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 Shana 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)

The Difference between Free and Paid Home Energy Audits

by Shana Fong on March 30, 2010
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Here’s another question we hear from customers all the time:

What’s the difference between a free energy audit from a utility company like PG&E, and one that you pay for?

A home energy audit is the first step in understanding how to make your home more energy efficient by uncovering how it uses energy and where it is losing energy. You have a few options when it comes to energy audits:

• Simple do-it-yourself audit: Utilizing a tool such as the ENERGY STAR Home Energy Yardstick, which compares your home’s energy use with others across the country and provides suggestions on improvements
• Free audits offered by utilities, organizations, or companies: A basic assessment conducted by a technician that looks at some of the areas in your home that affect your energy usage and carbon footprint
• Professional audits by home energy companies or raters: A comprehensive assessment performed by a certified auditor that identifies the most cost-effective improvements to address root causes of your concerns and provide long-term solutions

Both DIY and free energy audits are good starting points but vary greatly in process and goals from professional audits. Here’s an illustrative example of how they differ:

Acterra, a local nonprofit organization, offers free audits to homeowners in select areas of the South Bay. Conducted by a team of two trained volunteers over two and a half hours, the “HouseCall” is an introduction to basic energy efficiency and conservation measures. It includes simple upgrades such as changing out light bulbs to compact fluorescents, optimizing refrigerator and water heater temperatures, and installing faucet aerators. Additionally, the volunteers will suggest other tips on other energy-saving upgrades. For renters and homeowners alike, it’s a great first step if you are looking for a simple, no-cost way to reduce your energy usage by up to 10%.

Recurve’s energy audit includes a 20+ point inspection of your home, including blower door testing to assess the leakiness of your home, attic and crawlspace inspections, utility bill data analysis, heating and cooling load calculations (i.e. how much energy it takes to heat and cool your home on the coldest and hottest days of the year, respectively), lighting and appliance audits, and heating, cooling and water heating systems analyses. The result is a comprehensive report on how your home is currently using energy and a roadmap to making your home more healthy, comfortable and efficient. And if you move forward with the improvements, you will often see significant results – most of our customers see upwards of 30-50% in energy reductions.

In sum, free energy audits are a great way to identify easy, DIY fixes to your home and can be utilized by renters and homeowners alike. Professional audits offer a much more thorough look at how your home uses energy and the specific steps you can take to significantly improve efficiency in the most cost-effective path possible.

To clear a few questions/myths up:
• PG&E only offers free audits to businesses, not homes
• If you decide to do the energy upgrades, some professional companies will credit part or all of the audit cost back – making it essentially free
• Beware of free audits offered by companies that are just trying to lure in buyers of their product, instead of relying on a comprehensive whole-home approach

Remember, energy audits alone don’t save energy. Use the information you glean from your home audit to identify the improvements that make the most sense for your energy needs and your budget.

Resources:
• Energy Star’s take on home energy audits: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_audits
• Home Energy Yardstick: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=HOME_ENERGY_YARDSTICK.showGetStarted
• Acterra’s Green@Home program: http://www.acterra.org/programs/greenathome/housecalls.html

Venture Funders Take Aim at Energy Waste

by Shana Fong on January 28, 2010
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‘Energy efficiency to shine in 2010’ reports the San Jose Mercury News

A pair of articles in yesterday’s edition of the San Jose Mercury News shed light on the growing national interest in energy efficiency and on the proposed HOME STAR retrofit incentive program. “Solar and wind power may get the headlines and attention,” the newspaper reported, “but green-tech experts say 2010 will be dominated by energy efficiency, the mundane but critical process of cutting the amount of gas and electricity that homes and offices use.”

Of particular interest to business leaders in the construction and related manufacturing sectors is the fact that investors are increasingly betting on the profitability of reducing energy waste:

Venture capital investment in energy efficiency hit a record in 2009: at least 115 deals worth nearly $1 billion, according to a preliminary tally by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte. That’s up 39 percent from 2008. Meanwhile, solar, which had 84 deals worth about $1.2 billion, was down 64 percent from 2008, and there’s increasing talk about solar being “overfunded.”

“In 2009, there was a pullback and realization by investors that because of the capital intensity of solar, there may be safer places to put their money,” said Scott Smith, U.S. cleantech leader for Deloitte.”

Mercury News staff writer Dana Hull also emphasized the wider economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency: “It’s increasingly seen as an effective way to create desperately needed jobs, save struggling consumers money, wean America from its dependence on foreign oil and reduce carbon emissions – all at the same time.”

