Americans Don’t Know Jack About Saving Energy

by Shana Fong on August 19, 2010
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In this illuminating post by Grist, we learn through a recent survey by The Earth Institute at Columbia University that Americans really don’t know jack about saving energy.

The largest group, nearly 20 percent, cited turning off lights as the best approach—an action that affects energy budgets relatively little. Very few cited buying decisions that experts say would cut U.S. energy consumption dramatically, such as more efficient cars (cited by only 2.8 percent), more efficient appliances (cited by 3.2 percent) or weatherizing homes (cited by 2.1 percent).

About 2.8 percent of those responding said they could save energy by sleeping or relaxing more, compared with 2.1 percent who said they could do so by insulating their homes (can you guess which is actually more effective?).

Jonathan Hiskes of Grist asserts:

The theme of the confusion was that participants tended to name steps that involved doing less or using less of things — turning off lights, turning down thermostats — rather than solutions that allow them to get the same amount of light and heat through less energy (via insulation and LED bulbs). That gets at a key difference between conservation and efficiency. The first means using less; the second means getting the same results through more intelligent use of resources. Both have a place, but it’s a problem if people understand all of efficiency as “sacrifice.” A home retrofit that cuts $500 off your heating bills for the year isn’t a sacrifice — it’s a financial and environmental win.

Home Performance 101 – How Well Do You Know Your Home?

by Daniel Bell on August 13, 2010
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The first in the Green Footprint series, Home Performance 101 focuses on your home as a system and presents ways to cost-effectively improve your home’s energy efficiency.

This video features one of Recurve’s Home Performance Specialists, Daniel Bell.

Green Footprint: Home Performance 101 from Foster City TV on Vimeo.

Retrofitting 75,000 Houses Would Save As Much Energy As In The Gulf Spill

by Shana Fong on June 29, 2010
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Here’s a visceral way to represent potential energy savings in the built environment:

Home energy waste vs. Gulf oil spill

If only the Senate had some sort of legislative strategy that could put this information to use … oh, wait, it does! Home Star legislation will spur the retrofit of 3.3 million homes, enough to save the energy floating in the Gulf 44 times over, at roughly 1/40 the cost of mopping it up. As we speak, that legislation is languishing in the Senate. If its energy efficiency provisions are improved, the coming Senate energy bill could save even more energy and money. Perhaps senators could spend less time rending garments and encouraging Obama to Act Angry and more time passing the energy solutions sitting in front of them.

——

Here’s Energy Savvy’s explanation of the graphic:

  • The energy contained in the biggest oil spill in U.S. history is equal to the energy that just 75,000 homes waste in a single year.
  • The estimated cost to clean up the oil spill ($40 B) is many times greater than the cost to retrofit 75,000 houses ($1 B) and save the energy equivalent of the gulf oil spill every year.
  • 75,000 houses = mid-sized U.S. city or large suburb of a major city, like Chattanooga, Tenn. or Providence, R.I.
  • The oil spill, since it began in April 2010, has leaked between 25 – 50 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. We’re using a conservative estimate of around 30 million gallons for our calculations.
  • A typical house wastes 30 percent more energy than an efficient one does. On average, that means that 51 MMBtu’s are being wasted by a typical home every year.
  • A typical home energy retrofit costs around $10,000 per house — before any utility or governments energy rebates are applied. A home energy retrofit doesn’t just save energy for a single year — it prevents waste year after year on an ongoing basis once it’s done.

Source: Energy Savvy and Grist

Lose 142 Pounds (of Carbon) a Week

by Shana Fong on May 21, 2010
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A while back, National Geographic put out a great guide with 10 steps to cutting the excess carbon out of your life.

Weight control and health tend to go hand in hand—and what’s true for our waistlines also holds true when it comes to the weight of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) and the health of the planet. Excess pounds of carbon dioxide are raising the earth’s temperature and putting coastlines, not waistlines, at risk. Yet for a lot of people, the idea of going on a carbon diet to reduce pounds, much less tons, of the stuff seems airy when there’s nothing to hold onto.

