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Fond Farewell!
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A fond farewell to Green Homes Program Coordinator, Sabrina Harder, who has found a permanent position with the Maryland Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. She is very excited about the opportunity to work with this organization and will be sorely missed.
Lisa Orr will be resuming her coordinating role with the Green Homes Challenge.
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Don't Guess,
Get a Soil Test!
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Are you using the right type and amount of lawn fertilizer?
Request a free soil test kit to find out. Email
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Residential
RESOURCES for
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
&
Renewable Energy
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 EVENTS &TRAINING
Stream Survey
Catoctin Creek Park & Nature Center
Saturday, July 13
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Frederick County Nature Council Meeting
Fountain Rock Park & Nature Center
Monday, July 15
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Solarize 201 Workshop
Myersville Town Hall
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Green Drinks Frederick Film Series
Quynn's Attic
Wednesday, July 24
5:30 p.m. (Film begins at 6:00 p.m.)
Solarize 201 Workshop
Jefferson Ruritan Club
Tuesday, July 30
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Frederick County Nature Council Meeting
Fountain Rock Park & Nature Council
Monday, August 19
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Frederick County Sustainability Commission Meeting
Winchester Hall
Wednesday, August 21
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Green Drinks Frederick Film Series
Quynn's Attic
Wednesday, August 28
5:30 p.m. (Film begins at 6:00 p.m.)
Frederick County Nature Council Meeting
Fountain Rock Park & Nature Center
Monday, September 16
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Frederick County Sustainability Commission Meeting
Winchester Hall
Wednesday, September 18
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Frederick Green Drinks
Quynn's Attic
Wednesday, September 18
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Green Drinks Frederick Film Series
Quynn's Attic
Wednesday, September 25
5:30 p.m. (Film begins at 6:00 p.m.)
Save the Date!
Maryland Tour of Solar & Green Homes
October 5 & 6, 2013
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BUSINESS RESOURCES FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS & RENEWABLE ENERGY
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Making Connections
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Sustainability Commission member Tom Anderson was the first to have a solar electric system installed through the Solarize Frederick County initiative.
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Greetings!
As the sun beats down on this hot July day, I am grateful for all of the insulation work that was performed on my home this year. I am looking forward to seeing how much our energy bills have decreased from last year, when the heat gain from the sun turned our home into a giant brick oven. I am also thinking of those smart folks who are making cost-effective investments in solar energy to power their homes and businesses. Check out Frederick County's Solarize Initiative, which provides grants and volume incentives for homeowners who invest in solar electric and hot water heating with vetted contractors. Sign a contract before the deadline of August 30 (or sooner, before the grants run out) to get great deals! Also, read about Emmitsburg Glass; the company is saving $3,500 per month on its electricity bills from switching to solar.
July is also the month for property tax bills. You may have noticed a one cent charge on your tax bill for the County's new stormwater utility fee. Read our Mythbusters section to learn more about the fee and about how Frederick County is actually spending millions of dollars a year to protect and restore urban water quality. The current budget, which began July 1, includes $3.6M for stormwater restoration and protection!
You may have seen the recent front page story in the Frederick News-Post about the findings of our Frederick County Stream Survey. Learn more about how this four-year study establishes baseline conditions for water quality in Frederick County. Check out the fact sheets for your watershed to learn more about water quality in your local stream, and compare your watershed to others in Frederick County.
This month we also welcomed the 1000th user to the new Green Homes Challenge website! Read below to learn more about FrederickGreenChallenge.org and the impact households are making by taking individual actions to save energy, adopt green lifestyle practices and use renewable energy.
Happy summer!
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MCWA UPDATES | |
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SOLARIZE FREDERICK COUNTY UPDATE
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 | | Astrum staff at the solar installation demonstration at the Costanzo residence in the Villages of Urbana. |
Solarize Frederick County,
a special initiative of the Green Homes Challenge, offers volume purchase discounts and incentive grants for both solar electric and solar hot water systems. The initiative has taken off since the enrollment period launched on April 26. More than 350 households have expressed interest and more than 200 have requested free solar assessments from our selected installers, Astrum Solar for solar electric systems, and Solar Energy Services for solar hot water systems.
