by Shana on November 30, 2009
I absolutely adored this post courtesy of
GRIST
In a 2007 experiment in California, homeowners given an emoticon on their bill in addition to information about their neighbors’ energy usage saved 40% more energy than those given information alone. Proving once again that the human animal is – well – an animal. Who does things for rational and irrational reasons.
Important to factor into our industry’s marketing of home performance. Building science is important but the real power in what we do is how a more comfortable, healthier, and energy efficient home can transform people’s lives.
by Shana Fong on
What do people typically do in their daily lives to help the environment? What produces more carbon emissions, cars or homes? What does the public think of Cash for Caulkers? Why did we change our name from Sustainable Spaces to Recurve?
Check out this video for answers to those questions and more: http://vimeo.com/7782900
by Shana on
A well-constructed climate bill would boost the economy by $111 billion by 2020 and create 2 million jobs, according to researchers at Yale, Berkeley and the University of Illinois. The study is based on the climate and energy bill that passed the House in June and a similar measure under consideration in the Senate. It found that all 50 states would gain from a federal policy and Midwestern states would stand to gain more than coastal ones. TreeHugger (11/19)
by Shana Fong on November 24, 2009
1. Test your home’s energy IQ: Get an energy audit to determine the best roadmap to a healthy, comfortable and energy efficient home.
2. Unplug energy vampires: In the average home, 40% of all electricity is used to power home appliances while they’re turned off.
3. Insulate yourself against rising energy costs: Well-installed green insulation is the biggest bang-for-your-buck improvement you can make.
4. Get your ducts in order: In California, duct leakage accounts for a loss of 30% of heating and cooling energy.
5. Reduce, then produce: Before installing an expensive solar array, make your home a lean, efficient machine — then pay a lot less for your sun collectors.
by Shana on November 18, 2009
Recurve partners with SeriousWindows – and in fact is one of the only resellers of SeriousWindows products in the Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland.) For those not familiar with these windows, they have the “R” value of walls … making them … well serious contenders if you are considering replacing your windows as part of an overall energy remodeling project. We were jazzed to learn that SeriousWindows was one of only 16 products to make this year’s Green Product Awards by Building Products magazine. Building Products judges and editors, looking to help their readers sort through green products that were made available this year, judged the award based on products that excelled in three areas: sustainability, value to the contractor, and innovation. Source: SeriousWindows Blog
by Shana Fong on
Why do we love HOME STAR, aka Cash for Caulkers? Because it’s good for America.
And we’re not the only ones – all across the country, companies large and small are voicing their support for the HOME STAR program that was recently proposed to President Obama by venture capitalist John Doerr. And now that it was covered by the New York Times last night, we’re hoping that the Obama administration will see the program as we see it: enabling a long-term industry with hundreds of thousands (and potentially millions) of new, sustainable jobs that cannot be outsourced, that helps the U.S. achieve our energy and climate goals.
Why does HOME STAR matter?
- Jobless recovery and unemployment stats are daunting; nationwide unemployment is at 10.2%, with the construction industry being one of the hardest hit at 17%.
- The program has the potential to be as successful out of the gate as Cash for Clunkers. However, it is much more than a way to get old homes retrofitted — it’s the ticket to creating new jobs to offset job losses.
- It dovetails nicely and contains the same highly vetted language found in the Waxmen-Marky Bill and Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP), Recovery Through Retrofit and ARRA investments for worker retraining.
- Through HOME STAR, $23 billion would go to support 5.9 million home energy retrofits and create more than 500,000 and up to over 1 million new jobs.
This is the piece of the puzzle that we’ve been waiting for. It’s a win-win for helping American families.
by Shana on November 16, 2009
Energy-company chiefs and union leaders lauded the prospects of a new green workforce as lawmakers discussed a climate-change bill, but economic experts told the Senate Finance Committee that the legislation could lead to job losses in the refining and manufacturing sectors. These statements come as the panel is studying the measure’s potential effects on the country’s energy workforce. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said the proposal’s detractors fail to look at the long-term effects of global warming, which would raise the costs of crops and increase pollution “that we have to clean up.” Houston Chronicle (11/10)
by Shana Fong on November 9, 2009
Riding on the recent success of the Cash for Clunkers program that gave U.S. consumers an incentive to replace their gas-guzzling cars with fuel-efficient ones, the president is considering a program that would encourage Americans to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
John Doerr, a venture capitalist with Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, proposed creating a Cash for Caulkers program to encourage Americans to improve their homes’ efficiency. Doerr made the suggestion at Monday morning’s meeting of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB).
In addition to creating energy savings, Doerr suggested that retrofitting more than 100 million American homes would also create “high-wage, permanent jobs that will not be out-sourced.”
“Just as the Cash for Clunkers program mobilized American car dealers to promote their fuel-efficient cars, so could a Cash for Caulkers program engage private enterprise, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, to put private capital to work,” Doerr said.
Read the full article here: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/02/cash-for-caulkers-program-infrastructure-bank-proposed/
by Shana Fong on
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that people spend 90% of their time indoors, but that indoor air quality can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Indoor air pollution can threaten the health — and the lives — of everyone in your family.
The single most effective way to keep the air in your home healthy is to keep things out of your home that cause air pollution, including cigarette smoke and excess moisture and chemicals, and ventilate to pull dangerous pollutants out of the house.
The second most important strategy is to air seal your home. A leaky building envelope and ducts can pull in dirt, dust, particles, and mold.
Easy tips to improve Indoor Air Quality:
• Run bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans to ventilate moisture in the air
• Install a carbon monoxide detector
• Clean your A/C and dehumidifier
• If you have asbestos, hire a qualified company to properly remove it ASAP
• Install an air filtration system
• Avoid toxic products to cut down on VOCs
• Test your home for radon
Did you know? Up to 30% of the air in your home comes from your crawlspace.
Call us at 877-554-7336 or click here if you have indoor air quality concerns.
by Shana on
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There is good news for people looking to green jobs to replace some of those in the recession. Clean-tech jobs often pay well, according to a report by PayScale and Clean Edge. Most of the jobs required a bachelor’s degree, and a large portion are engineering jobs. The New York Times/Green Inc. blog (10/15)