energy efficiency – Page 3

SuzanneApril 13, 2013Climate Change & Energy, Sustainable Living, Transportationelectric vehicles, energy efficiencyLeave a comment

Electric vehicles at 'Day on the Green'

Enviro Updates

The North Bay Electric Auto Association and Sierra Club’s Sonoma Group co-sponsored a show and tell of electric vehicles at Montgomery Village’s ‘Day on the Green’ in Santa Rosa today. Dealers and enthusiasts brought Leafs, Volts, Fits, Priuses, Teslas and home-converted vehicles to exhibit.
Electric cars are growing in popularity in the North Bay, and charging stations are multiplying. For a current list of stations, go to plugshare.com.

SuzanneMarch 27, 2013Climate Change & Energyenergy efficiency, SCEIP, solarLeave a comment

Court deals blow to county energy retrofit program SCEIP

Brett Wilkison, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A legal fight to protect a program that allows Sonoma County residents to pay for energy-saving retrofits to their homes through property taxes was dealt a significant and possibly final setback last week.

via Court deals blow to county energy retrofit program | PressDemocrat.com.

SuzanneJuly 19, 2012Climate Change & Energy, Waterenergy efficiency, PAYSLeave a comment

Windsor approves innovative PAYS water conservation & energy efficiency program – First in California!

by bvesser, CLIMATE PROTECTION CAMPAIGN
Windsor Efficiency PAYS®, available to eligible Windsor residents starting August 2012, provides water and energy upgrades for residential properties that provide immediate utility bill savings— with no upfront cost or debt.
On July 18, 2012, the Windsor Town Council gave final approval for Windsor Efficiency PAYS®, a new, innovative water conservation program that provides residents with immediate savings on utility bills and requires no upfront cost or new debt. The program provides for the installation of very efficient products and appliances, as well as dry-summer, drought resistant landscaping that will reduce water use, conserve energy, and save money.
via Windsor Approves Innovative, Water Conservation & Energy Efficiency Program – First in California! | Climate Protection Campaign.

SuzanneJuly 13, 2012Waterenergy efficiency, wastewaterLeave a comment

Santa Rosa wastewater treatment plant on Llano Road undergoing energy upgrade

By Kevin McCallum, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Cleaning wastewater requires huge amounts of energy.
It has to be moved with pumps, blasted with pressurized air and zapped with ultraviolet lights. Even after it’s cleaned, it has to be pumped to local farms and soccer fields or piped 40 miles to be injected into the Geysers steam fields.
All that makes the Llano Road wastewater treatment plant, operated by the City of Santa Rosa, one of the largest energy users in Sonoma County, absorbing between 3 and 7 megawatts of electricity daily.
via Santa Rosa wastewater treatment plant on Llano Road undergoing energy upgrade | PressDemocrat.com.

SuzanneApril 26, 2012Climate Change & Energyenergy efficiency, renewable energy, SCEIPLeave a comment

Home energy program in Sonoma County a beacon for broken national effort

by Maria Gallucci, INSIDECLIMATE NEWS
A judge forces the federal agency that squashed the PACE home energy program to draft rules and start over.
In 2010, FHFA, overseer of the nation’s largest mortgage buyers and sellers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, issued a statement saying that PACE posed “significant risks” to mortgage companies and urged all local governments to suspend their programs. At Rod Stevenson’s sprawling country home in Santa Rosa, Calif., in Sonoma County, once-leaky walls and windows are now sealed tight for energy efficiency, and his roof and yard are glittering with two dozen solar panels.”We expect to save about $10,000 a year,” on electricity and heating bills, Stevenson says, a nearly 70 percent drop from last year.Stevenson, 62, runs a successful, century-old family business that sells construction supplies and materials to control soil erosion in Northern California. But retirement was hanging over him and his wife. “I really wanted to get to the point where we could get our [utility] bill down to virtually nothing,” Stevenson recalls.
via Home Energy Program in Sonoma a Beacon for Broken National Effort | InsideClimate News.

SuzanneMarch 13, 2012Climate Change & Energyenergy efficiency, renewable energyLeave a comment

How the Bay Area can move to a clean, local energy economy

San Francisco, CA – Pacific Environment released a report today, “Bay Area Smart Energy 2020” (BASE 2020), which describes how the San Francisco Bay Area can move to a locally-based, clean energy economy and leave fossil fuels behind.
Download Executive Summary (3 MB)
Download Full Report (6 MB)
via Pacific Environment : Bay Area Smart Energy 2020 – Report Download.

Environmental Center of Sonoma County

Tag: energy efficiency