WV Green Works

Bridgemont Gathers Key Stakeholders for January Energy Efficiency Study Session

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

West Virginians will blow nearly $200 million out their doors and windows through 2030 if they don’t have standard codes in place ensuring minimum energy efficiency.

That was the consensus of experts assembled on Tuesday, January 10, at a special study session in the West Virginia House of Delegates chambers at the State Capitol in Charleston.

And energy providers such as American Electric Power are as unhappy about that prospect as a well-informed rate payer.

Bridgemont Community and Technical College in Montgomery invited the public, legislators, representatives of agencies and commissions, and organizations to hear national authorities as well as local experts speak
on how the lack of energy efficiency adversely affects consumers and the state’s economy on a daily basis.

Jim Fawcett of Appalachian Power explained that the increasing costs to meet energy demands is a burden on the customers of companies such as APCo, which must spend capital to meet environmental regulations and purchase coal at increased cost due to a global energy market. Those coal costs are passed on to consumers as rate increases. If energy users managed energy consumption well then these coal costs would be minimized. Additionally, if consumers can reduce usage during peak load times, it would put off the need and subsequent costs of building additional generation facilities.

Having modern energy codes in place as of 2013 would mean that all new and remodeled buildings in West Virginia from that time forward would be mandated by law to be more comfortable, healthier, and less expensive to maintain and operate.

Fawcett joined other energy industry experts, including Art Hallstrom of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Harry Misuriello of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and Brian Sernulka of the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP) to explain how modern energy codes have far-reaching effects that ripple through the entire economy.

Sernulka pointed out that new and revamped buildings will serve communities for at least 40 to 50 years. Their level of energy efficiency is locked in for that period of time, so it’s important that they meet at least the minimum standards. “Building energy codes are a subset of a larger collection of building codes dealing with health and safety standards,” he said. “They also impact energy security, our national security. Building codes are the easiest, quickest, cheapest way to achieve energy efficiency.”

Sernulka added that 40 percent of energy and 70 percent of electricity is used to heat and cool houses,
then delivered a breakdown of how much it actually costs to build a new home that meets 2009 International Energy Conservation Codes: $841 upfront, on average. The average payback per month in energy savings is $244, so the upfront cost is covered in about 10 months, and of course, the savings continue throughout the life of the building. “I think anyone would agree that this is a wise investment.”

West Virginia business owners, managers and agency representatives at the study session included Bob Cannon, president of the WV Code Officials Association; Michelle Conner, executive director of Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity; and Dale Oxley, president of Modern Home Concepts and the Home Builders Association of Greater Charleston.

The experts’ presentations, plus questions and answers are posted on YouTube, WV Greenworks Channel, under Bridgemont at State Capitol, 1.10.12.

For PowerPoint Presentations, please click on images below.

W.Va. lawmakers host discussion on building ‘green’

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

January 10, 2012

Chip Ellis

Michelle Connor (center), executive director of Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity, answers questions Tuesday during a panel
discussion on promoting energy-efficient construction in the House of Delegates chamber.

By Megan Workman

Chip Ellis

Bob Cannon, president of the West Virginia Code Officials Association, talks to consumers and legislators Tuesday about the state's progress toward energy efficiency.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Building energy-efficient homes is not only beneficial to West Virginians but is also important for those who live in low-income housing, legislators and "green building" advocates discussed at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Legislators, consumers, homebuilders, commercial designers and engineers met in the House of Delegates chamber to coordinate low-cost strategies for promoting energy-efficient building throughout the state, said Sarah Halstead, director of West Virginia GreenWorks, a nonprofit organization that provides information on sustainable economic and community development consulting services.

Nearly 15 supporters of improving energy efficiency in buildings and homes in West Virginia spoke briefly on Tuesday, outlining their efforts toward energy efficiency.

Matt Earnest, vice president of economic and workforce development for Bridgemont Community and Technical College in Montgomery, said energy efficiency is apparent in all of the college's programs, he said.

Dale Oxley, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Charleston, said he wants his employees to be known for building energy-efficient homes.

Michelle Connor, called "one of the most impressive builders in the state" by Halstead, is the executive director of Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity. The West Virginia chapter of Habitat for Humanity will build 14 new homes in the state this year, Connor said.

Since 1999, Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds affordable homes for low-income families, has built Energy Star homes for those who need more ways to save money. Energy Star is a federal program meant to help save energy costs and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.

Families who benefit from Habitat are less likely to be able to afford energy upgrades -- because of the more expensive building costs at the outset -- "but they need them the most," Connor said.

For an extra $8.33 per month added to a Habitat homeowner's bill, they actually ended up saving $40 because of the home's energy efficiency, Connor said. A net savings of $31.67 is the difference between paying their bills and being able to put gas in their car, she said.

"Families want energy-efficient homes," Connor said.

While West Virginia leads the nation in home ownership, residents also have the highest number of "leaky houses" -- homes wasting energy and heat, Oxley said. West Virginians use about 40 percent of energy in home heat, he said.

"We are contributing in West Virginia to global warming ourselves," he said.

Nearly 24 percent of a low-income family's monthly income goes toward utility costs, a completely unacceptable number, Connor said.

"If we really looked at those numbers, we should be ashamed how we're allowing families to live in homes like that," she said.

Ralph Peterson, an energy conservation inspector, said he has seen firsthand the benefits energy-efficient homes can have for low-income families. Energy-efficient homes can improve the health, living standards and food budget for low-income families because it reduces their energy consumption budget, he said.

"All of us need to work together, and I believe we can. ... In order to improve the lives of the rest of us in West Virginia, we need an adoption of [energy] code enforcements in counties where there isn't one," Peterson said.

Only about eight of West Virginia's 55 counties have energy code enforcement, meant to identify and reduce the waste of energy, Oxley said.

Almost everyone in attendance Tuesday agreed that code enforcement education is necessary to improve energy codes in West Virginia.

Bob Cannon, president of the West Virginia Code Officials Association, an organization that protects the safety, health and well-being of West Virginians, said training inspectors and code officials have a major effect on consumers, and it costs only $150 to receive that training.

That training is "absolutely vital," Cannon said.

Reach Megan Workman at megan.work...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.

Cathy Kunkel: W.Va. wasting money on energy

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

January 14, 2012 Op Ed - WV Gazette Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Electricity rates have been rising rapidly in West Virginia. A typical Appalachian Power customer who was paying an average of $56 per month in 2007 is now paying $90, an increase of nearly 60 percent. Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers have seen rate increases over 30 percent in the past three years. So what is our Legislature going to do to help West Virginians deal with rising electric rates?

In West Virginia, there is no requirement that utilities provide electricity at the lowest cost to their customers. Our state's utilities are not required to evaluate the costs and risks of a range of options for meeting electricity demand -- including traditional power plants, but also energy efficiency and other ways of managing customer demand -- in order to figure out which portfolio of resources will meet future demand at the lowest cost. This sort of "least-cost planning" process is required in more than half of U.S. states, but not West Virginia.

Least-cost planning often determines that energy efficiency is the cheapest alternative. It costs less to invest in saving electricity than in building new power plants. Energy efficiency is the best way to hold down West Virginia's rising electric rates. People who invest in energy efficiency can cut their bills immediately, and everyone saves money when we reduce the need for expensive new power plants.

There is huge potential for energy efficiency in West Virginia. West Virginia households use 25 percent more electricity than the national average, so even though our electric rates are among the lowest in the country, our bills are not. We have an old and inefficient building stock, an out-of-date energy code for new buildings, and few programs in place to help residents and businesses afford the upfront cost of efficiency improvements.

In other states, utilities offer programs to help residents and businesses save money by improving efficiency. They can do this through rebates and incentives for more efficient lighting and HVAC equipment, funding low-income weatherization, and offering energy assessments to industrial customers.

West Virginia's utilities -- Appalachian Power, Wheeling Power, Mon Power, and Potomac Edison -- are subsidiaries of utilities that also operate in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ohio has set increasing annual energy efficiency targets for their utilities with a goal of 22 percent savings by 2025. Thus far, most major utilities are exceeding the targets. In 2010 and 2011, an estimated 1,700 jobs were created in Ohio because of these utility energy efficiency targets.

In Pennsylvania, all but one utility exceeded their target of saving 1 percent of sales over two years. These efficiency programs created 4,000 new jobs in the state and are projected to save Pennsylvanians $2.3 billion over the lifetime of the efficiency measures (relative to a cost of $280 million).

Since March 2011, Appalachian and Wheeling Power have begun rolling out a pilot energy efficiency program in West Virginia, but West Virginia has no long-term energy savings targets in place to make sure that our power companies offer West Virginians similar opportunities for savings as their customers in other states.

This year there will be two bills before the Legislature that can help West Virginians save money through efficiency. Least-cost planning legislation would require our power companies to meet electricity demand at the lowest cost. And legislation for an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard would require our utilities to invest in energy efficiency to achieve a target of 15 percent savings by 2025, comparable to what is required in other states. Passing these bills would go a long way toward ensuring that we take full advantage of the economic opportunities in energy efficiency and keep electric rates as low as possible.

Kunkel is coordinator of Energy Efficient West Virginia, based in Charleston.

Advancing Building Codes for Energy Efficiency a Challenge

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Posted: Nov 16, 2011 8:29 AM EST

Updated: Jan 03, 2012 1:19 PM EST

By Pam Kasey - email

MORGANTOWN -

Updated Nov. 17 to clarify sponsors.

Can West Virginia afford to adopt a more energy efficient residential building code? Can it afford not to?

These hard questions are on the table as green building proponents prepare for a second attempt at updating West Virginia's energy efficiency code for residences.

The questions were discussed Nov. 15 at "Will West Virginia's Building Code Go High Performance?" a discussion offered before the Nov. 16-18 Mid-Atlantic Energy Efficient Building Conference in Morgantown.

For home construction, West Virginia currently operates under the International Code Council's 2003 International Residential Code and an amended version of the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code, or IECC.

Currently, four West Virginia counties enforce the code, an option the state leaves up to local jurisdictions.

Nationwide, only three states are still working with the 2003 code, according to Sarah Halstead, executive director of conference co-sponsor West Virginia Greenworks.

An attempt during the 2010 legislative session at updating the state standard to the 2009 IECC failed due, in large part, to concerns on the part of the Home Builders Association of West Virginia, Halstead said.

"It was a very, very contentious debate in 2010. What needs to happen is, the Home Builders Association has to feel comfortable, to understand everything about it — the costs, the implications, the opportunities," she said. "And then they have to get their weight behind it."

The Nov. 15 discussion was aimed at airing and addressing Home Builder Association concerns.

