Category Archives: Conservation & Efficiency

Compulsory Energy Audits on the Way?

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In the last week of February, the Ontario legislature presented the Green Energy Act. The Act includes renewable energy development plans that could generate as many as 50,000 jobs for the Canadian province. Amongst the other parts of the bill is a provision that makes it mandatory homes for sale in Ontario have an energy rating attached to it.

This rating will be generated by a home inspection using standardized evaluation criteria yet to be finalized. The controversy is around what a negative rating might do to home prices throughout Ontario.

The appliances we put in our house all have energy ratings and we certainly pay attention to these when we make consumer choices. Could a ratings for the whole house be far behind? An informal survey of local real estate agents revealed that home buyers often request energy bills from the seller before putting in an offer. So the question is: Will our state or federal government make home energy ratings compulsory as part of a larger energy  efficient initiative?

Warm Home Cool Planet would like to remind all Cambridge residents and businesses they can arrange a FREE energy audit for their home or business. Why not do it while you still have the choice?

To learn about the other major initiatives in Ontario’s Green Energy Act, read this interview with George Smitherman, Ontario’s minister of energy and infrastructure at Green Inc., the New York Times energy blog.

Will the Stimulus Bill produce a surge in energy efficiency projects?

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When President Obama was interviewed on 60 Minutes a couple of months ago, he was asked if the drop in energy prices caused by the recession would cause him to delay many of the renewable energy and energy efficiency project he had talked about during his campaign.

His unequivocal answer to interviewer Steve Kroft: “It’s more important to do it now.”

The President has been good as his word, including close to $100 billion within the recently passed stimulus package. Yesterday’s New York Times details how that money will find its way into local communities and provide a much needed boost to their flagging economies.

Green is the New Crimson

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Harvard University has opened a Office of Sustainability. This marks the formalization of the long running Campus Green Initiative at Harvard. The creation of this organization is tied to the University’s long-term energy use. The goal they are aiming for is simple:

30% reduction from 2006 campus-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2016.

The office has an interesting business model for funding insofar as only 20% of their operating expenses comes from the Harvard’s general fund. The other 80% is generated from working with various University departments on a fee-for-service basis to produce energy and cost savings on building maintenance and construction, and to help each department adopt green policies in operations and procurements. Way to go Harvard!

Cambridge Energy Barnraising

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Last week, we showed you how a local Cambridge organization (HEET–Home Energy Efficiency Team) ‘weatherizes’ a house for fellow Cambridge residents.  Weatherizing a house involves making some basic non-structural changes to a house to reduce the energy needed for heating and cooling and save money on utilities. The homeowner supplies all the materials and HEET provides the knowledge and manpower needed to finish all energy efficiency improvements in a single day.

It’s a great community activity and a fantastic way to meet your fellow Cambridge residents while learning from skilled tradesmen how you can make your own home more energy efficient. And there is always a party to celebrate the completion of another successful Weatherization Barnraising.

The next HEET Weatherization Barnraising is scheduled for Sunday, March 1 between 12:30—5 pm at 120 Chestnut Street and 100 Henry Street, Cambridgeport.

The Work to be carried out on site includes:

  • Spraying the basement rimjoist using RetroFoam, led by Tom Lawler (the head of RetroFoam, a Massachusetts-based insulation company)
  • Using Plexiglas to insulate windows
  • Repairing drywall
  • Weatherizing doors
  • Possible building of an insulated cover for an attic hatch

The number of participants will be limited to assure that everyone has guidance and support from a skilled team leader.  You can sign up today by contacting Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman@gis.net or 617-876-4753.

Local company to make energy efficient stereo for Chevy Volt.

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Framingham-based Bose Corporation has long been known for it’s innovative and high-quality sound products. The Bose Wave we have at Warm Home Cool Planet HQ is without a doubt the best investment we have made in the last 3 years.

Now, Bose will be part of the revival of an American icon. Right after the first Chevy Volt hits the road in 2010, GM will be releasing a newer version with a Bose Energy Efficient Sound Series that uses 50% less energy than any previous car-based Bose system. This will go a long way towards achieving the Volt’s promised 40 miles operating range on electrical power only. That number is significant as it covers the daily commute of over 70% of the working population of the US.

Stimulus Package Passes Senate. Our greener future?

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us_flag_greenAfter a great deal of political posturing, the Senate passed its version of the stimulus bill yesterday.

Within the bill are several important measures aimed at increasing our energy security, encouraging investment that will create new green jobs and start to addresss climate change. Given the last eight years of inaction on these fronts, Warm Home Cool Planet is hoping that this spending–which adds up to just under $100 billion of the $815 billion approved–will prove to any doubters that the interests of business and the environment can be mutual. Indeed, it would be impossible for one to have much of a future without the other.

As with all things political nothing is settled until the ink is dry on President Obama’s signature. There are some significant differences between the Senate Stimulus bill and the one passed by the House last month. Here’s the breakdown on energy spending for the respective bills. How those differences are resolved will decide how good the Stimulus Package is for our economy–and our planet.

The President has already made his feelings known on energy efficiency provisions within the bill. From yesterday’s press conference on the Stimulus package:

“When people suggest that, ‘What a waste of money to make federal buildings more energy-efficient.’ Why would that be a waste of money?