A second article provides an overview of the HOME STAR incentive program:

Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, who serves on President Barack Obama’s board of outside economic advisers, is a leading champion for Home Star, which he describes as “Cash for Caulkers.” The idea has widespread support from big-box retailers, labor unions, environmental groups and the construction and contracting industries, which have been devastated by the collapse of the housing market. Although national unemployment remains at about 10 percent, almost a quarter of the nation’s construction workers are unemployed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

We are in an urgent moment where we desperately need jobs,” said Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an architect of the Home Star legislation. “You have business and environmental interests aligned around making this happen, and happen now. I have never seen a coalition this broad and this committed.”

Here are links to the full articles:

“Energy Efficiency to Shine in 2010”
www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14241691

“Government working on ‘Home Star’ Plan for Energy-Efficiency Rebates”
www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14261182?nclick_check=1

How Innovative Financing is Changing Energy in America

by Shana Fong on January 27, 2010
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Here’s a great post on Grist by Recurve friend and client Cisco DeVries, CEO of Renewable Funding.

In this article, Cisco discusses a shift in financing models for energy efficient improvements and renewable energy projects by funding them through loans attached to property tax. Dozens of states and municipalities, including several in the Bay Area such as Berkeley, Sonoma, and San Francisco, have already hopped on the bandwagon – thus demonstrating support for a public-private hybrid financing model that will achieve several goals at once: cutting energy use and carbon emissions, putting Americans back to work, and stimulating economic growth.

Handy Guide to Recycling Nearly Everything

by Shana Fong on January 21, 2010
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On average, individuals throw away 4 pounds of garbage every day. About a third of the waste is from product packaging. If you recycle all your home’s newspapers and newsprint ads, cardboard, glass and metal, you can reduce carbon emissions by 850 pounds a year. Use this list as a handy reference guide for all of your recycling needs:

ALUMINUM
Aluminum refining is a major source of greenhouse gases. Recycling a ton of aluminum saves 37 barrels of oil. When you recycle a beverage can, rather than tossing it in the trash can, you’ll save enough energy to run a computer for 3 hours or a TV for 2 hours. If you have a party and recycle 125 aluminum cans, you’ll save enough energy to power a home for a day.

BATTERIES
Battery acid can be converted to sodium sulfate for laundry detergent, glass and textile manufacturing. For a list of retail chains with drop-off sites for recycling batteries, check with the Rechargeable Batter Recycling Corporation: (678) 419-9990, www.rbrc.org. Battery Solutions will help you dispose of batteries from cell phones, laptop computers, flashlights, cameras, watches, hearing aids, clocks and electronic devices: (800) 852-8127, www.batteryrecycling.com.

CARDBOARD BOXES
Contact local no-profits to see if they can use your boxes, or offer them on www.freecycle.org, or www.craigslist.org. UsedCardboardBoxes.com offers “box rescue” services to businesses with 1,000 or more of the same-sized boxes and resells the boxes to consumers.

CELL PHONES
About 500 million cell phones are taking up shelf space rather than being recycled. You can drop off your old cell phones at large retail chains like Staples, AT&T, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Sprint PCS. You also can donate to recycleplace.com or Collective Good, which refurbishes old cell phones for developing countries: (770) 856-9021, www.collectivegood.com.

COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS
CFLs contain up to 5 milligrams of mercury and should be disposed of properly. For nearby drop-off sites, call 1-800-CleanUp or visit www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling (click “where you live”), or www.earth911.org. You may also deposit CFLs at some large retail chains such as Ikea (www.ikea.com).

COMPOST
Use the searchable database at www.findacomposter.com to locate a composting facility in your area.

COMPUTERS AND E-WASTE
Electronics, such as old computers and televisions, contain chemicals and lead and should be recycled. For computer re-use programs, visit www.recycles.org a non-profit exchange that connects businesses and consumers with nonprofit organizations.

For disposal centers, visit www.earth911.org or call 1-800-CleanUp. The EPA website also provides a list of corporations, such as HP and Dell, that accept computers. For all your other “technotrash,” contact the Consumer Electronics Association at www.mygreenelectronics.org or GreenDisk at (425) 392-8700, www.greendisk.com.

GLASS
By some estimates, it takes about 1 million years for a glass bottle to break down in a landfill. When purchasing glass, look for recycled products. Producing glass from recycled glass requires 30% less energy than producing it from virgin materials.

INK TONER CARTRIDGES
More than 3 quarts of oil are used to produce one laser printer cartridge, and the plastic body takes more than 1,000 years to decompose. Check Earthshare for recycling locations: www.earthshare.org/marketplace.html, or deposit cartridges at participating office supply retail chains. Recycleplace.com will even pay for your old ink cartridges and cell phones: (877) 348-5319.