Chuk Bowles of the Virginia Home Builders Association and EarthCraft House Virginia green building program for residential buildings facilitated the discussion.

Bowles, who describes himself as a "building science geek," explained that buildings account for almost 40 percent of energy use nationwide — much of which is wasted through leakage.

"If we would just take care of holes in buildings and holes in duct systems, we really have an opportunity to reduce energy consumption by 30 to 50 percent," he said. That means reduced energy bills and increased comfort.

Bowles enumerated some 2009 IECC requirements.

Half of permanently installed lighting fixtures have to use high-efficiency lighting, he said, such as compact fluorescents or LEDs rather than incandescent fixtures. Programmable thermostats are required. A blower door test of building tightness has to show only seven air exchanges per hour with outdoor air.

During discussion, Morgantown architect Megan Nedzinski asked Bowles about appraisals, underlining the cart-before-the-horse situation builders are in: While some energy efficient features cost builders more, appraisers don't add value for them.

Chris Ilardi of the HBA agreed.

"You're asking for the minimum standards to be changed," Ilardi said. "That affects a lot of our builders who build entry-level homes who can't afford to do it if it's not going to come back in price."

Bowles acknowledged that appraisals have long been a problem for high-performance builders. But legislation now before Congress would require appraisers nationwide to take energy-efficiency measures into account when valuing homes, he said.

He also discussed steps builders can take would actually cut their costs while improving their buildings.

Don't vent your crawlspaces, he said, among other steps. It's cheaper to build, and more energy efficient.

And look into Optimum Value Engineered Framing, which he said cuts wood use by 30 percent.

"You'll spend more on sealing your building, with the code, but you'll make it up in smaller HVAC systems and these other steps," he said.

Other considerations make advancing the building code a complex economic and policy issue. Another attendee pointed out that, even if the state adopts the 2009 IECC, there's still the hurdle of getting local jurisdictions to take on the expense of enforcing it.

But the issue is not to be avoided forever: Bowles said another IECC update is expected in 2012.

And "the Department of Energy has a goal of having all houses constructed by 2030 to be net-zero houses," he said. "That's a huge leap."

Green building proponents in the state are hoping to get the HBA behind a bill adopting the 2009 IECC in the 2012 regular legislative session early next year.

Delegate Mike Manypenny, D-Taylor, is one legislator who is interested in energy efficiency legislation, Halstead said. Further discussion will be scheduled in Charleston in January, at a time and place convenient for legislators to attend.

The Nov. 15 discussion was hosted by West Virginia Greenworks and sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Energy, Bridgemont Community and Technical College, New River Community and Technical College and West Virginia University-Parkersburg.

Work Remains to Increase Energy Efficiency in W.Va.

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

By Taylor Kuykendall
Email | Other Stories by Taylor Kuykendall

West Virginia, one of the nation's leading energy producers, may be losing a lot of its own energy due to residential inefficiency.

According to a recent report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, West Virginia ranks 44th in the U.S. for energy efficiency.

Though the report notes West Virginia has made some progress in efficiency with demand-side management programs, it criticizes the state for not having customer efficiency programs in place and failing to pass the 2010 Green Building and Act and a bill to create an "energy efficient buildings program."

Jeff Herholdt, director of the West Virginia Division of Energy, said the report was disappointing, but added the state was on track toward reducing energy lost to waste.

One of the issues being worked on in West Virginia is updating the state building code from 2003 International Energy Conservation Code to 2009 energy efficiency standards. The codes are released in three-year cycles.

The standards include updates such as requiring 12 inches of insulation equivalent in the attic, versus the 2003 requirement to building in six inches of insulation.

The updated IECC code would impact new construction in locations that have adopted the codes, Herholdt said. Though not every county and municipality adopted the standards, Herholdt said, a third of the population does live in areas where a code is adopted and enforced.

"Our electric rates have literally gone up 50 percent in the last four years," Herholdt said. "Before, we've had very attractive electric rates in West Virginia. They were around six cents a kilowatt hour. Now they're close to 9 cents a kilowatt hour."

Herholdt said hopefully the higher rates will encourage people to think more about energy efficiency.

"Energy efficiency is probably one of the most important investments you can make," Herholdt said. "If you have $500 to invest, you'd make more money putting it into the energy efficiency of your house."

The opportunity for energy savings isn't just for new construction either, Herholdt said. Something as simple as changing lightbulbs from traditional lights to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, also known as CFLs, can increase energy efficiency immediately, and the return on investment is achieved fairly quickly.

Herholdt said the report from the ACEEE "goes a lot beyond our immediate concerns" at the WVDoE.

"Certainly we want homeowners to live in an affordable house, but we are working on the energy code side," Herholdt said.

West Virginia already made some efforts toward more efficient use of energy, including net-metering programs that pay consumers back for energy put into the grid and tax incentives for natural gas and electric vehicles.

"When I saw that report, I was surprised where we stood with the other states," Herholdt said. "Outside of the energy code, which we need to work on, I don't see anything in that report that is a glaring statement that West Virginia does not care about energy efficiency."

The new energy efficiency codes would have to pass the state Legislature, an issue that has faced some resistance due to concern about increasing up front costs to the builders. Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, majority leader in the West Virginia House of Delegates, said energy efficiency is a critical West Virginia issue, and he plans to start with government construction.

A bill to increase efficiency standards for public sector construction failed to pass the Legislature last year, but will be reintroduced in the coming session, Unger said.

"The idea was to start with public construction — schools, new courthouses and things like that in the local, county and state government and increase energy efficiency," Unger said. "Then, eventually, encourage incentives, such as tax breaks for the private sector, residential or business, to increase these efficiencies as well."

Unger said increasing energy-efficiency will require a change in mindset for a state that is accustomed to having all of the energy it needs.

"We need to be responsible," Unger said. "As the population increases, and the demand for energy increases, by becoming more efficient, we can cut back on the demand for energy and it might cut back some on the increased demand for energy."

The bill, Unger said, should encourage builders to begin constructing private-sector structures in the same energy-efficient manner.

"Consuming large quantities of anything, if it's not necessary, we shouldn't do it," Unger said.

The ACEEE report comes just weeks before an energy efficiency conference scheduled for homebuilders in West Virginia.

Habitat for Humanity is sponsoring the Mid-Atlantic Energy Efficient Building Conference Nov. 16-18 in Morgantown. The conference, also supported by the WVDoE, will focus on ways to build more energy-efficient homes and feature speakers on a variety of energy-efficiency issues.

The focus of the conference will be residential energy efficiency and include discussions about new technology, building strategies and other efficiency issues. There will be an expo showcasing new and emerging products, the conference featuring several presenters, and networking opportunities for attendees, as well.

For information about the conference, visit www.buildtheebesthome.org.

Appraisers Come Up With Addendum to Evaluate Green Homes

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From the NAHB....

Gaining Fair Green Home Appraisals Sees Major Headway in New Appraisal Form

Representing major headway in gaining fair appraisals for green homes, the Appraisal Institute has introduced a new form to help analyze values of energy-efficient home features.

The first of its kind, the three-page Residential Green and Energy Efficient Appraisal Addendum is intended to be used by appraisers and is designed to be attached as an optional addendum to Fannie Mae Form 1004, the appraisal industry’s most widely used form for lending purposes.

“This addendum is another example of how the Appraisal Institute is at the forefront of real estate valuation,” said Appraisal Institute President Joseph C. Magdziarz. “It will help the industry standardize the way residential energy-efficient features are analyzed and reported.”

NAHB has long advocated a better system for taking into account green home features during the home appraisal process.

Historically, there has not been a consistent process in place for the lending community to differentiate between homes that feature energy- and water-saving techniques, greater durability and other green aspects from homes that do not.

These features contribute to the value of a home because they can dramatically reduce monthly utility costs, which represent a significant expense for home owners.

The new addendum was designed to enable appraisers to better identify and classify green features, with a goal of establishing the most accurate assessment of the value of the homes that have them.

Over time and as it becomes broadly used, the addendum is also expected to help establish the incremental value of specific features on a comparative basis.

“We hope this new form will be a big step toward establishing more accurate home valuations that recognize all of the key features of a home,” said Kevin Morrow, senior program manager of green building programs at NAHB.

“Green homes can offer significant cost savings to home owners over a comparable home built to code, so we are pleased that this new form will finally provide a vehicle to demonstrate some of these key differentiators,” he said.

The form allows users to report on energy-efficient items such as windows, appliances and insulation; to list any applicable energy ratings; and to note the home’s average utility costs — demonstrating any savings to the home owner.

Green features are also among the items included in the new form, most notably, in a section that allows users to indicate if the home has been certified to the National Green Building Standard.

Solar panels and site details such as house orientation and landscaping are also evaluated, in addition to the property’s walkability and proximity to public transportation.

The form also provides space to indicate if the home has qualified for any federal, state or local incentives.

“We are thrilled that certification to the National Green Building Standard is finally getting the recognition it deserves in the appraisal process,” said Michael Luzier, president of the NAHB Research Center.

“For a long time we’ve known that our third-party green certification conveys tangible, financial benefits to a home and its occupants,” Luzier said.

“Specifically referencing this type of national certification in the valuation process finally provides a way for appraisers to recognize and benchmark that value.

“We also appreciate the fact that energy efficiency upgrades and certifications are captured separately from whole-house green certifications. Energy efficiency is only one portion of the green equation, so to get the true value of a green home necessitates it being appraised beyond just its energy attributes.”

Home owners, sellers, buyers, refinancers and realty agents don't have to wait for an appraiser to use the new form.

They can download it at no cost and ask that it be made part of the appraisal submitted to the lender. This will also help ensure that the appraiser uses the best and most accurate comps available that include similar green features.

“We hope lenders, home builders, real estate agents and home owners will take advantage of this new tool,” Magdziarz said.

“Mortgage lenders who want to see energy features analyzed should request the green addendum to be included with Form 1004.

“We also encourage lenders to provide the green addendum to home owners so they can fill it out and provide it to their appraiser.

“If a new home is being appraised, home builders can use the addendum to provide data to appraisers. Real estate agents also can use the data to help populate the MLS.”

NAHB is currently evaluating the form for improvements and fine-tuning that may increase its usefulness for association members.

For more information, email Kevin Morrow, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8375.

Mid-Atlantic Energy Efficient Building Conference to be in Morgantown, WV

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This conference is designed to assist our region’s organizations, industries, businesses and advocates with designing, funding, building, appraising, supporting and maintaining efficient, affordable housing. Training and information will address core and advanced building knowledge, policy, planning, outreach, and non-profit capacity-building.

