AECP in partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is planning a Weatherization Interchange at Virginia Tech from September 18-21. The Interchange will include several administrative workshops and two full days of crew competitions. The competitions will involve several activities that are commonplace for crews as they apply energy conservation/efficiency measures to households around the state. These activities include weatherization estimating, wrapping water heaters, truck rigging, door weather-stripping, sidewall insulation, proper preparation of attics before insulating, and duct sealing and repair. There will also be two trainings as part of the competitions – Lead Safe Weatherization Practices and Proper Machine and Equipment Maintenance. All competitions except the estimating will take place at the Alphin-Stuart Horse Arena on the campus of Virginia Tech. The estimation competition will occur at the New River Center for Energy Research and Training (NRCERT) located in Christiansburg. All workshops will be conducted at the Inn at Virginia Tech.
There will also be a cookout at the Dairy Science Complex one evening and a dinner/dance at the Inn featuring the Janitors a Virginia Beach based band. Ms. Jean Diggs, Energy Technology Program Specialist with the U.S. Dept. of Energy, will provide welcoming remarks at the opening plenary. She will be joined by Ms. Floris Weston, Program Manager with DHCD and Mr. Bob Adams with WAPTAC who will also give presentations. Mr. Joel Eisenberg, Energy Policy Analyst with Oak Ridge National Labs will present at the closing plenary.
AECP and DHCD have been notably assisted in the planning of the event by D&R International who has great expertise and experience in planning and implementing events for the national weatherization program.
U.S WIND ENERGY REACHES NEW MILESTONE
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced recently that wind energy installations in the U.S. now exceed 10,000 megawatts (MW). They produce enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes. The first commercial wind farms were built in California in the early 1980’s and reached a 1000 MW capacity in 1985. It was not until 1999 that the industry reached the 2000 MW capacity. So the wind industry is experiencing phenomenal growth, which means that this renewable source of energy is gaining popularity due to its low impact on the environment and its ability to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This huge growth rate has also been helped by the recent passage of the Energy policy Act, which renewed the federal tax incentive called the production tax credit.
Wind energy was the second largest source of new power generation in the country in 2005, behind natural gas, and will remain so in 2006. The wind industry is also responsible for new job creation, improving the quality of the air we breathe and lessening the impact of global warming.
CALIFORNIA IMPLEMENTS MILLION SOLAR ROOFS PROGRAM
The state of California under the leadership of Governor Schwarzenegger, has recently signed into legislation a million solar roofs plan that will lead to one million homes in California with solar by 2018. The million solar roof plan will provide 3,000 megawatts of clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gases by 3 million tons, which is the equivalent of taking one million cars off the road.
JUST THINK IF EVERY HOME IN AMERICA HAD A SOLAR ROOF!
AECP PARTNERS WITH TOWN OF BLACKSBURG IN ENERGY INITIATIVE
AECP has joined other community partners in supporting the Town of Blacksburg, VA in their efforts to implement a grant received from the U.S. EPA. The grant will help Blacksburg initiate additional recycling programs, toxic waste programs, energy conservation programs, and consumer education and outreach. AECP was very active in helping the Town set up its first annual Environmental Awareness Week. AECP conducted the kick-off session of the event with a presentation on “Home Energy Conservation and Efficiency”.
ENERGY TIP
Every homeowner in America should consider having a professional energy audit of their home done by a Home Performance Energy Services Contractor. This is a great investment in making your home more energy efficient. At a minimum conduct an audit your self by checking out these 3 home audit websites:
- www.eere.energy.gov
- http://hes.lbl.gov/
- www.ase.org/section/homeenergycheckup/