Think of pounds of CO2 as inflated balloons: One pound of CO2 would fill a balloon about two and a half feet wide, and the amount of energy each of us uses every day, just to power our homes and drive our cars, would fill 47 of them. Imagine that for each member of your family 47 of those balloons are added to your home each day. In a week, a family of four would pack in 1,316 balloons, in a month 5,703, and in a year 68,432—enough to fill a building nine stories tall and 100 feet on each side. You wouldn’t be able to find your house in it. It’s no wonder we’re smothering our planet in greenhouse gases. The more balloons of CO2 in the air, the more heat they trap in our atmosphere. So here’s a 10-step carbon diet—a program to keep the greenhouse gas out of 142 balloons every week.

1. Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot.
• • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 9 per week
Start with something easy. Washing machines produce over 500 pounds of CO2 a year when run on hot water. But your clothes will be just as clean and may even last longer when laundered in cold water.

2. Use a drying rack.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 14 per week
Dryers produce about 1,450 pounds of CO2 per year and the high heat damages fabric. So get more life out of your garments, lower your electric bill and spare the planet by drying at least half of your clothes on a rack or line. Plus, sunlight is the most effective stain-remover around.

3. Seal and weatherstrip your home.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 17 per week
This summer, sealing your home will ensure you don’t lose the cool air you’re paying for. Caulking and weatherstripping doors, windows and any cracks or openings in walls will save about 225 pounds of CO2 per season to run your AC. It pays off even more in the winter when you need to trap the heat; every year, you save 640 pounds of CO2 if you have natural gas heat and 470 pounds if you have electric heat.

4. Insulate.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 41 per week (natural gas heating), 30 per week (electric heat)
Insulating your home is a bit more demanding and best handled professionally. There are a number of insulating options better than fiberglass, which presents a breathing hazard from airborne glass particles and formaldehyde released during installation. Some green-building specialists claim that spray foam insulation is the most efficient and cost-effective variety, even though it’s usually composed of petroleum-based polyurethane. If you choose spray foam, consider a blend that includes soybean oil, such as BioBase501, to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. Another alternative, recycled denim insulation, uses a more eco-friendly material but isn’t as efficient an insulator as polyurethane foam.

5. Wrap your water heater and turn down the temperature.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 16 per week
Insulating your water heater with a simple DIY kit, available at most hardware stores for $20, will save you 300 pounds of CO2 annually. As water heaters can account for up to 13 percent of your utility bill, set the temperature to 120° F. Turning it down from 140° F will save 479 pounds of CO2 annually. If you’re really up for a renovation and it makes sense for your household needs, switch from a conventional water heater to an on-demand heater.

6. Run the dishwasher only when full.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 17 per week
Wait until you fill your dishwasher before turning it on and always set it to the energy saver mode.

7. Turn off your TV, DVD player, computer and cable box.
• • • • •
Burst balloons: 5 per week
Even while idling in “standby” mode, your home entertainment center and computer consume energy. Plug them into a power strip and turn it off after you shut down your electronics.

8. Clean your refrigerator.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Burst balloons: 15 per week
Take a look at the top of your fridge—cluttered much? Clear it off. Those piled-up plastic containers and cereal boxes can prevent your fridge from venting heat effectively. Then go for the more demanding project: Remove the grill at the base of the fridge (or turn the fridge around) to clean the coils.

9. Compost Your Food Scraps.
• • • • •
Burst balloons: 5 per week
Food waste stored in airless landfills is eaten by bacteria that release massive amounts of methane, a gas 21 times more heat-trapping than CO2. Composting ten pounds of food a week will keep five balloons out of the air.

10. Take the bus or ride your bike.
• • •
Burst balloons: 3 per week (bus), 12 per week (bike)
The average 12-mile commute to work produces roughly 12 pounds of CO2 (depending on your mileage, you produce one pound of CO2 for every mile driven). Even diesel buses are greener than cars when you factor in the number of passengers on board. Give the bus a shot once a week for a year. Or give your legs and heart a workout by commuting on a bike and save even more.

To sum it all up, after a year of these efforts, you’ll have kept over 7,000 balloons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. That’s about 3.5 tons of CO2 off the average carbon footprint.