Habitat for Humanity of WV is committed to building the best homes for their families, and we’re learning new tricks of the trade every day in building and organization development that allow us to meet our mission, even in these tough times.

With financial support from Habitat for Humanity International, WV Division of Energy, American Electric Power Foundation, and Dominion, we partnered with WV GreenWorks to expand our annual training conference.

We’re inviting HFH affiliates and their volunteers, staff, board members, resource developers and colleagues from other like-minded non-profits to learn and share capacity and resource development best practices. Since we’re all about helping our affiliates build to Energy Star standards, we’re inviting non-Habitat builders, remodelers, developers, architects, designers, planners and manufacturers to learn the building science behind green and sustainable building practices, to understand new regulations and legislative measures, and to capitalize on increasing opportunities. Together we can move sustainable building forward, faster.

Make sure YOU are part of the solution. REGISTER TODAY!

The Mid-Atantic Energy Efficient Building Conference has three main parts:

The Expo: A showcase for new and emerging products and technologies
The Conference: An educational platform featuring national leaders, money, time, and energy saving innovations, and best practices
Networking opportunities with more than 400 engaged participants from private and public sectors

Morgantown, WV
NOVEMBER 16 – 18, 2011
(Pre-Conference Training November 14 – 16, 2011)

Habitat for Humanity of West Virginia invites Mid-Atlantic

Home Builders, Designers, and Owners
Building Trades Professionals
Housing Developers
Housing Counselors
Community Organizers and Planners
Elected Officials
Municipal and State Government Staff
Code Professionals and Inspectors
Funders of Affordable Housing
Executive Directors and Decision-Makers in Housing and Community Development Organizations
Workforce Development Professionals
Manufacturers and Vendors
Utility Program Managers

to build the most energy efficient, affordable, healthy homes and communities.

Energy Star V3 Rater Training

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Habitat for Humanity/ WV GreenWorks Mid-Atlantic Energy Efficient Building Conference

PRE-CONFERENCE TRAINING | ENERGY STAR RATER 2 – Day Certification Course
Limit 20 Seats :: Preregistration required by October 10, 2011
November 14 – 15, 2011

This 2-day course is required by the EPA for all home energy raters and rating field inspectors who provide testing, inspections and program administration for the EPA’s new ENERGY STAR versions 2.5/3.0.

Students will learn essential program participation requirements, how to qualify homes using the new ENERGY STAR reference design specifications, and specifications for the new ENERGY STAR Thermal Enclosure, HVAC and Water Management Checklists. Learn more >> Register now >>

Deconstruction Services Now Available Through WV GreenWorks

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Deconstruction reuses what would be demolished

By Kate White

"It's a hip concept," said Halstead, the executive director of WVGreenWorks. "It's all about reclaiming and reusing as much as possible and diverting as much as possible from the landfill."

WVGreenWorks, which is dedicated to, among other things, creating sustainable, green jobs in local communities, is partnering with The ReUse People of America, based in Oakland, Calif., in a business venture, which will deconstruct buildings in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and parts of Pennsylvania, rather than simply demolish them.

The first regional deconstruction process of the joint effort began Tuesday at a house on Victorian Place in Hurricane.

"We're hoping this professional approach to deconstruction will give municipalities and homeowners doing remodels more choices and more options on how to deal with construction and demolition debris," she said. "Really, it presents a whole new chance to shift your mindset. Most people will just 'doze a building, but when you take a look at the materials involved, some of that lumber you'll never find again."

Halstead said the idea is innovative around the area. She said she corresponded with Ben Newhouse, the Hurricane city manager, before the city recently installed solar panels at the wastewater treatment facility.

"It's a new concept for the folks I'm working with in Hurricane," she said. "I've worked with Ben Newhouse in the past, and he's a forward thinker."

Halstead said she talked with Newhouse about the deconstruction business.

"I called Ben and he said, 'Oh what a shame, we just demolished a house and we're about to bulldoze another,'" she said. "I said, "Please don't do it.' He said the house was really old, with a tile roof and hardwood floors."

The man who owns the house told Halstead he wanted the house demolished, and she said he didn't recognize that the materials could be reused.

"I told him, 'You've got a tile roof worth thousands of dollars,'" she said. "Why throw away perfectly good materials other people can use?"

Newhouse is excited about the possibility of recycling materials that otherwise would be thrown out, he said.

"If there's an opportunity to save the stuff that's in this house, which has a ton of oak and cherry woods in it, I said, 'Let's do it,'" he said. "That stuff is expensive, and there's no reason to send it all to the landfill."

Halstead said some people who qualify based on their income can receive a tax-deductible donation for reusing the materials. She said the donation deduction oftentimes will offset the labor costs, which are usually about 5 percent more than what it costs to demolish a building.

"Before we do any kind of deconstruction work, even if it's a kitchen remodel, we come and completely inventory everything," she said. "We then send pictures and descriptions off to a certified IRS building-material appraiser, and they write back and give us a range of value."

Materials taken from the three-story brick house in Hurricane will be donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Charleston.

"Whatever comes back to the store is available for sale," said Terry St. Germain, Habitat's donation coordinator. "The proceeds from what is sold there go toward building new homes."

People will be amazed at the valuable materials they can find in houses and other buildings, said Ted Reiff, president of The ReUse People of America.

"What it costs to build that mantle today none of us can afford," Reiff said about the house the company currently is deconstructing.

Halstead said her company is using the house in Hurricane as a training project, because its owner wasn't interested in applying for tax donations. Therefore, they have no budget and only had four days to take what they could. Normally, to get everything reusable from a house the same size, she said, it would take about four weeks.

The company's next projects in the area will be in Kanawha City and Ansted, she said.

Besides the benefits deconstruction has on the environment, she said, people would enjoy the sentimental and historical value of the antique parts.

"We want to show how beautiful reclaimed materials can be in new homes," she said. "We have a hope that more homes in West Virginia will start using reclaimed materials."

Dale Oxley, owner of Modern Home Concepts in Hurricane, is the contractor helping perform the deconstruction. He will be this region's first certified deconstruction contractor.

"I grew up in this area, and this is all about doing the right thing," Oxley said. "When I was young, the Sycamore landfill was just opening but, in a few years, it will be the highest vantage point in Putnam County."

Oxley said he's adjusting to the process of taking things apart rather than putting them together as a contractor.

"I put things together all the time," he said, "but this is basically running the tape backwards."

Some of WVGreenWorks' goals are to educate the public -- and state legislators -- on what environmentally friendly options are available, Halstead said.

"The idea is to train as many people as possible from around the state so we can get the work done, and divert materials from landfills," she said.

Halstead said the country's landfills are bursting at the seams.

"We have overburdened landfills, and construction debris accounts for a huge amount of stuff. Unless you're living around a landfill, you probably don't really know how bad it is," she said. "We're a throw-away society -- we throw everything away. The business of deconstruction, to me, offers a solution for that."

Reach Kate White at kate.wh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.

EarthCraft House Builder Certification Training

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Habitat for Humanity of WV and WV GreenWorks presents the Mid-Atlantic Energy Efficient Building Conference

PRE-CONFERENCE TRAINING | EARTHCRAFT HOUSE BUILDER CERTIFICATION
Limit 40 Seats :: Pre-Registration Required by October 10, 2011
7:00 am – 1:00 pm

EarthCraft House Virginia and WV GreenWorks partner to provide a certification process for new, residential construction that serves as a blueprint for healthy, comfortable homes. The goal is to reduce utility bills and protect your air, water and land. Learn more>> Register now>>

Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Every year, 860 billion gallons of raw sewage spill into our waterways – enough to cover the entire state of Pennsylvania one inch deep. Here's the good news: fixing that problem creates jobs.

A new report from Green For All found that we could create nearly 1.9 million jobs – employing one out of every seven unemployed people – and inject over a quarter of a trillion dollars into the economy by fully upgrading America's aging water and stormwater infrastructure.

The report looks at an investment of $188.4 billion in water infrastructure - the amount the EPA indicates would be required to manage stormwater and preserve water quality. That investment would inject a quarter of a trillion dollars into the economy, create nearly 1.3 million direct and indirect jobs and result in 568,000 additional jobs from increased spending.

For more information on Green For All and their initiatives that aim to build a green economy, check out their website.

Marcellus Shale Committee Approves Three Measures for Regulation Bill

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From the State Journal:

The Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale approved three amendments Monday morning as it continued working toward a bill that would place new regulations and fees on the natural gas drilling industry.

One amendment, which passed by a 4-3 vote, would abolish the Oil and Gas Board and transfer its duties to the Department of Environmental Protection. The second would allow for public comment and hearings on gas well permits, while the third would increase the number of people who would have to be notified when a company plans to drill a well. Those two passed unanimously.

The Oil and Gas Board screens and recommends people for the position of gas well inspector. The DEP had asked the Legislature to abolish the board and transfer those duties to the agency.

“It doesn’t add any value to the services of state government,” Kristin Boggs, the general counsel to the DEP, told the committee. “It’s a lot of money for someone with an office as small as the Board of Oil and Gas.”

Delegate “Woody” Ireland, R-Ritchie, said the board has not had a member representing the public for several years. Now, he said, the board has two members. One comes from large drilling companies and one from smaller drilling companies, he said. He likened the situation to a fox guarding the henhouse.

Sen. Douglas E. Facemire, D-Braxton, said the important thing was to determine whether the inspectors recommended by the board were doing an adequate job. James Martin, chief of the Office of Oil and Gas, replied, “By and large, we have good inspectors in the field. … Generally I’m happy with the inspection force we have.”

Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, supported the amendment because it would let the public know inspectors are independent of the drilling industry.

Boggs said the DEP wants to expand its gas well inspection force by adding people who are trained in soil and water issues. Gas well inspectors can do what she called “down hole” inspections, but hydraulic fracturing sites include retention ponds and other matters that require people knowledgeable in that specialty, she said.

Although the amendment pertaining to public comment passed unanimously, there was concern from the DEP and from an industry spokesman about unintended consequences.

“Unlike coal, you’re looking at 400 or 500 permit applications a year,” said Phil Reale, representing the Independent Oil and Gas Association. “The number of hearings that potentially could be held could cripple the industry.”

Fleischauer said the DEP secretary could use his or her discretion in deciding which permits would need a public hearing. The amendment would not require public hearings, she said.

Boggs said she hadn’t seen the amendment being discussed. She said the DEP is not against a public comment period, but the demand for hearings could be a burden on the agency.

Free Training in Deep Energy Retrofit using Nailbase Panels - October 31

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Interested in making your existing home or office more energy efficient? Consider a deep energy retrofit using nailbase panels!