We’re creating jobs immediately by retrofitting these buildings or weatherizing 2 million Americans’ homes, as was called for in the package… that right there creates economic stimulus. We are saving taxpayers when it comes to federal buildings potentially $2 billion. In the case of homeowners, they will see more money in their pockets… we’re reducing our dependence on foreign oil in the Middle East. Why wouldn’t we want to make that kind of investment?

Warm Home Cool Planet encourages you to contact your local members of Congress and make your voice heard. Here in Cambridge, our House member is Michael Capuano, the former mayor of Somerville.

To find your local member/s, go here and type in your zip code.

HEET Barnraisings—a green twist on an old idea

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You may remember the scene from the 1985 movie Witness starring Harrison Ford. A group of Amish people converge on a neighbor’s property and assemble a barn in a single montage, a single day. A Cambridge-based co-op  HEET (for Home Energy Efficiency Team) does weatherization work that’s less lofty, but arguably more important to the modern world. It’s a model for what can be done by harnessing the power of progressive community which emerged during the Obama campaign.

As Bob the Builder might say, ‘Can We Caulk it? Yes we can!’

Combining the materials purchased by the homeowner with free knowhow and labor from HEET, the team has weatherized several low-income  homes in Cambridge, with the goal of performing a barn-raising per month. As they do so, they transfer the skills needed to make—and keep— a home more energy efficient to both homeowners and groups of new volunteers. The energy savings persist, putting cash in the pockets of Cambridge residents, which can be spent in the local economy in different ways—a Cambridge mini-stimulus.

HEET grew out of neighborhood organization called GreenPort. The purpose of both groups, according to co-founder Steve Morr-Wineman, is to bring neighbors together to respond to the environmental crisis. A recent project included weatherizing the Cambridgeport Public School, a pioneering public-private-volunteer collaboration with the savings going back to Cambridge’s tax-payers.

Daily KOS thinks the model needs to go national, and so does Warm Home Cool Planet.

Somerville, MA will soon hold their first weatherization barnraising and Watertown, Brookline, Lexington, Medford, Milton, Newton, Beverly, and Boston are thinking about starting their own groups.  I think it would be a good idea for this idea to go nation-wide.  In fact, a weatherization barnraising on the White House might be a very good way to kick-start that process.

Our hats off to the HEET team. You’re doing great work. Expect to hear from us soon.

Boston Globe reporter gets audited

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No, our local paper is not in trouble with the taxman (that’s just President Obama’s cabinet picks) but Geoff Edgers from the Boston Globe decided that his heating bills were getting out of control. So he called up his energy provider-National Grid-who sent over a Conservation Services Group auditor to perform a thorough check up on his 100 year old home. Among the pleasant suprises-free CFL light globes to replace his incandescant bulbs. Watch the video below to see what else Geoff learned while making his home more energy efficient. If you’re a Cambridge resident, you can sign up now for your own FREE home energy audit.

Crawlspace 101

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This weekend, Warm Home Cool Planet received a message from Lands’ End specifically targeting everyone shivering their way through winter here in Massachusetts.

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You know it’s cold when folks from Wisconsin are sending you winter sympathy messages via email. Beyond how cold it might be outside, the recent patch of artic weather here in Cambridge has resulted in lots of time spent inside for most residents. For Warm Home Cool Planet, that also means plenty of time to ponder why the ground floor of the house is always colder than the floors above.

A quick search around the Internet revealed a wealth of information on how most houses–particularly those built before the 1970s–don’t have properly insulated crawlspaces.

So if your bottom floor feels like a skating rink, find out why crawl space vapor is reducing your comfort–and increasing your heating bills. We also recommend looking at your all your options for properly sealing and insulating your crawlspace. Depending on the situation under your house, you need to check your polyethylene sheet has the right thickness, and you have the right kind of membrane to deal with moisture build up under your flooring.

Keeping Warm in the Winter: Warm Home Cool Planet Survey of Surveys

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If one does a Google search on ‘keeping warm in the winter,’ you’ll find dozens of articles from all over the world, with tips and advice on how to keep warm without breaking the bank. There’s a lot of overlap in these lists, but occasionally you find a unique idea or two. Many of these lists are aimed at the elderly, who have to balance warmth issues with other issues (avoiding slips and falls). You’ll also find a great deal of disagreement about the safety and utility of closing off vents in unused parts of a structure heated by a forced air furnace.

The tips are all common-sensical. But one thing we’ve noticed at Warm Home Cool Planet, if you pile up enough common sense, you frequently find you’ve created an uncommonly useful resource. We read through dozens of postings with the reality of Cambridge winter in mind.

Our Survey of Surveys found the following categories of suggestions:

  • Eliminate drafts—It’s not just about saving money and the planet, it’s about comfort. One thing we hadn’t seen before were these insulated window blinds with magnetic seals at the edges, which come from, no surprise, Montana.
  • Set up a warm room safely—(without causing furnace problems; this means being careful about how many heating vents, if any, you shut. One rule of thumb is to never shut vents that supply more than 15% of your homes total cubic heating volume, and if you are using a heat pump, don’t shut off vents ever, period.)
  • Dress in air-trapping thin layers—much discussion of thermal underwear; downhill skiers seem to know a lot about this.
  • Exercise moderately and appropriately for your age and physical condition.
  • Eat and drink enough; eat and drink warm things.
  • Only use space heaters safely and responsibly. If you die, you will soon grow cold and the space heater will be a waste of money.