Energy Prices Rising
Georgia Power Company has filed for another rate increase, this one 7 percent in 2008, with additional increases in 2009 and 2010. You can offset these increases by improving the energy efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of your facilities. Send for Energy Ace's Energy Audit information. |
31 States Join to Create the U.S. Climate Registry
States once again take the lead over the federal government on climate change,
this time creating a voluntary reporting program to begin tracking greenhouse
gas emissions state by state. Thirty-one states, representing
over 70 percent of the U.S. population, have banded together to create
a Climate Registry, marking the largest national effort to take action
on climate change.
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My City is Greener than Yours
Up from 532 Mayors last month, now 600 Mayors in all 50 States and Puerto Rico have signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
Under the Agreement, the participating cities commit to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.
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Upcoming Events
LEED for New Construction and Major
Renovations Technical Review Workshop
August 9, 2007, Atlanta, GA. For information, click
here. Receive Energy Ace's LEED NC Factsheet.
LEED for Schools Technical Review Workshop
September
29, 2007, Atlanta, GA.
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Phone: 866-610-LEED
114 New Street, Suite H, Decatur, GA 30030
178 Orchid Ridge Trail, Whittier, NC 28789
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We hope you enjoy this newsletter and find it informative and helpful. Please forward to others who can use this information by using the "forward email" link at the bottom.
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LEED Still Growing Fast
USGBC is approaching it's 8,000th registered building and just a few weeks ago welcomed its 10,000 member. Growth continutes unabated. And now, all LEED projects egistering after June 26, 2007 are required to achieve at least 2 Optimize Energy
Performance points. The goal of the points is to immediately
increase LEED's impact in reducing building energy related greenhouse gas
emissions. This increases the importance of integrated energy modeling. Contact Energy Ace for LEED energy modeling information.
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Green Schools
If mayors from across the country have their way,
every child in America will be attending a green school within a
generation.
In a move to better support the health and well-being
of America's students, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), which
represents more than 1,100 mayors, unanimously supported a green
schools resolution last week at its 75th annual meeting in Los Angeles. Send for Energy Ace's LEED for Schools Factsheet. |
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South Carolina in the Lead AgainSouth Carolina's latest budget
includes a $300 sales tax rebate for the purchase of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Since the vehicles won't be commercially available for some time, a more
realistic rebate goes to the mechanically inclined, who can earn a $500 sales
tax rebate for the purchase of equipment to convert a standard hybrid to a
plug-in hybrid. The budget also includes a $300 sales tax rebate for buyers of
fuel cell vehicles and an equal, but more pragmatic, sales tax rebate for buyers
of flexible-fuel vehicles, which are readily available today. To encourage
alternative fuels, the budget also includes incentives of 5 cents per gallon for
the sale of E85 (a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) and B20
(a diesel blend containing 20 percent biodiesel). South Carolina also passed a bill last week that includes tax credits for new
ethanol or biodiesel production facilities. These acts, coupled with the new bill mandating LEED Silver in new state facilities greater than 10,000 square feet in size puts SC in the lead of progessive energy and environmental programs in the Southeast. Get Energy Ace's LEED Factsheet.
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 Vampires Among Us
Lurking in every office and home are electronic vampires, sucking electricity all the time even when the host appliance is turned off.
We are referring to the DC power supplies that run or charge so many office and home appliances and devices such as any digital displays, timers, transmitters, DC motors or lighting, speakers,
switches, remote controls or batteries - these all have DC power supplies that consume electricity even if the charged device, like a cell phone, is not even connected.
Computer monitors are especially insidious. In sleep mode, with a screen saver on, they
cost $25 a year more for electricity than when turned completely off.
A recent study of over 800 power supplies found that the worst of them consumed 1-3 watts even if nothing was connected to them.
A recent Federal government estimate showed that power supplies consumed a total of 52 billion kilowatt hours of
electricity annually - equal to more than 25 average-size power plants - and
cost consumers over $1 billion per year. If everyone in the United States were
to start using more efficient Energy Star appliances and devices, they could
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 billion pounds of carbon dioxide annually
- the equivalent of taking 3 million cars off the road. |
Only in California Another first from California: Energy Efficiency Regulations for Hot Tubs. Yes, in ground enclosures and lids for hot tubs have to be insulated to R-6 and gas heaters cannot have a pilot light. Only in California would hot tubs be a big enough energy-consumer to require state regulations!
For the rest of us who have hot tubs or heated swimming pools, the following tips are offered: keep hot tub temps to 102F. shift water heating to off-peak times, turn down the thermostat when you're away for an extended period of time, drain the hot tub only when necessary, and, for heated swimming pools the best suggestion of all - use a floating insulation blanket to not only savce energy but also save water and pool treatment chemicals.
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Car Talk
Toyota Motor Corporation announced in mid-June that it will double the number
of hybrid models it sells by early in the next decade and will accelerate its
research and development of plug-in hybrid vehicles. Including its Lexus
division, Toyota currently sells 10 hybrid models, although not all are
available in the United States. Next year, the company plans to introduce
vehicles that can run on ethanol in Brazil, and is considering introducing the
vehicles in the United States.
Back home,
the big three automakers have pledged to double their production of
flexible-fuel vehicles. And a good thing, too -- researchers recently found
that cars produced by General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler are responsible
for about three-quarters of the carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles on U.S.
roads each year.
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