Nailbase panels (or retrofit insulated panels) are insulated panels with one skin of OSB attached to foam. The foam side is then attached to the wall or roof of the existing structure. Application is to the exterior of the existing structure, so the interior remains untouched.

This 2.5 hour course will introduce you to using Nailbase Panels in a Deep Energy Retrofit.

Included in class:

Tour of manufacturing facility and review of processes involved in foam manufacturing
Observation of laminating process in production of nailbase panels

Following tour, SIPschool's Al Cobb will review the various applications of nailbase on existing buildings. This portion of the class will include:

Choosing the right thickness and core material
Modification and attachment of panels to wall and roof assemblies
Special concerns of windows and doors
Satisfactory indoor air quality
Safety concerns with combustion appliances

This 2.5 hour class is free thanks to sponsorship by Panelwrights and Mid-Atlantic Foam.

Online registration is required, and no walk ins will be accepted.

Class location: Mid-Atlantic Foams - 326 McGhee Road, Winchester, Virginia 22603

Class will begin at 1:00pm on Monday, October 31, 2011

Click here to register. To learn about other training events and find out more about structural insulated panels, visit the SIPSchool's website.

Alderson Family Energy Fair - October 1st @ Alderson Community Center

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Worried about rising energy costs? Interested in energy efficiency and renewable energy for your home or business? Then come out for the Alderson Family Energy Fair on Saturday, October 1st from 10am to 4pm at the Alderson Community Center for the Arts and Humanities, located at 400 Chestnut Avenue.

There will be food, fun, games, prizes, and a take-home energy savings gift for everyone who attends. There will also be over twenty exhibitors representing a wide variety of organizations focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind power, and financial support for reducing your energy consumption and saving money on your energy bills.

For more information, visit the Alderson Family Energy Fair website.

The ReUse People are in West Virginia - September 13 @ Capitol Roasters

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Since 1993, architects, contractors and building owners have relied on TRP to keep reusable and recyclable building materials out of overburdened landfills. By de-constructing (instead of demolishing) a building, TRP is able to salvage up to 80 percent of the materials and channel them back into the marketplace through donations and sales at its network of retail outlets. These services are among the first steps in the green building process. Tax-deductible donations of reusable materials to TRP, a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, provide a faster payback and better return-on-investment than any other product or service offered by the green building industry.

Come out to Capitol Roasters Cafe this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to learn more about the benefits of deconstruction, among which include:

Environmentally sound demolition (we like the word deconstruction)
Materials salvage
Skilled crews
Tax donations for all the materials donated to TRP
Lower overall project costs
Complete training programs for the unemployed and underemployed
The assurance that someone, somewhere reuses the materials generated from your project

Rising Electric Rates and Energy Policy Workshop - October 8th @ Camp Pioneer

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This workshop, held at the Camp Pioneer in Beverly, WV from 1-6 p.m., will provide background information on issues that are important to understand when strategizing about how to influence energy policy in the state. Experts will be available to answer questions like:

Where do our utilities get their power?
What is PJM and what is its relevance to West Virginia?
How does the Public Service Commission work, and how can citizens get involved?
How can we incentivize utilities to be interested in energy efficiency?

Following the Q&A session, there will be an open discussion on regulatory and legislative strategies. The workshop is sponsored by Energy Efficient West Virginia, Coalition for Reliable Power and is part of the WV Environmental Council's annual conference. The meeting will be followed by a potluck dinner. For more information about the annual conference, please visit the WV Environmental Council's website.

Questions? Contact energyefficientwestvirginia@gmail.com

The Latest on Maryland’s Grand Smart Growth Plan

Fri, 2 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In April the Maryland Department of Planning released a draft of a statewide development plan called PlanMaryland. It’s basically an anti-sprawl plan, and the draft itself (pdf) makes no attempt to hide this position:

When we look back, it is clear that Marylanders no longer build houses and businesses in the places where we traditionally did. Instead, we have abandoned many of our older cities and towns and sprawled across the landscape. … Dispersed settlement patterns have created conditions in which it is often exceedingly expensive or inefficient to provide meaningful transportation alternatives.

The Department of Planning contends that uncontrolled sprawl threatens Maryland’s livelihood. Right now Maryland is the fifth densest state in the country,* and over the next 20 to 25 years it figures to add about a million residents. State officials fear the response by local developers to this population overload will be more sprawl, and they worry that such inefficient land use will consume several hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural and forest land.

For entire article, check out The Infrastructurist.

IEA: Solar Energy Could Produce Majority Of World's Energy By 2060

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Photovoltaic plants and solar-thermal plants could meet most of the world's electricity demand by 2060, and half of all energy needs. The findings go beyond the IEA's previous forecast which had said photovoltaic and solar energy would meet 21% of the world's power needs by 2050.

Wind, hydropower and biomass plants would supply most of the remaining energy and greenhouse gas emissions would subsequently fall. Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector would fall to about 3 gigatons per year, compared with about 30 gigatons at current levels. More details are expected to be revealed at a conference in Germany this September.

Solar energy to boost Greek economy

Germany is pushing a €20 billion solar energy plan in Greece, according to ekathimerini. The investment plan called Project Helios will convert solar energy in the country through photovoltaic systems and export the energy across Western Europe. The project is expected to create 30,000 - 60,000 jobs in Greece.

The project involves installing photovoltaic panels with a total capacity of 10 gigawatts which would be about the same as the total capacity of Greece's main electric company Public Power Corporation. The plan would however need about 77 square miles of public land.

Coalition for Reliable Power - Taking Responsibility For Our Electrical System

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The scope and complexity of our current electrical system has created many problems, among which are increased energy rates, decreased efficiency in energy production, and a highly centralized power grid. Recognizing the implications of our current system, the Coalition for Reliable Power aims to promote energy independence through more reliable production techniques. Authors Bill Howley and Keryn Newman offer their insights at the Coalition for Reliable Power blog, a great resource for up-to-date information on energy issues in the United States and abroad.

To read more about reliable energy and local power sources, visit the Coalition for Reliable Power website. Be sure to check out upcoming Coalition events to find more ways to get involved!

Friends of the Cardinal Meeting - August 24 @ Amtrak Station, Charleston

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This Wednesday, the Friends of the Cardinal rail advocacy group will be holding its regular meeting. Topics to be covered include an update on the new Prince Station agent, the Legislative Agenda for the Winter 2012 session, and how "budget wars" in Congress might affect Amtrak services, including the Cardinal train.

The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m., and will run no later than 7 p.m.. All members of the public are encouraged to attend, especially those interested in economic and environmentally sound transportation alternatives in West Virginia. For more information on the Friends of the Cardinal and passenger rail, please visit the FOC website.

Summer Energy Efficiency Series: Special Session - August 23 @ Capital Roasters

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Energy Star specifications have existed since the early 1990s, and have grown to include a variety of consumer items. The focus of this special session, however, will be improved home performance. Guest speaker and residential energy expert Jason Clark will explain the costs and benefits associated with energy efficient home building and upgrades, in particular how Energy Star certification can be used to create a more comfortable, sustainable home.

Come to Capital Roasters this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to join the conversation and learn about Energy Star qualified homes from an expert in the business!

West Virginia's First LEED Silver School Opens in Berkeley County

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From The Journal:

With the beginning of school arriving soon, Spring Mills celebrated the opening of a new school, Spring Mills Primary.

Speaking to the audience, Berkeley County Board of Education President Dr. William Queen emphasized how building Spring Mills Primary was accomplished through community effort and support.

"The strong relationship we have with the (West Virginia) School Building Authority is absolutely unbelievable. It takes that relationship, and it takes the continuous support of this community to make this work," Queen said. The SBA distributes funding to public schools throughout the state.

Throughout all of the speeches and acknowledgments, it was never forgotten that all the effort was in honor of the young pupils who are getting ready to head to the new classrooms later this month.

"This is about the students," said Manny Arvon, Berkeley County Schools superintendent. "When the students walk into this building, they bring meaning and life and purpose"

One of the crowning features of Spring Mills Primary is that it is the first school in the state to be a LEED-certified green school, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an internationally recognized environment-friendly building certification system.

To view the entire article, click here.

Strategy Session: How Do We Reverse Climate Change & Social Chaos? - August 13 @ the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From the Charleston Gazette

Wars -- like those in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya -- tragically claim thousands of lives and consume trillions of dollars in wealth. And in today's world, a growing number of countries face increasingly desperate poverty, which intensifies social conflicts.

"Dealing with such fractured or failing states is, in many ways, the main security challenge of our time," warned Robert Gates, who recently stepped down as Secretary of Defense. Economic exploitation, political tensions and the legacy of Cold War militarism promote conflicts. Climate change is also beginning to intensify those conflicts, especially in impoverished countries.

Christian Parenti makes this argument in his new book, "The Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence." Parenti will speak in Charleston at 6:45 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation as part of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition's annual meeting. There will be a strategy session following the book signing at 8 p.m.

Summer Energy Efficiency Series - August 9 @ Capitol Roasters

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

At least 40%

of all your heating and cooling energy is lost through leaks,
either in your ductwork or through the house itself.
US Deptartment of Energy

Improperly sealing your house and not understanding how your remodeling plans, caulking, insulation, material selection, etc. can cause whole-house performance issues can cost you even more.

Few area contractors have a complete understanding of building science. Fewer have certifications to support energy efficient remodeling and new construction.

The Healthy Drink that May Destroy Your Sleep

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From Dr. Mercola's website

The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland located between the two hemispheres of your brain. It is sometimes called the "third eye" due to its resemblance to the human retina. While your pineal gland is only about the size of a single grain of rice (5-8 mm), it performs several functions that are extremely important to your body.

One main role of your pineal gland is to produce melatonin, the natural sleep hormone that plays a vital role in your normal sleep function. Melatonin is not only necessary for proper sleep however, it also regulates the onset of puberty and fights against harmful free radicals. When your pineal gland function is suppressed, melatonin production suffers and you are putting yourself at risk for a number of startling conditions including:

Alzheimer's disease	Circadian dysregulation	Insomnia
Bipolar disease	Hormone imbalances: low melatonin	Low back pain

When Your Pineal Gland Stress Leads, Disease Follows

Any form of pineal gland stress is concerning due to its integral role in your body, which has been studied for thousands of years. In the third century, a prominent Roman physician named Galen described the pineal gland as the "seat of the soul."

This term was referenced once more by the prominent philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), who went on to write about the pineal gland in depth. Adding to Galen's thoughts on the gland, Descartes stated:

"My view is that this gland is the principal seat of the soul, and the place in which all our thoughts are formed."

