robinson said "There was a necessity for community outreach and a comprehensive approach to solving energy solutions, and to get utility companies engaged in those solutions." 

Some of those solutions are evidenced by the initiation of utility caps at the end of the 1990's, and the current transformation of the utility marketplace through deregulation and a more open market. But most notably it's seen in the growing commitment to energy conservation through various sectors of the local economy.

With the evolving possibility of a genuine democratization of energy resources, Ms. Robinson emphasized the importance of "helping to elevate the energy literacy" of both energy consumers and contractors. "In the past," she said, "utility companies made it easy - the public hasn't had to understand everything. Now with more choices at hand, there is a great need for education on the issues for consumers as well as training and other resources for contractors involved in programs such as EnergyWorks."

A Delaware River "family" seeks a clean energy future.

Throughout the past decades, the ECA has been through many stages of this transformation, and deservedly, it now seems to be a lynch-pin for the vast array of these new exciting initiatives.--D.A DeMers.


For more information on the EnergyWorks program visit the ECA's links at www.ecasavesenergy.org/energyworks. Other resources on the web can be found at www.energyworksnow.com.

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Heated Debate...

While energy conservation and green-building tactics are central to the focus of this blog, it's also important to understand issues related to where our energy comes from before it arrives at our homes, schools, and office buildings. In regards to natural gas, nothing is burning hotter than the issue of hydraulic fracturing or gas fracking, a fairly new drilling technology being employed in the expansive, resource rich region of the Marcellus Shale.

Natural gas flame.

Home Science recently caught up with Pennsylvania State Senator Larry Farnese, fresh from his fact finding mission at the Atlas Energy gas drilling site in Fayette County. The senator said he took part in the tour to get a better understanding of the industry and its issues, as talk continues about a natural gas extraction tax or fee. He hopes to include safety and environmental concerns as an important part of that discussion.

"I have extreme concern for the safety of the men and women involved in this work," he said. "The entire process of extracting gas from the shale is one that is done under extremely high pressure from fluids, and it's important that we ensure safeguards are properly in place to protect those involved in the work."

At the core of the controversy is the issue of a gas severance tax. Pennsylvania is currently the largest state without some form of extraction fee in place to recoup possible environmental and oversight costs, or to help fund educational programs needed to insure that its own citizens benefit from the well paying jobs promised by the boom, and not simply professionals brought in from other locations. Reports from people in the shale regions claim that Texas license plates tend to be ever-present at many of the drilling sites. At the same time, Pennsylvania is currently facing budget shortfalls in many sectors, especially in areas of job training and education.

Natural gas extraction/production in the US.

But some have made a fierce argument that a gas severance tax would scare away investment, that it is essential to forgo such a fee in order to keep the state competitive in these fragile economic times. I proffered that position during the interview, but was quickly challenged.

"Absolute hogwash," declared the senator, displaying his sometimes outspoken, yet personable demeanor. "I talked to experts in top levels of the industry who say this is it. We have one of the nation's greatest energy resources, and the industry is coming here whether there is a fee or not." He emphasized that it is especially crucial now to pass the bill, because the greatest amount of the gas is predicted to be extracted in the first 5-7 years. "We will simply lose out," he said. "It is just absurd."

Despite the decision last October of the state's republican controlled senate to put off a vote on the tax, Senator Farnese feels there is still strong support on both sides of the aisle for such legislation. "To punt on this issue now is simply irresponsible," he said.

He may be right - the desire for a tax appears to be rapidly cutting across political boundaries and demographics. A poll published today in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review shows more than half of registered republicans in the commonwealth are now in favor of some sort of severance fee. Likewise, two-thirds of all Pennsylvania voters say they are for it. With a new administration taking over in Harrisburg, and a budget deadline set for early Spring, debate on the topic is certain to remain forefront.

Regardless, the gas fracking debate has become increasingly visible on a national level. This awareness was advanced greatly by the recent award winning documentary Gasland, filmed by Pennsylvanian native Josh Fox, which stunningly highlighted many of the practice's potential environmental hazards. Likewise, a plethora of clean water groups, such as Penn Future and Protecting Our Waters, seem to be continually persistent on the matter. With all this attention, there is little evidence of retreat from either side until a clear resolution of policy is enacted. Stay tuned.--D.A DeMers

 

Articles related to energy conservation

• Top Ten Green Building Trends for 2011 Selected by Earth Advantage Institute (prweb.com)
• Pathway Lending resuming loans for energy efficiency projects (knoxnews.com)
• Mayor Nutter and the Metropolitan Caucus Launch EnergyWorks (prnewswire.com)
• Program debuts to cut biz, home-energy bills (philly.com)
• Why Conserve Energy? (ideagreenshop.com)