Put a Stop to Your Junk Mail

by Shana Fong on May 19, 2010
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Around 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to send junk mail to Americans every year, according to greendimes.com. You can stop 75% of unsolicited mail by registering on the Mail Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association Website (for a fee of $1). Within 90 days, most unsolicited mail will stop.

Source: The Daily Green

Give your Fridge an Efficiency Boost

by Shana Fong on May 18, 2010
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Do you need an new fridge?
Refrigerators built before 1993 use twice the energy as any of today’s Energy Star refrigerators. The back-up fridge in your basement or garage may be the largest electricity user in your home and your biggest savings opportunity.

If your refrigerator is more than 10 years old, it may be so inefficient that a new Energy Star refrigerator could pay for itself in energy savings in just a few years. When shopping around, keep in mind that side-by-side refrigerator-freezer models use about 7 to 13 percent more electricity than freezer-on-top or on-bottom models.

Refrigerator Efficiency Tips:

  • Refrigerator Positioning – To maximize the efficiency of your refrigerator, position the unit away from heat sources such as ovens, dishwashers, and windows with direct sunlight. Allow at least two inches of clearance around the unit for good air circulation.
  • Door Seals – The rubber door seals on your refrigerator and freezer seal the cold air inside. If they are worn out, the compressor has to work harder to maintain the proper temperature. You can check whether your refrigerator door seals are in good working order by placing a bright flashlight inside the refrigerator. Direct the flashlight toward a section of the door seal, close the door and darken the room. If you see an light shining through the cracks, you may need to have the seals replaced. Be sure to reposition the flashlight to check the entire length of the seal.
  • Clean the Coils – A refrigerator coil brush should be used to clean the coils every 6 months so they don’t have to work as hard to dissipate heat from the fridge. Don’t forget to unplug the refrigerator before cleaning.

Fast Facts from Energy Star:

  • A pre-1993 fridge costs $110 per year in electricity.
  • U.S. households have 44.5 million fridges over 10 years old, 12.7 million of which are secondary units, often in basements and garages. And some homes have three fridges!
  • 16.9 million household freezers are over 10 years old – that’s 44 percent of all freezers.
  • Combined, the inefficient appliances above use $4.9 billion per year in energy costs.
  • New ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators must be at least 20 percent more energy efficient than the minimum federal standard. New ENERGY STAR qualified freezers must be at least 10 percent more efficient than the minimum federal standard.
  • Every step we take to become more energy efficient and lessen our impact on global climate change is a step to preserve energy resources and our environment for generations to come. Just think: if every American home replaced its old refrigerators and freezers with ENERGY STAR qualified models, together, we would save…

    • * Enough energy to light more than 8.3 million homes for an entire year.
    * Nearly $1.8 billion in annual energy costs.
    * Annual greenhouse gases emissions equivalent to that of nearly 2.1 million cars, or nearly 1% of all registered automobiles in the United States. That is more than the number of registered autos in the entire state of Connecticut. Lined up bumper to bumper, those cars would stretch from New York to Los Angeles and back.

Green Basics – Dispelling the Myths

by Shana Fong on April 30, 2010
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Treehugger has a fantastic section called “Green Basics” in which they cover the hottest topics in going green. They break topics down into digestible chunks and help you cut through the greenwashing to decide between paper or plastic and whether biodiesel really is all that.

The article on offshore drilling is particularly relevant these days with Obama announcing plans to expand offshore drilling – and then a month later, the most disastrous oil spill possibly ever occurring in the Gulf of Mexico.

Offshore Drilling: Worth the Oil, or False Hope?
With fuel prices and consumption dominating the news—not to mention our country’s future energy policy—we offer a quick primer on the complex subject of offshore drilling. How much oil do we currently produce from offshore drilling, and how much might we potentially recover? What’s the status of the moratorium banning offshore drilling in various areas? What are the environmental risks? And perhaps most importantly, what is the psychological impact of thinking that offshore oil holds promise as a source of abundant, less-expensive oil when nothing could be farther from the truth?