One form of pineal gland stress is known as pineal gland calcification -- the cause of which may be shocking to you. Sodium fluoride, present in your drinking water and certain store-bought products, and other sources such as Prozac (fluoxetine), fluoroquinolone antibiotics and non-stick cookware could all be contributing to the alarming increase in pineal gland calcification.

I have been warning you about the toxic effects of fluoride for years, and during this time more and more scientists have begun to recognize the dangers. There are so many studies highlighting the toxic effects of fluoride on your body, particularly affecting brain function, yet remarkably, a majority of the tap water in the United States, as well as a few other countries, is still heavily fluoridated.

The connection between pineal gland calcification and fluoride intake may very well be one of the most vital pieces of information in the fight against water fluoridation. You see, up until the 1990's, no research had ever been conducted on the impact of fluoride on the pineal gland. However, we now have major universities discovering that your pineal gland is a primary target of fluoride accumulation in your body.

Research Confirms Pineal Gland as a Major Fluoride Collector

Thanks to research first conducted by the University of Surrey in England in 1997, it is now known that the soft tissue of the adult pineal gland contains more fluoride than any other soft tissue in your body. In fact, the levels of pineal gland fluoride examined in the study were high enough to inhibit enzymes.

When your enzymes are damaged, it can lead to collagen breakdown, eczema, tissue damage, skin wrinkling, genetic damage, and immune suppression. It can also cause problems with your:

Immune system

Digestive system

Respiratory system

Blood circulation

Kidney function

For complete article >>

Book Signing: Christian Parenti @ Taylor Books - August 12

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From Taylor Books website

We here at Taylor Books are excited to welcome Christian Parenti! He will be in the store on August 12th (5:30 to 7:30pm) to sign copies of his new book "Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence."

"Christian Parenti is a contributing editor at The Nation, a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, and a visiting scholar at the City University of New York. He has a Ph.D. in sociology from the London School of Economics. The author of Lockdown America, The Soft Cage, and The Freedom. Parenti has written for Fortune,The New York Times, Los AngelesTimes, Washington Post, Playboy, Mother Jones, and The London Review of Books. He has held fellowships from the Open Society Institute, Rockefeller Brother Fund and the Ford Foundation; and has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Lange-Tailor Prize and “Best Magazine Writing 2008” from the Society for Professional Journalists. He lives in Brooklyn, New York." -www.christianparenti.com/

Citizens Recruit Each Other to Influence Energy Efficiency Programs

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From Energy Efficient West Virginia, EEWV

Tell the Public Service Commission that West Virginians deserve a stronger energy efficiency program from Mon Power and Potomac Edison!

FirstEnergy recently merged with Allegheny Power to become the utility serving all of northern and eastern West Virginia. Its subsidiary companies in West Virginia are Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison. As part of the merger, FirstEnergy agreed to start offering energy efficiency and demand response programs to its West Virginia customers. In March, FirstEnergy proposed its energy efficiency and demand response plan and is now seeking approval from the Public Service Commission.

Energy efficiency programs provide ways for customers to save energy and money. Reducing the demand for electricity reduces the need for utilities to raise rates to cover the cost of building expensive new power plants. Efficiency programs also offer participating customers the opportunity to directly reduce their energy use and save on their bills. Demand response refers to programs which are specifically targeted to reduce electricity use during hours of peak demand – this saves money for customers because these are the hours when wholesale electricity prices, which get passed on to customers in rates, are highest.

FirstEnergy is proposing to save only 0.5% of its 2009 sales and 0.5% of 2009 peak demand over five years. This is far weaker than the standards that FirstEnergy is being held to in nearby states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. States with the best energy efficiency programs are saving 1-2% of sales per year – up to 20 times what FirstEnergy has proposed to do here.

The only savings opportunities available to residential customers in FirstEnergy plan are through a proposed low-income program that would save low-income customers only a few percent on their bills. In other states, utilities are running programs to help people finance home energy improvements that are saving 25-30% on their utility bills.

The Public Service Commission is accepting comments on FirstEnergy's plan through August 26, 2011. FirstEnergy's strategy seems to be to offer a meager energy efficiency plan and try to collect more from customers than the plan actually costs. Tell the PSC that West Virginians deserve better – FirstEnergy should be required to offer comprehensive energy efficiency programs that are on par with what utilities across the country are doing.

Tell the Public Service Commission that West Virginians deserve better from FirstEnergy.

Send comments to the PSC at:

Sandra Squire, Executive Secretary
Public Service Commission of WV
201 Brooks St
Charleston, WV 25301

Or submit comments online: http://www.psc.state.wv.us/scripts/onlinecomments/formalDisclaimer.cfm

Be sure to include that you are commenting on Case Number 11-0452.

Talking points:

· FirstEnergy's goal of saving 0.5% of sales and 0.5% of peak demand over 5 years is far too weak. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, FirstEnergy is being held to much tighter standards.

· FirstEnergy should be required to meet its 0.5% goal in 2 years. Experience from utility energy efficiency programs in other states shows that this is very achievable.

· Energy efficiency and demand response programs are crucial to reducing costs as coal prices increase and coal power plants are retired. Energy efficiency and demand response are by far the cheapest options, rather than building new power plants as coal plants are retired.

· FirstEnergy should make energy efficiency programs available to all residential customers, not just low-income customers.

· The low-income program that FirstEnergy proposed should be strengthened. As it stands, it would help low-income customers save only a few percent on their utility bills, despite the high demand for comprehensive, low-income weatherization.

· FirstEnergy has inflated the cost of its program. The PSC must carefully scrutinize the costs of any efficiency program

· As long as FirstEnergy's financial motives are to increase sales, FirstEnergy will never be pro-active about investing in energy efficiency and demand response. The PSC needs to change FirstEnergy's incentives – for example, by “decoupling” policies that remove their incentive to increase sales, or by “shared savings” mechanisms that reward utilities for exceeding energy efficiency and demand response targets.

More background:

FirstEnergy's proposal for West Virginia includes only two programs: a high-efficiency commercial and industrial lighting program and a low-income residential program. The low-income program involves only a walk-through energy audit of peoples' homes, with installation of basic measures like compact fluorescent lights and faucet aerators – in other words, despite the pervasive need for real low-income weatherization services, FirstEnergy is proposing a program that would only save people a few percent on their utility bills. FirstEnergy has also inflated the costs of its meager program. If the program is approved in its current form, West Virginia customers will be paying for more than this program is actually worth.

FirstEnergy plan for West Virginia is far weaker than what the company is being required to do in neighboring states. In PA, FirstEnergy is being required to reduce peak demand 4.5% in less than five years – that is 10 times more ambitious than what they've proposed in WV. And in Ohio, utilities were required to achieve 0.8% energy savings over two years and most utilities (not including FirstEnergy) have met this target.

By failing to make a serious investment in energy efficiency and demand response, FirstEnergy is hurting its West Virginia customers in the long run. Already, FirstEnergy's residential rates in WV have increased 33% over the past 3 years. Rates will continue to increase with rising coal prices. And as FirstEnergy retires its oldest and most polluting coal plants over the coming decade, they will likely build expensive new natural gas plants and make their customers foot the bill – unless we demand otherwise. Investing in saving energy through energy efficiency and demand response is far cheaper than investing in new power plants. Saving energy through efficiency costs the average utility about 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour saved, compared to 7-10 cents to generate power from new gas-fired generators. By failing to propose an aggressive energy efficiency program, FirstEnergy is locking its customers into paying for additional expensive rate hikes and making it harder for people to reduce their home and business energy costs.

Questions? Contact Energy Efficient West Virginia at: energyefficientwestvirginia@gmail.com

Sample letter:

Re Case # 11-0452, FirstEnergy Efficiency Plan

Dear Ms. Squire:

I appreciate the interest of the WV Public Service Commission in calling for energy efficiency and in providing for public comments in this case.

I believe as others do that the plan submitted by FirstEnergy is too weak. Energy efficiency programs should give every customer an opportunity to participate and share in the rewards of reduced energy consumption and reduced utility bills.

The plan submitted by FirstEnergy is far too limited in scope, it includes a far too meager energy and demand savings target (½ percent in 5 years), and it seems to call for recovery of costs that should not be paid by consumers.

I support a more comprehensive plan that would make available incentives and services for ALL residential and business customers, with energy savings targets comparable to those in neighboring states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. FirstEnergy is already working to comply with requirements in those other states, so it is reasonable to require similar efforts here in West Virginia.

Saving energy is far less expensive, more easily achieved, and safer for the environment than continuing to waste energy and pay the excessive costs of more generation, higher fuel prices and greater air and water pollution.

I urge the PSC to require an energy savings target comparable to the targets in other states, saving 0.5% over two years, with semi-annual reviews and modifications to expand the energy efficiency and demand response programs as rapidly as possible.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Final Public Hearing on Marcellus Drilling Clarksburg July 27

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From WV Environmental Council:

Update: Final Public Hearing on Marcellus Drilling Clarksburg July 27

House of Delegates members of the state Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale held their first public hearing on Marcellus shale drilling regulations last Thursday in Wheeling. The meeting was well attended.

The final hearing is Wednesday, July 27 in Clarksburg at the Robert C. Byrd High School.

This is your chance to tell the Legislature in person what you would like to see in a bill regulating the drilling of Marcellus Shale gas wells in West Virginia!

These public hearings are scheduled to last only 90 minutes, and the amount of time allotted to individual speakers will be allocated according to how many citizens want to speak. So get there early and sign up!

Legislators are looking for specific suggestions as to what should be included in a regulatory bill.

"We are looking for constructive comments from the public about how we can address their concerns," said Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, chairman for the House side of the joint committee. "Some members of the public may have issues or ideas that we have not considered."

The House members of the joint Select Committee are sponsoring these public hearings. Other House members of the committee are Delegates Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia; Tom Campbell, D-Greenbrier; Woody Ireland, R-Ritchie; and Bill Anderson, R-Wood.

The West Virginia Legislature created the “Select Committee” to attempt to do what the Legislature failed to do during the 2011 Regular Session – pass a bill regulating the drilling of Marcellus Shale natural gas wells. The Select Committee on Marcellus consists of ten members, five from the House of Delegates and five from the Senate, appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Acting Senate President, respectively.

The Select Committee’s goal is to develop a bill that both the House and the Senate can agree upon.

Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has said publicly that he would call a Special Session to deal with a Marcellus bill if the House and Senate could reach agreement on a bill.

Here are just a few of the essential elements WVEC believes are needed in a Marcellus regulatory bill. We are sure you can think of others.