As of press time, 35 contracts for solar electric systems had been signed for a total installed capacity of 281.6 kilowatts (kW). That put the program over the 250 kW threshold for Tier 5 pricing -- the maximum discount level for all participants. This results in a discount of 23.7% from Astrum's retail rate for residential systems in our area. The initial 30 Solarize incentive grants (up to $2,500 per system) were all awarded by early July, but a special arrangement with Astrum led to 4 additional $2,000 grants.
Incentive grants of up to $1,000 are still available for solar hot water systems. These systems are extremely efficient and very cost effective for either larger households using electricity or propane to heat their hot water, or any household using a boiler fueled by oil to heat hot water. As of press time 3 contracts for solar hot water systems had been signed for a total installed equivalent capacity of 8.56 kW.
There is still time to participate! The enrollment period will remain open until August 30, 2013. Visit www.SolarizeFrederick.org to learn about upcoming Solarize workshops, our installers, pricing, incentive grants, cost reduction examples, and more. To participate, just sign up for a free solar assessment of your property.
Solarize Frederick County participants must be registered with the Green Homes Challenge through www.FrederickGreenChallenge.org. There is still time to certify as a Power Saver and Certified Power Savers are eligible for higher incentive grants for solar hot water systems!
If you have questions about the program, contact Lisa Orr at LOrr@FrederickCountyMD.gov or 301.600.6864.
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WATERSHED MANAGEMENT UPDATE:
4-Year Study of Local Water Quality Completed |
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Bugs are good indicators of pollution. This graphic is used to convey stream health in the Watershed Fact Sheets.
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The Frederick County Stream Survey (FCSS) was developed to help County staff determine the health of our streams. Between 2008 and 2011, scientists visited 200 sites throughout Frederick County to collect important information including the amount of forest along stream banks, the amount of stream bank erosion, levels of particular pollutants in the water, stream bug samples, and more.
This is the first study of its kind in Frederick County and its results will help guide management programs to better protect and restore local waters. The final report summarizes the study findings for the entire County. The County also developed Watershed Fact Sheets that summarize the findings for each of the County's 20 watersheds. Individual watershed fact sheets are available for download here.
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GREEN HOMES CHALLENGE UPDATE:
Go Green, $ave Green with FrederickGreenChallenge.org | |
Looking to save on energy bills, improve your local environment, or use clean renewable energy? The Green Homes Challenge, coordinated by Frederick County's Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources (OSER), helps households take practical steps at home to reduce utility bills and conserve resources.
There are now over 1,000 registered users on the new interactive
Challenge website. Users can browse resources and track their points as they work towards certification in the Power Saver, Green Leader, and Renewable Star Challenges. Certified households are eligible for annual prize drawings at a recognition event. Participating households are already seeing savings on their monthly utility bills, by changing behaviors and improving the energy efficiency of their homes.
Participating households are estimated to have a combined annual savings of $370,581, and over 10 million gallons of water, 43 thousand gallons of gasoline, 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity, and 3 thousand tons of CO2 emissions.
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ENERGY SAVERS:
Hot Water Consumption Key to Energy Savings
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Typical U.S. Household's water consumption by place of use
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In most households, 15 - 25% of the total energy used is for heating water. Familiar recommendations for reducing energy use include insulating hot water heaters and pipes and reducing your hot water heater's thermostat to 120o. Reducing hot water consumption is one of the best and cheapest ways to reduce energy bills. Here are some tips to do just that:
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Don't inadvertently draw hot water when all you need is cold. When hot water is turned on, cold water immediately enters the hot water heater making it run more. A single-handled faucet lifter in the center position will draw hot water.
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Fix drips and leaks. When a hot water faucet drips, cold water enters your hot water heater. Find out how much water you loose from a leaking faucet here.
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Wash clothes in cold water. If you want to wash sheets and towels in water hot enough to kill bacteria, raise the thermostat to 130o for wash day, and then return it to 120o. Timers can also be used for this purpose.
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Take a shower instead of a bath; showering can save up to 10 gallons of hot water, depending on shower length.
More suggestions and details on these tips can be found here.