Offshore Drilling: Background Info
The term offshore drilling refers to the extracting of oil from fields that lie beneath the ocean floor, anywhere from a few hundred feet to 200 miles off the coast. The first offshore well was drilled in 1887 from a wooden wharf off Summerland, California; technology improvements have made it possible to drill in deeper water and farther from shore ever since. Today, some 4,000 platforms operate in the U.S. federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, primarily off the coastlines of Louisiana and Texas, and off the coast of Alaska, producing approximately 565 million barrels of oil per year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s overview of offshore activity. U.S. offshore oil production of 565 million barrels per year equates to roughly 1.5 million barrels per day; contrast that figure with U.S. current oil consumption of 21 million barrels per day.

Offshore Drilling: What’s the Fuss
The debate about offshore drilling stems from questions over how much oil potentially could be recovered from underwater fields versus the time and cost, both in dollars and environmental impact, related to that process. Common misperceptions notwithstanding, the debate does NOT stem from notions that offshore drilling could eliminate U.S. need for foreign oil (at current consumption, the U.S. uses 8 billion barrels of oil per year; conventionally recoverable oil from offshore drilling is thought to be 18 billion barrels total ever—not per year). The debate does NOT stem from notions that offshore drilling would guarantee lower fuel prices (oil is a global commodity, and U.S. production is not big enough to influence global prices).

Offshore Drilling: Environmental Risks
Environmental risks associated with offshore drilling include discharges or spills of toxic materials, interference with marine life, damage to coastal habitats, and effects on the economic base of coastal communities. Recent research suggests that transporting the oil poses greater threats than the drilling process itself. In Louisiana, the 10,000 miles of canals dug to transport oil and lay pipelines contribute to coastal erosion because the canals crisscross the state’s coastal wetlands. While technology improvements have lessened the occurrence of oil spills in the last 40 years, the Minerals Management Service, a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation’s natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf, projects about one oil spill per year of at least 1,000 barrels in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 40 years. Every three to four years, it says, a spill of at least 10,000 barrels can be expected. Those spills could potentially hit the beaches of western Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.

Offshore Drilling: The Moratorium
Rights to U.S. offshore areas are shared between the states and the federal government according to various acts passed over the years. Specifically, the states have jurisdiction over any natural resources within 3.45 miles of their coastline (except Texas and the west coast of Florida where the jurisdiction extends to 10.35 miles), and the U.S. has rights up to 200 miles off the coastline. Offshore drilling has been banned in various areas thought to be particularly environmentally sensitive over the years. An offshore oil moratorium that had been in effect since 1981 expired October 1, 2008. With the lifting of the ban, areas in the Gulf of Mexico can be opened up for drilling by the federal government. Additionally, areas off the coasts of California, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia can be opened up if those states approve. According to an Nov. 12, 2008, MMS press release, the agency has already begun the process for approving leases off the coast of Virginia. However, offshore drilling in new areas won’t deliver a drop of oil for ten years, according to numbers cited by the Bush administration two years ago. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration recently did a detailed study of the likely outcome of offshore drilling for their Annual Energy Outlook 2007, and concluded that increased access would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil production or prices before 2030.

Offshore Drilling: False Hope
It’s too soon to tell what the real impact of the moratorium being lifted will be. But the psychological impact of knowing there is more oil available to be drilled may be a negative for Americans’ energy-mindedness. “Thinking that there is more oil to be drilled offshore gives people a false sense of hope that there’s actually enough oil out there to make us energy independent,” says Jonathan Dorn, staff researcher at the Earth Policy Institute. “Nothing could be farther from the truth. The DOE data shows that there’s an insignificant amount of proven oil reserves, plus it will take five or 10 years to drill the oil given the existing backlog in the offshore fleet and other factors.” A similar view is shared by Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope: “All the debate about drilling this year accomplished nothing other than serving as a distraction from real energy solutions. Every time Congress tries to implement real clean energy solutions, the oil industry and its allies demand a ransom. Once the politically-charged election season is over we will be able to revisit this issue as part of a comprehensive energy bill that moves us away from dependence on oil and invests in clean energy solutions.”