Public notice and comment period prior to issuing drilling permits
Adequate permit fees and bonding amounts
Increased funding for more inspectors, and elimination of the industry-dominated Oil and Gas Examiners Board
An actual water withdrawal permit system to protect streams and rivers
Full protection of all water wells, with adequate setbacks and testing
Disclosure of frack fluid contents, and tracking of all wastewater disposal, including GPS tracking of wastewater transport trucks
Removal and proper disposal of drilling pits
Enhanced inspection of casing/cementing as critical for groundwater protection
Monitoring and regulation of air quality on drilling sites
Special protections for drilling on public lands and near high-quality streams
Protection of surface owners’ property and rights

Summer Energy Efficiency Series - July 14 Taylor Books, Charleston

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

SOLAR HOT WATER

It's affordable. It's efficient. It works. So, why don't we all know about it?

Thursday, July 14, 2011
Taylor Books
226 Capitol Street
Charleston, WV 25301

Charleston native James Richards rolled into his first GreenDrinks Charleston event months ago, talking about his interest in starting a business providing residential and commercial solar hot water systems. This Thursday, he launches his renewable energy business, SUNBANK, and you're invited to join the celebration.

James says the Sunbank will

Guarantee that you always have hot water.
Work in any climate, down to -35 degrees fahrenheit.
Reduce your carbon footprint and dependency on fossil fuels.
Save you an average of 75% of your water heating costs throughout the year.
Increase your property value then pay you monthly dividends.

Learn the history, how it works, and how it could change the way you heat water.

RSVP please!

Inform Your Opinion. Support Your Position with Facts.

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Rally for Moratorium on Marcellus in Charleston on July 11

by Dee Fulton on June 30, 2011

The public is invited to attend a rally to demonstrate support for a moratorium on Marcellus shale drilling and fracking to be held from 10AM to 2PM on Monday, July 11, 2011 at the State Capitol Building in Charleston, WV.

This event is sponsored by WV4MOM (West Virginia for a Moratorium on Marcellus). For more information contact frackinquestions@gmail.com.

RALLY AGENDA

Music

10:00 John and Rye Garlow, Musicians

10:10 Cracker Stackwell, Musician

10:30 Chuck Wyrostock, Sierra Club

10:30 Carpenter Ants, Musicians

Speakers

11:00 Kathy Cash, WV4MOM

11:05 Denise Giardina, West Virginia Writer

11:10 Mike Manypenny, Delegate Taylor County

11:15 Barbara Evans Fleischauer, Delegate Monongalia County

11:20 Rose Baker, Wetzel County Action Group

11:25 Announcements

Music

11:30 Michael and Carrie Kline, Musicians

Speakers

12:00 John Manchester, Mayor of Lewisburg

12:05 Tony Barill, Delegate Monongalia County

12:10 Julie Archer, WVSoro

12:15 Larry Schwab, Physician

12:20 Mitch Anderson, Amazon Watch

12:25 Frank Young, WV Environmental Council

Music

12:30 T. Paige Dalporto, Musician

Speakers

1:00 Don Spencer, Former Member Morgantown City Council

1:05 Bonnie Hall, Wetzel County Action Group

1:10 Jesse Johnson, Former Mountain Party Chairperson

1:15 Crede Calhoun, Eco Tourism

1:20 Ba Rea, Educator & Science Interpreter

1:25 Mark Moran, Pharmacist & Fairmont Activist

1:30 Dee Fulton, Veterinarian & Frack Check WV

1:35 Bob Henry Baber, Mountain Party Candidate for Governor

1:40 Hiram Lewis, Lawyer

1:45 Kathy Cash (WV4MOM)

Music

1:50 John Garlow, Stewed Mulligan, Musicians

Rally, educational forum on Marcellus Shale drilling scheduled in West Virginia

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Opponents of drilling the Marcellus Shale are holding two events this week.

West Virginians for a Moratorium on Marcellus is hosting a rally at the Capitol on Monday. Dels. Barbara Evans Fleischauer and Anthony Barill, other officials and environmentalists are scheduled to speak.

North Central WV Democracy for America is hosting an educational forum on Wednesday at Fairmont State University. Group representatives and officials will speak, and there will be a question and answer period after the presentation.

Energy companies have identified major reserves of natural gas throughout the Marcellus Shale, a shale formation that underlies much of New York and Pennsylvania, and parts of Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia. Opponents have raised concerns over the environmental impact of the drilling.

Davis & Elkins Works with PIMBY to Light Lake with Sun

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Solar Power!
Courtesy of Russ McClain
Director, Center for Sustainability Studies
Coordinator, Environmental Science Program
Davis & Elkins College

The Davis & Elkins College Center for Sustainability Studies and student group GreenWorks! installed solar powered lighting in the Campus Gazebo next to “Lake Tolstead”, using technology provided by Power in My Backyard (PIMBY), an alternative energy company located in Thomas, WV. Interior low-voltage LED lights will be powered from dusk to dawn by an 80 watt solar panel and sensor switch, making the gazebo more inviting and secure at night.

Special thanks to Russ McClain. For additional photos as well as the initial assembly indoors, go to our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davisandelkins/sets/72157626216102490/

And for the backstory from PIMBY, visit Matt’s blog: http://getpimby.blogspot.com/

Shown here during the installation are (left to right)
Director of the Center for Sustainability Studies Russ McClain, students Barry Scott,
David Goodman, and Bethany Hall, and Matt Sherald of PIMBY.
Not pictured but part of the group who assembled the panel in advance are students
Bob Fellenstein, Jennifer Boyle and GreenWorks! President Bonnie Little.

West Virginia Sustainable Fair 2011 April 16, Davis and Elkins

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

See the poster for the event

You are e-invited!

West Virginia Sustainable Fair 2011

“A Sustainable Affair”

Davis & Elkins College ~ Saturday – April 16,2011

Celebrating over a decade of sustainable initiatives and fairs!

Daytime Activities:
●10:00 - 11:30 AM: “Rain Barrel Make & Take” Workshop with Kathy Hopkins and Bruce Wohleber. Hermanson Plaza.
Please call the Center for Sustainability Studies to reserve a spot! 304-637-1309.

●11:00 AM – 3:00 PM: Electronics Recycling (E-Cycling) Collection, sponsored by The Center for Sustainability Studies of Davis & Elkins College and the Randolph County Solid Waste Authority. Hermanson Plaza Parking Lot.

For more information contact The Center for Sustainability Studies (304) 637-1309.

Events at Halliehurst Mansion
4:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Exhibits/Vendors, Wine & Beer Tasting, Live Music – Free to the public
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM: A “Sustainable Feast” Benefit Dinner – local foods local chefs! ($20 donation, advance or door)
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM: Dinner Round Table discussions with:
     ●Mike McKechnie & John Christensen of Mountain View Solar & Wind
     ●Myra Bonhage-Hale, Steward of LaPaix Herb Farm
   ●Matt Sherald of Power In My Back Yard (PIMBY)
     ●Ryan Hess & Michael Mills of The Mills Group, LLC

Celebratory Concert at the “Ice House” Campus Pub:
9:00 PM – 12:00 Midnight: Featuring “The FoxHunt” ($7 donation, advance or door)

For additional information please see attached poster (thank you Erin Young!) and schedule or contact the Center for Sustainability Studies of Davis and Elkins College: 304.637.1309.

Please forward electronically to those who might be interested - help us save paper and expense!

WV GreenWorks Teams with MaGrann Associates for Energy Star Training

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We're happy to announce a new partnership with MaGrann Associates to offer Energy Star workshops and seminars for trades, housing authority officials, and consumers. A formal schedule of events will come soon!

WV GreenWorks Plugs in EDISON.21 to Light Up New Breed of Entrepreneurs

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

WV GreenWorks Plugs In EDISON.21 To Light Up New Breed of Entrepreneurs

Contact Information

Sarah Halstead Boland
WV GreenWorks, Inc.
http://www.wvgreenworks.com
304 343 2880

WVGreenWorks Creates Partnerships and 6-Month Pilot Program to Advance Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Charleston, WV (San Francisco Chronicle) February 16, 2011

WVGreenWorks.com, in partnership with the Region 1 Workforce Investment Board and the Southern Workforce WV Green Up Council, has created EDISON.21, a mentoring program designed to ignite a new generation of entrepreneurs.

EDISON.21 takes its name from one of the world’s most prolific innovators who succeeded in spite of little formal education, and for whom there was no expectation of success. The program is dedicated to the next generation of innovation for sustainability. It’s established to identify, cultivate and support the kind of creative action that resulted in the light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera, just three of Edison’s thousands of inventions. Edison was a successful businessman as well as an inventor.

The pilot program begins on March 3, with the announcement of participants, mentors, and sponsors, at Tamarack Conference Center in Beckley, WV, and culminates in August.

“It’s appropriate that we announce the program this month, as the technological world celebrates Thomas Edison’s 164th birthday,” said Sarah Halstead Boland, executive director of WVGreenWorks. “Our group of potential young entrepreneurs will work alongside industry professionals as we all move forward in discovering business opportunities in growing green, sustainable communities.”

A group of 15 men and women aged 18 to 21 have been tapped for the six-month mentoring program that will result in internship and employment opportunities. Professional builders, architects, educators, community planners and leaders will work with the group as they explore cutting-edge concepts in sustainable community retrofitting and design.

“We’re specifically exploring opportunities in sustainable agriculture, conservation and recycling, green high performance building, energy efficiency, contracting, finance and marketing,“ Halstead Boland explained. “The plan is to cultivate creative thinkers who are capable of coming up with cutting edge concepts of their own.”

The Region 1 Workforce Investment Board has selected the program’s initial participants, who applied for the program and have met rigorous standards. Students and their professional mentors will work with sustainable community experts in Pittsburgh, PA, Richmond, VA, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC.

“We will expose these young people to world-class concepts and thinkers, innovators who have created systems that save money and energy, and designers and community planners who have changed how people live and conserve resources,” Halstead Boland continued. “A cool thing about the program is that our mentors will share these experiences with the young participants. We are building a comprehensive framework for opportunity that will allow rapid growth in many directions.

“By the close of the program, established building and design professionals will have the most up-to-date green building and energy efficiency certifications, and will be ready to meet growing consumer, commercial and municipal demand,” said Halstead Boland.

The Region 1 Workforce Investment Board encompasses 10 southern West Virginia counties. The Southern Workforce WV Green Up Council supports job expansion in energy efficiency, renewable energy, alternative energy and advanced traditional energy fields. Supporters of the program to date include Bridgemont and New River Community and Technical Colleges, Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity, EarthCraft House of Richmond, VA, the West Virginia chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, and Modern Home Concepts of Hurricane, WV.

