Libby's
Energy Corner
Steps for Reducing Energy Use, Costs, and Carbon Footprint
AT OUR INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY LEVELS
Step 1 – ENERGY
CONSCIOUSNESS
Monitor utility bills; compare your util $ to neighbors; notice hot
water use, lighting, hot and cold rooms, cooking and cleaning habits,
lawn
care; Calculate
Online your Carbon Footprint, Do Home Energy Audits Online; Community lighting
and services,; Calculate your mileage; Think about $ for commuting and extra
trips, consider
other travel methods, support public transportation, consider hybrid or biodiesel
fueled car when replacing yours.
Step 2 – ENERGY
CONSERVATION
Modify habits: cold wash, water saver shower heads, fix leaky toilets
and faucets, CFL lights in most used fixtures; line dry clothes when
possible, change furnace
filters regularly, use programmable thermostat; consolidate car trips, carpool,
bike, walk; recycle paper and cans, fix windows, storm doors and add door weatherstripping.
Notice drafty air in house, use insulated curtains and shades; maintain furnace
and do efficiency testing. Plant shade trees at south, west, and east exposures;
plant evergreen s, wind breaks north west exposures.
Step 3 -- ENERGY EFFICIENCY
MEASURES
Tighten Up, Stop leaks, & Decrease Energy at home and at workplace: do-your-own
energy audit to find leaks, do weatherstripping and caulking; windows may or
may not be the major problem and can promote healthy indoor air; light with
Compact Florescent Lightbulbs's and LED's; reduce indoor water usage. Possibly
have professional
energy audit for home and/or workplace with professional air sealing, duct
sealing, increased insulation.
Step 4 --HIGHER EFFICIENCY EQUIPMENT
Higher efficiency heating and cooling units (need smaller HVAC units
after taking efficiency measures).
Buy Energy-Star Appliances when current appliances need replacement.
Step 5 -- RENEWABLE
ENERGY
AFTER |Conservation and Efficiency upgrades (best return for $ and effort),
then consider
corn/biomass stoves, photovoltaic solar panels, solar hot water panels, wind
turbines, geothermal options.
On and off the electricity grid with net metering (surplus energy contributes
to grid).
Plus
* permaculture practices –
• vegetable gardening – both individual and community gardens;
healthy green lawn care; lawns to gardens
• composting as much as possible and using the resulting soil for gardens,
plants, landscaping
• recycling everything we can
• rain barrels for outdoor water collection – for car washing,
watering yards, and outdoor plants
• local food: support community supported agriculture, farmers markets
* “embodied energy” -- use of full life of products/ recycling
Resources:
More Energy Information:
• Energy Star website Lots of information about all the ways we use energy.
Standards for appliances, home improvements, new homes, links to all else. www.energystar.gov
• Home Energy Saver - A great self home audit. Start with just your Zip
code. Gets as detailed as you choose. Save your session and track your improvements
over
time. http://hes.lbl.gov/
•
US Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site – amazingly
good;
includes much information on resources, tax credits, Weatherization Assistance
Program, assistance for low income, etc. www.eere.energy.gov/consumer
• DOE site for insulation per climate -- www.ornl.gov/~roofs/zip/zipHome.html
“
How to” guide for home weatherization
Build Like a Pro: Insulate and Weatherize - Bruce Harley Taunton Press
Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings 9th ed. - Jennifer Thorne, Smith Amann
and Alex Wilson.
•
Rocky Mountain Institute – Amory and Hunter Lovins – www.rmi.org
click Home Energy Briefs. Home Resource Efficiency http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid186.php
• TerraLogos Green Home Services: diagnose your home's energy leaks and
get a treatment plan. Solve cold and hot rooms and reduce bills at the same time.
Get referrals
to dependable Sustainable Contractors and support to complete your retrofits.
www.TerraLogos.com
• Mill Valley Garden Center and Farmers' Market -- 28th and Sisson Sts.
www.mill-valley.net
(Friday night dinners $10 from 5:30-8, and Sunday brunches 11-3)
Mill Valley hosts the following orgs:
• Baltimore Biodiesel Fuel Coop -- www.BaltimoreBioDiesel.org , Mill Valley
Center
Drive a diesel car, clean the air, and get off petroleum fuel.
•
Baltimore Corn/BioMass Heat Coop – Mill Valley Center, 28th & Sisson
Sts.
Low cost way to heat AND reduce carbon footprint.
to subscribe to listserve: balticornheat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
to learn more, www.marylandcornstoves.com, www.saveoursky.com
• One Straw Farm Organic food. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Distributes member's food shares at Mill Valley Center. www.onestrawfarm.com
Solar Info
Green Building Institute, Jessup, MD – workshops on Green topics www.greenbuildinginstitute.org
Energy Tax Credits, Grants, Rebates - Complete Listings http://www.dsireusa.org/
National Renewable Energy Laboratory – research www.nrel.gov
Sandia National Laboratory – solar research www.sandia.gov
Solar Installers – Residential and Commercial::
Chesapeake Solar Jessup, MD www.chesapeakesolar.net
Standard Solar, Inc. MD, D.C. www.standardsolar.com