Offshore Drilling: Facts and Figures

  • Offshore drilling currently accounts for 30 percent of total U.S. oil production.
  • The United States currently produces approximately 1.5 millions barrels of oil per day from offshore drilling, and consumes nearly 21 million barrels of oil per day.
  • The United States currently consumes nearly 8 billion barrels of oil per year.
  • The Minerals Management Service estimated there were 76 billion barrels of “remaining undiscovered technically recoverable” oil in U.S. offshore regions, but this estimate represents the “potential hydrocarbons of an area that can be produced using current technology, without any consideration to economic feasibility.” Of this 76 billion barrels, 18 billion are considered “conventionally recoverable.” Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Overview report.
  • One barrel equals 42 gallons of crude oil.
  • Of the crude oil consumed in the U.S., 66 percent is imported.
  • U.S. oil production currently occurs onshore in the lower 48 states (2.9 million barrels per day), offshore (1.4 million barrels per day primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, plus 0.7 million barrels per day off Alaska).
  • Lifting the moratoria on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) would reduce the price of a gallon of gasoline by at most a few cents—and this would not be seen for at least another decade.
  • Oil is traded as a global commodity and its price is set on the world market. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could simply reduce exports to negate even the nominal potential price reduction.

Here are a couple more of our favorite articles:

VOCs: Volatile Organic Compounds, Indoor Air Quality and Respiratory Health
You can’t see them, but they’re all around us. They aren’t listed as ingredients on the objects we bring in our home, but they’re often there. They’re volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, a wide range of carbon-based molecules (organic compounds) used in a wide range of products that find their way into our homes. Under normal conditions, they vaporize, effectively leaving their host and entering the air, where they combine with other airborne compounds to form ozone, which isn’t good to breathe.

Eating Local Food: The Movement, Locavores and More
The local food movement, eating local, being on the “100 mile diet” or being a locavore are all synonymous with local food, an idea that has risen to prominence as an important part of the larger green movement. Local food integrates production, processing, distribution and consumption on a small scale, creating sustainable local economies and a strong connection between farm and table.

Learn the myriad environmental, social, economical and agricultural benefits of supporting small family farms and seasonal food grown right in your own backyard.

Global Warming for Dummies

by Shana Fong on
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The Environmental Protection Agency recently released a digestible report breaking down the science behind climate change. Here are some highlights from the report:

Worldwide greenhouse gas emissions have increased 26% from 1990 to 2005. Carbon dioxide emissions, responsible for 75% of total emissions, increased 31%.

This image speaks for itself. The extent of Arctic sea ice last year was 24% below the average from 1979-2000.

And here’s a visual representation on plant hardiness in the US and the trend moving northward, with zone 3 areas almost completely disappearing.


See the full EPA report here.

Source: Treehugger

Upcoming Event 4/21: An Introduction to Home Performance @ Nomad Cafe

by Daniel Bell on April 19, 2010
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  • Did you know that US homes emit twice as many greenhouse gases as cars?
  • Is your home cold and drafty with high bills?
  • Do you have indoor allergies or children with asthma?

Learn about how home performance can reduce your carbon footprint, reduce energy bills, and increase health and comfort this Wednesday April 21st.

Join Daniel Bell, Home Performance Specialist with Recurve, for a cup of coffee or tea and a presentation and Q&A session at 6:30 PM at Nomad Cafe in Oakland.

An Introduction to Home Performance

Wednesday, April 21st, 6:30 PM

Nomad Cafe

6500 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CA 94609 (4 blocks from Ashby BART)

Questions?

Contact Daniel.Bell@recurve.com or 415.294.5380 x118

About Nomad Cafe: Nomad Cafe is a certified green cafe serving triple certified fair trade, organic and shade grown coffee. 95% of the cafe’s waste is composted or recycled.

Report: Spare-fridge trend undermines energy savings

by Marcia on April 7, 2010
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Many people who splurge on high-tech eco-friendly refrigerators are undermining their environmental efforts by continuing to use their old, inefficient fridges, according to a new study. A quarter of houses now have two refrigerators, the report found, and the rate is increasing by about one percentage point each year. “You’re not saving any money on efficiency if you’re keeping that old one plugged in,” warned one green-energy expert.

Source:
The New York Times/Green Inc. blog (3/19)

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