A complete list of sponsors and supporters of the EDISON.21 Project will be announced at the formal program launch at Tamarack. For more information, contact Halstead Boland at sarah(at)wvgreenworks(dot)com.

###

EDISON.21 to officially launch March 3 at Tamarack

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

WV GreenWorks Plugs In EDISON.21 To Light Up New Breed of Entrepreneurs

Contact Information

Sarah Halstead Boland
WV GreenWorks, Inc.
http://www.wvgreenworks.com
304 343 2880

WVGreenWorks Creates Partnerships and 6-Month Pilot Program to Advance Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Charleston, WV (PRWEB) February 16, 2011

The pilot program begins on March 3, with the announcement of participants, mentors, and sponsors, at Tamarack Conference Center in Beckley, WV, and culminates in August.

###

Nov. 23 Green Jam WVEC Fundraiser @ Empty Glass

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Green Jam 2010
WV Environmental Council's Annual Fundraiser

November 23 @ 5:00 pm

at the

Empty Glass

Address:
410 Elizabeth St
Charleston, WV 25311

Phone: (304) 345-3914

Music, food, friends, a silent auction, WVEC t-shirts for sale, and more.

Coal Mining Doesn't Require Mountain Top Removal

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

By December 1: Tell the EPA to Stand Firm on Limiting MTR

Last April, the Environmental Protection Agency took a big step toward curtailing mountaintop removal coal mining when it issued draft guidelines that reduced the practice of “valley fills” — which bury streams and poison Appalachia’s water sources — unless they met a high standard.

The guidelines were just one of a series of draft rules issued that day that would reduce the impact of mountaintop removal coal mining. And since then, Big Coal has been arguing that the rules are too costly and need to be overturned.

Now it’s your turn to be heard. The EPA is accepting public comments on its proposed restrictions on mountaintop removal.

Can you take just a moment today to tell the EPA to stand firm on limiting the devastating effects of mountaintop removal coal mining? Comments are due by December 1. To learn more about this guidance visit the EPA’s website and regulations.gov.

Click here to send in your letter.

Pecha Kucha Night Charleston, WV Debuts December 14!

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Details will be released soon regarding the first PechaKucha Night in Charleston, WV. Stay tuned for more information. This is an event you won't want to miss!

Greenwashing For Dinner: 8 Faux Green Foods To Avoid

Fri, 1 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

From Greenwashing For Dinner: 8 Faux Green Foods To Avoid (PHOTOS) (click here for the rest of the story!)

We heartily applaud any effort to green your diet. But beware: looks can be misleading.

While organic is much better for the environment since it excludes pesticides and many types of preservatives and fillers, not all organic food is created equal. Likewise, some things that may be healthy for you are not healthy for the environment.

Here are eight types of foods marketing themselves as eco-friendly that you should reconsider.

Organic Feed Lot Milk And Dairy

We know there is a lot of debate out there about whether eating meat can ever be sustainable. But setting that aside for a moment, lets consider organic meat and dairy.

You would think organic would be the best option out there for meat and milk, right? Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Often organic meat and milk producers crowd their cattle into feed lots after only a short time on grass. The grain is organic, but the sentiment isn’t. The result is concentrated waste and pollution. Fully grass-fed cattle are much better for the environment.

Luckily the FDA released new, stricter rules in February governing the amount of pasture milk cows must have access to. The new rules still allow for finishing organic cows on grain, however.

Look for “100% grass-fed” meat, or pasture-finished beef, goat, turkey, and other meats at your local farmers market. Even better, ask the farmer at the market about how the animal was raised.

Source: Huffington Post | Alden Wicker First Posted: 09-23-10 09:44 AM | Updated: 09-23-10 09:45 AM

Solar Tour and Open House - Oct 2 Naoma, WV

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Want to save money on your power bills and generate your own electricity? Or learn how to get work installing solar projects?

Come to the Solar Power Open House

Saturday, October 2^nd

10am-2pm

Kay and Danny Howell's home:

125 Cooper Court, Naoma

Kay and Danny installed a solar hot water system for their home through Mountain View Solar and Wind, a West Virginia-based contractor. Stop by their house on Saturday October 2^nd to learn:

How they did it and their experience with their solar system
What solar options are available
How to finance solar for your home
Job opportunities

passenger trains, sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, Cardinal

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

AMTRAK to RUN DOME OBSERVATION CAR on CARDINAL

For Release Oct. 1, 2010

Contact: Chuck Riecks, 304-545-4232 or jcriecks@suddenlink.net

If you’ve missed reserving a seat on Colis P. Huntington Historical Society’s New River fall excursion trains between Huntington and Hinton in October, you have another chance at sightseeing in early November when Amtrak puts a special dome observation car on the regular Cardinal train.

The dome, the only such car now in the Amtrak fleet, will be an extra lounge car. Seats will not be sold on it; rather, it will be available for use by all passengers, first come first served. The dome car, with its rounded glass paneling for 360-degree sightseeing, is rotated around various long distance trains. For most of October it will run on the Adirondack through upper New York state. Then it will run four times on regular Cardinal trips between Chicago and Washington, DC/New York City:

Eastbound Cardinal, Train # 50, due to pass through Charleston on Sunday Oct. 31, 2010, at 8:16 a.m.; Westbound Cardinal, Train # 51, on Friday Nov. 5, at 8:10 p.m.; Eastbound Cardinal, Train # 50, on Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 at 8:16 a.m.; and Westbound Cardinal, Train # 51, Friday Nov. 12, 2010 at 8:10 p.m. The Amtrak station on MacCorkle Avenue is open Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 7:45 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3:45-9 p.m. The ticket agent can be reached at 304-342-6766.

“Passenger trains are a big part of making our transportation system convenient and energy efficient,” said Chuck Riecks, chair of the local rail passenger group Friends of the Cardinal. “They’re also fun for all ages, and we’re glad that Amtrak is attracting more travelers to our Cardinal route by using the dome car on it in November.” He noted that baggage car service has been restored on the Cardinal this year. “One of our goals, the restoration of daily service, is being seriously discussed by Amtrak,” Riecks added.

Friends of the Cardinal, an affiliate of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, recently sponsored information booths at WV State University and the University of Charleston. The group plans to exhibit at Hinton’s Railroad Days Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24; at Bluefield WV Railroad Show sponsored by Pocahontas Chapter NRHS Nov. 13-14; and at Huntington Area Railroad Show Nov. 27-28.

For more information search for the group on Facebook.

Seven Sustainable Building Designs and Materials for a Greener Home

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

From 7 Sustainable Building Designs And Materials For A Greener Home (PHOTOS)

Imagine the opposite of a conventional, energy-sucking home. That would be a passive home. By orienting windows to take advantage of seasonal sunlight and shade, being smart about insulation, and using materials that store heat during the day and breath it back into the home at night, energy use can be slashed by 90% compared to the average US home.

These houses aren’t hippie shacks. The first passive-certified home in the US has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2,800 square feet of living space.

More than 15,000 passive buildings already exist in Europe, including homes, schools, factories, and office buildings. Austria leads the charge with 17% of new homes being built to the standard.

In the US you’ll find passive projects in varying climates like Minnesota and Vermont, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Berkeley, California.

Although the house pictured above is not a certified passive house, it uses passive technology in its construction, including a bank of south facing windows with screens to control heating.

Huffington Post | Alden Wicker First Posted: 09-21-10 08:20 AM | Updated: 09-21-10 08:43 AM

Open Invitation to Learn More about Climate Change on 10-10-10

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Join a growing group of citizens who want to learn more about climate change, energy efficiency, tax credits for efficiency and renewable energy projects, and how communities like ours can make a big difference.

Sunday, October 10, 2010
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Unitarian Universalist Congregation
520 Kanawha Blvd West, Charleston, WV

Want to know more about the event and who's behind this push to gather on 10-10-10?

In a letter to Charleston Gazette's Greg More, Regan Quinn recently laid out the details.

Dear Mr. Moore,

As I mentioned when I spoke with you last week, our group is planning a global warming awareness 'work party' for the tenth of October - 10/10/10 - at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at 520 Kanawha Boulevard West in Charleston.

While some of the details still need to be worked out, the evening will certainly consist of an orientation - designed to let people know that global warming is indeed an urgent problem - followed by practical information about technology that individuals and organizations can implement to reduce the 'carbon footprint' of the buildings we live in. These include energy conservation measures and the use of building integrated thin-film photovoltaics, which, unlike the older crystalline silicon solar
cells, operate in the overcast conditions typical of WV and many other states. Information about financing of PV and energy retrofits will be provided, and the proposed Carbon Fee and Dividend Act , and other legislative means for addressing the global warming crisis will be discussed. In addition, because local food production lowers the emission of green house gases, locally grown and prepared foods will be provided for the audience, provided by Keveney Bair of the Monroe Farmers Market. Attendees will also be able to learn about "eco- fashion" from Mission Savvy in Charleston.

This Charleston 101010 Work Party is only one of many similar events organized through 350.org, an international grassroots campaign that aims to mobilize a global climate movement united by a common call to action. 350 parts per million (PPM) of CO2 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Global warming is happening now and its fingerprints are everywhere: in overwhelming floods in Pakistan, drought and fires in Russia that have increased the price of a loaf of bread, monster ocean waves a hundred feet high, increasing acidity in the oceans which threatens sea life, and the giant iceberg calved from a Greenland glacier, four times the size of the island of Manhatten, which is now a potential menace for the eastern U.S. coastline. The Greenland
iceberg is an example of a tipped tipping point - tipping points happen when certain climate conditions reinforce each other in "feedback loops". For example, as Arctic ice melts (which it is doing 80 years ahead of projections) the darker ocean absorbs more sunlight, becomes warmer and speeds melting. The melting of the Greenland glacier is an example of a dangerous event which must be avoided by getting below 350 ppm as soon as possible.

For further information about the excellent 350 organization, see their web address 350.org, or listen to founder Bill McKibben being interviewed on Krista Tippett' on her radio program "Speaking of Faith". The 350 website lists other sources of information about global warming, including:

www.unep.org/climatechange/
www.newscientist.com/topic/climate-change
www.realclimate.org

For further information please contact me,
Regan Quinn or

Robin Wilson at Citizens Action Group
robin@wvcag.org

National Fuel Snubs Efforts to Improve Program

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

By By Aaron Bartley - el,-12
Publication: LexisNexis
Date: Thursday, September 23 2010

Last November, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" provided us with an extraordinary platform for telling Buffalo's West Side Story to a national audience. The volunteerism and community spirit displayed by thousands of residents from across the region propelled the hopes of community activists across Buffalo working to make our neighborhoods more sustainable, equitable and beautiful.