JUNK MAIL
Junk mail produces more CO2 than 2.8 million cars. To keep junk mail and catalogs out of your mailbox, contact the Direct Marketing Association’s free Mail Preference Service at www.dmachoice.org or try www.41pounds.org which charges $41, donating about 1/3 of proceeds to environmental organizations.

MOTOR OIL
If you recycle just two gallons of used oil, it can generate enough electricity to power the average household for almost 24 hours. Find recycling centers for used motor oil at www.recycleoil.org or call the American Petroleum Institute at (202) 682-8000.

PAPER
If you convince just 3 of your friends to recycle newspapers, you’ll save about 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil, 7,000 gallons of water, and 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity.

When you buy paper, buy recycled! It takes 60% less energy to produce recycled paper and 58% less water than to produce paper from virgin wood pulp. It also generates 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution.

PLASTIC
Two-thirds of the 40 billion plastic bottles produced annually in the US end up in landfills, where plastics need 100 to 400 years to break down. Every ton of plastic bottles recycled saves 3.8 barrels of oil.

Recycling rules for municipalities vary but, in general, most recycling programs accept PET bottles, usually used for soda and water, and HDPE bottles used for milk and laundry detergent. The following items generally should not go into the recycling bin: automotive, pesticide, or solvent bottles, lids or spray pumps, toys, trays, tubs or containers, plastic bags or film.

STEEL CANS & APPLIANCES
Recycle 1 ton of steel, which is used to produce may household appliances, and you’ll save the energy equivalent of 3.6 barrels of oil. That’s 2,500 lbs. of iron ore, 1,400 lbs. of coal and 120 lbs. of limestone.

Check out the Steel Recycling Center’s database of recycling locations for steel cans and appliances: www.recycle-steel.org or call (800) Yes-I-Can. Some charities, such as Goodwill, accept working appliances.

STYROFOAM PACKAGING
Many pack-and-ship stores will accept foam packaging for reuse. For additional foam peanut drop-off locations, contact the Plastic Loose Fill Council at (800) 828-2214. To dispose of large quantities of styrofoam block packaging, go to www.epspackaging.org or contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers at (410) 451-8340.

Thanks to Eco Hatchery for providing the recycling tips.

Mayor Newsom announces San Francisco Sustainable Financing for Green Retrofits

by Shana Fong on December 16, 2009
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Mayor Newsom, Recurve founder Matt Golden, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, and others announce SF Sustainable Financing Program

Mayor Newsom, Recurve founder Matt Golden, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, and others announce SF Sustainable Financing Program

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that San Francisco is introducing legislation to help finance new residential and commercial energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. San Francisco Sustainable Financing Program (SF2) is modeled after similar programs adopted by cities such as Berkeley and Palm Desert, in which the loan for improvements is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and will be paid back through property taxes over the life of the financing.

San Francisco Sustainable Financing (SF2) Highlights:

  • Establishes a citywide “Mello-Roos” Special Tax District.
  • Residential and commercial buildings of all sizes will be eligible.
  • Some of the eligible upgrades include: insulation, replacing windows, upgrading heating systems; water efficiency upgrades—such as installing low flow toilets, potable water offsets, irrigation measures, storm water management improvements; financing will also be available for installation of renewable energy generation on buildings, such as solar arrays, solar water heaters and wind turbines
  • Program phases in a mandate of a whole home energy efficiency audit and the installation of energy efficiency upgrades before renewable energy generation improvements.
  • Private capital to fund the retrofits through Renewable Funding, LLC.
  • Program participants can deduct the interest component of their solar financing tax on their tax returns.
    Similar programs exist currently in Berkeley and Sonoma, and others are under development around the state, but San Francisco’s is the most aggressive and includes comprehensive water and energy efficiency improvements as well as renewable generation like solar.

According to Inhabitat, the genius of San Francisco Sustainable Financing is that it will leverage private market lending and available state and federal grant dollars to help home and business owners overcome the costs of green improvements without financial risk to San Francisco taxpayers. Up to $150 million has been set aside for this new program. This is different than cities with similar “repayment through property tax” solar and environmental improvement programs, where public or City investment dollars are used for financing instead.

No Impact Man invites copycat climate crusaders

by Shana on November 9, 2009
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Colin Beavan, better known as No Impact Man, wants you to turn off the lights, hang up your car keys, quit spending money and curb your carbon impact for a week. The climate campaigner, who recently spent a year living off-grid, hopes that people who follow his example for a few days will develop a lasting awareness of their lifestyle’s environmental impact. Writer Chris George explores Beavan’s eco-friendly lifestyle, noting that many of the major changes were easier to make than expected. <a href=”http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/decor/articles/2009/10/16/20091016lowimpact.html”>The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) (10/16)</a>

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