If you think you may need to replace your hot water heater in the near future, do your research now so you are prepared to make the most energy efficient choice, should your water heater fail and you need to make replacement decisions in a hurry. A good resource for exploring options is
Choosing a New Water Heater the by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
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| BUSINESS CORNER:
Emmitsburg Glass
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Solar Array at Emmitsburg Glass
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Emmitsburg Glass is saving money with solar energy. The company recently hired Energy Systems and Installation (ESI) to install a 1,057 solar panel array (about 254 kilowatts) on the roof of their new facility. The solar panels are expected to offset the company's entire electricity budget. According to Greg Reaver, Vice President of Emmitsburg Glass, the system saves about $3,500 per month. Greg expects the system to pay itself off in about seven years. The system is guaranteed for 25 years by ESI, and should provide free electricity from the sun from year 8 and beyond. Many businesses are asking themselves if solar is the right solution for them now; Corey Wolff, CEO of ESI, suggests that businesses with a tax liability may be good candidates because of the federal tax write-off for these systems. Businesses without this liability may wish to consider a Power Purchase Agreement, where a third party with a tax liability owns the system and the business provides the location for installation and buys the power at a guaranteed rate.
Founded in 1988, Emmitsburg Glass Company, Inc. (located at 100 Creamery Ct. in Emmitsburg, Maryland), is a full service glass and glazing contractor serving the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, primarily in Baltimore, Maryland, Washington DC and Northern Virginia.
Headquartered in Lebanon County, (near Hershey) Pennsylvania, ESI is a turnkey energy solutions provider that works with each client as a long-term energy partner and advisor to find ways to lower utility expenses.
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| MYTHBUSTERS:
MYTH - Frederick County Spends Pennies per Year on Storm Water
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Effective July 2012, the Maryland State Legislature passed the "Stormwater Management - Watershed Protection and Restoration Program", also known as House Bill 987. The text of HB987 can be found here. The law requires nine counties (including Frederick County) and the City of Baltimore to establish a stormwater utility fee on or before July 1, 2013. The Board of County Commissioners voted on May 30, 2013 to adopt a one cent ($0.01) per property annual stormwater utility fee on all eligible properties to comply with HB987.
Frederick County is required to comply with a federal Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4). It has also been given stormwater goals in Maryland's Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL); Bay goals for stormwater will be regulated through future NPDES MS4 permits. HB987 does not affect these goals; it just requires the development of one type of funding mechanism.
Approximately $487.81 is expected to be collected in year one of the fee from property bills that were sent out July 1, 2013, based on collecting one cent from each of an estimated 48,781 eligible properties. Funds collected through the fee will be set aside to pay for stormwater- related activities as required by the law. The county has spent an average of $2.5M per year on stormwater permit compliance through the general fund from taxes. It plans to continue funding through the general fund. The county has increased its funding in Fiscal Year 2014 by over one million dollars to $3.6M and is on track to increase funding in FY'15 to $4.7M. More information is available here.
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OSER SUMMER INTERN: Matthew Warne
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Matthew Warne has been interning with the Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources this summer, gaining experience with energy conservation, environmental policy, grant proposal, stormwater management strategy, and other hands on projects. He has been making a lot of phone calls to Green Homes Challenge Takers to encourage them to use the new website and to Point of Rocks residents regarding some watershed assessments in that community. Matthew is a Frederick City resident and will return to the University of Maryland for his senior year this fall. He plans to graduate with a degree in environmental science and go directly into graduate school for chemical engineering, with a focus on cancer research.
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KUDOS:
Staff and Sustainability Commission Members
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Colby Ferguson, Business Development Specialist of Frederick County's Department of Business Development and Retention, for his appointment to the Maryland Governor's Intergovernmental Commission on Agriculture;
Dick Ishler, Frederick County Sustainability Commission Member, who was recently awarded the National Association of REALTORS Green Professional designation for his knowledge and leadership with energy efficiency and smart building practices;
Tim Jones, Frederick County Sustainability Commission Member, who helped form a local nonprofit chapter of the national group, Efficiency First, and became its first Treasurer. Efficiency First is a national nonprofit trade association that unites the Home Performance workforce, building product manufacturers, and related businesses and organizations in the escalating fight against global warming and rising energy costs.
Jessica Seipp, Heather Montgomery, and Darlene Bucciero, for completing the intensive Project Management Certification training and passing the exam! These staff members manage projects in the Watershed Management Section for OSER that range from tree plantings to Capital Improvement Projects to Industrial Discharge Permit compliance and many more.
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The Frederick County Sustainability and Environmental Resources Office advances practical solutions for protecting the environment, conserving energy, and living sustainably in Frederick County.
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