PUSH Buffalo committed itself to sustaining the energy generated by "Extreme Makeover." In the months since, we have built 10 community gardens, garnered funding to renovate 20 vacant properties and worked to complete the region's first NetZero house, which will generate as much energy as it uses for heating, electricity and hot water. The dense concentration of sustainable development in our district caused us to define it as a Green Development Zone, prompting Gov. David A. Paterson to cite our work as a best practice worthy of replication across the state.

Given the scale of disinvestment and poverty in our neighborhoods, no community group can hope to tackle the problems of vacant housing, joblessness and sky-high utility costs without partners. PUSH has partnered with a wide array of public and private organizations to build our model of community-driven revitalization, ranging from City Hall to businesses small and large.

Six months ago, we turned to National Fuel to seek a partnership that would address the home heating crisis in this city's poorest neighborhoods through an innovative weatherization program. Coming off a year of working with state agencies and leaders to craft the nation's leading residential weatherization program -- Green Jobs/Green NY -- we believed that we had valuable insight on how to improve National Fuel's Conservation Incentive Program, which National Fuel's customers pay for through a bill surcharge.

To our astonishment, National Fuel CEO David Smith has refused even to meet with us to discuss best practices in housing weatherization and the need to improve the company's program. Instead, National Fuel has painted PUSH as "irresponsible" for staging a public demonstration and has accused us of wanting to hoard weatherization monies on the West Side.

PUSH doesn't want National Fuel's money for its own coffers and it doesn't want to hoard it on the West Side. Rather, we want to ensure that the $10 million National Fuel adds to customers' bills through the program surcharge is well spent and gets to low-income homes across its service area. We also think the company should contribute some of its own ample resources to the program, rather than relying solely on a hidden customer surcharge.

"Extreme Makeover" jump-started our effort to make every house in Buffalo a green and healthy home and to create hundreds of jobs in the process. To turn this vision into reality, we need support from every quarter, including the executive offices of National Fuel.

Aaron Bartley is executive director of People United for Sustainable Housing.

Green Swindle or Real Chance to Save Money? Free Workshop Helps You Decide.

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

September 2, 2010 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Lincoln County Schools Board of Education, 10 Marland Avenue, Hamlin, WV

September 14, 2010 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Huntington's Kitchen, 911 Third Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701

A special energy efficiency workshop designed to help small business owners and organization facility managers save real building operations money will be presented in Cabell and Lincoln Counties in August and September.

The workshop, titled "Get Smart, Get Efficient," will be offered on Thursday, September 2 at the Lincoln County School Board Building in Hamlin, and on Tuesday, September 14 at Huntington's Kitchen in Huntington. Each will be held from 5:30 p.m. though 7:30 p.m. Admission is free of charge, and anyone who manages buildings is invited.

"A lot of people are talking about energy efficiency, but few are talking directly to small businesses, and even fewer offer real, practical information to small business owners who grapple daily with rising costs," says Sarah Halstead Boland, executive director of the nonprofit WVGreenWorks.com, and a small business owner.

"I've never spoken to anyone who didn't want to cut energy costs," Halstead Boland said, "but it's really tough for our people in West Virginia to find useful information quickly, and nearly impossible to learn how to finance energy efficiency projects.

"We've created a two-hour energy efficiency workshop that focuses on no-cost, low-cost, and incentivized energy efficiency practices. We'll interact with energy assessment and management tools and resources as well as learn how it all can refresh a business's marketing message and attract customers."

According to Halstead Boland, sustainability is driving innovation in at least two ways: it's forcing business owners to re-examine how they manage their resources, and it provides a timely marketing thrust.

"Owners need to know that customers and the general public don't want to pay more for negligent and wasteful energy consumption," she says. "This is not a cost you can just pass on. It's important to learn what to do."

The workshops are sponsored by Southwestern Community Action Council, Marshall University Research Corporation, and Marshall's Center for Environmental, Geotechnical, and Applied Sciences with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

WV Sustainable Communities Initiative Names Three More Members

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

August 31, 2010

Stonewood – Over a month ago, the City of Fairmont gained much deserved recognition for becoming the first West Virginia Sustainable Communities member. As travelers return from summer vacations, three more communities are gearing up to accept their membership into this innovative program.

Earlier this month, West Virginia Sustainable Communities (WVSC) selected the Counties of Fayette, Gilmer, and Wyoming as additional 2010 WVSC members. These communities participated in and/or hosted a sustainability awareness training. Since then, these communities rallied support from over 30 stakeholders in order to apply for the WVSC program. The steering team of the West Virginia Sustainable Communities saw that there is high level of interest and engagement in these communities to take advantage of the tools and resources provided by WVSC.

WVSC and the primary applicants for each community are currently establishing a broader support for the initiative. First projects in each of the communities involve outreach and education, including giveaways of conservation kits to 100 households.

“We really want to get the word out, that sustainable practices pad your wallets, make your house more livable, and your community richer,” says Tomoko Tamagawa, Program Manager of the WVSC.

All WVSC members will have a sustainability team by the end of September. The team will be diverse in its composition, be inclusive and transparent, and be the brain behind future initiatives and meetings culminating to the creation of a local Sustainability Action Plan. Volunteers for these teams will be a critical force behind the entire process.

“We would like to see new faces, individuals that didn’t click to old opportunities, but find sustainability to be their new calling,” said Herk Conner, a Program Director at the West Virginia Community Development Hub, the organization administering the WVSC and other programs in this state.

Institutions of Higher Education and High Schools in the area are advised to keep their eyes open for new volunteer and internship opportunities becoming available through the communities’ involvement in the WVSC process. Also, community members are welcome at any of the local workshops and meetings that are planned for this Fall!

Congratulations to Fayette, Gilmer, and Wyoming Counties for being accepted into the program. We look forward to hearing great stories as a result of applying sustainability principles*¹ into our long-term decision making processes.

For more information, visit www.wvhub.org/wvsc or contact Tomoko Tamagawa at 304-566-7332 or wvsc@wvhub.org. Communities interested in bringing a sustainability 101 workshop to their region can also contact Tomoko at any time.

WVSC is a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection initiative administered by the WV Community Development Hub with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

*1 – Sustainability is not an end or a goal in and of itself, but rather a path through which communities can improve the social, environmental, and economic condition within and beyond its boundaries. If you are interested in bringing a six-hour sustainability awareness training to your neighborhood, give WVSC a call.

CEO of Valley Supply Company Helps Building Owners Save

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ELKINS, W.Va. – Valley Supply Co., a family-owned leader in the fields of HVAC, plumbing, pipes, valves and fittings, experienced great success with its first services of “green” seminars encouraging people to purchase Navien tankless water heaters.

The company is based in Randolph County but has locations throughout West Virginia including Clarksburg, Parkersburg and St. Albans. This summer, with federal tax credits in full swing, Valley Supply set up a series of receptions at each of the four locations.

Navien’s Energy Star certified tankless water heaters carry a federal tax credit of 30 percent of the purchase price, up to $1,500 total, and Valley Supply offered significant discounts to those who attended the seminars.

A total of more than 70 people attended during the four events.

“We encouraged people to take advantage of the summertime to make their homes more energy efficient,” said Rogers Earl, president and CEO. “People fell in love with the quality of Navien’s water heaters and also appreciated the fact that they’re reducing their carbon footprint at the same time.”

Earl, who took over as CEO earlier this year, said Valley Supply plans a series of similar events to encourage people to “go green” when they’re building or remodeling.

“Being environmentally conscious is not only good for the country, it’s good business,” Earl said. “We think activities like this help people on all sides.”

Valley Supply Co.’s centrally located distribution center allows delivery to most local branches within a day or two. The company has served businesses in the region for more than a century, tracing its roots to the Baldwin-Chandlee Co. founded in 1905.

For more information about Valley Supply Co., see the firm’s website at www.valleysupply.net. For more information about Navien, visit www.navienamerica.com.

Hang with PickUpAmerica Volunteers Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Volunteer with PickUpAmerica.org for a day through the website or call 301-523-1257. FRIDAY: 7 p.m. potluck dinner at Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 502 Kanawha Blvd., Charleston. SATURDAY: Picking up Charleston to Dunbar. Meet at noon at state Capitol. SUNDAY: Dunbar to west of St. Albans. Meet at noon at Shawnee Park.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- They call themselves "pickup artists" -- and you can take that literally.

If you happen to spot a cadre of twentysomethings (including one fiftysomething volunteer from Moscow) in bright yellow-orange vests gathering piles of trash along area roads in the days ahead, you're looking at a pretty remarkable commitment.

The four founders of PickUpAmerica.org, along with volunteers that might include you if inspired by their call to personal action, are picking their way across America, picking up trash from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

They've been moving across West Virginia for a few weeks now and are looking for like-minded "trash-terns" as they pick up through Charleston, on to Huntington and beyond.

"On March 20, we left from the coast of Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean. We dipped our feet in, burned some sage, said a nice prayer for the ocean and started picking up trash right there on the shore line," said Davey Rogner, a 24-year-old from Silver Spring, Md.

"Pretty much, we've have been doing it ever since. Full-time, picking up litter. We are the anti-litter."

But it's more than just a do-good effort by some younger folk looking to score a good deed for a few days.

The group's founders are in it for the long haul -- and you can take that literally and figuratively. They aim to dip their feet in the Pacific off San Francisco sometime in 2011, having not only cleaned up hundreds of roadways on the way, but also leaving lessons behind through music, dance and art about the cost of America's disposable culture.

They'll stage a high-profile event on Sept. 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. on the state Capitol Complex lawn, building a mountain out of recyclables. (People wishing to help build the piece should gather at 11:30 a.m. that day at Haddad Riverfront Park in downtown Charleston.)

"It's going to be all recyclables we've gathered from the side of the road in Kanawha County," said Rogner. Read More

Source: Douglas Imbrogno www.WVGazette.com

Under 600 Miles Walked, More than 27 Tons of Trash Picked Up By Hand

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The "pickup artists" of PickUpAmerica.org began at the Atlantic Ocean in March 2010, picking up trash across America until the reach the Pacific sometime in 2011. Along they way, they are leaving behind lessons about America's disposable culture and the mess its making of the country's landscapes and waterways. In this Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette story and video, the twentysomething co-founders of the group talk about why they've taken on this arduous, multi-year task. See the related print story at: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/2010081...

USGBC – WV Ask the Experts Goes to Hurricane, WV (Free!)

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

USGBC – WV Traveling Statewide Forum Ask the Experts (Free!)
August 24, 2010 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Hurricane Municipal Building, 3255 Teays Valley Road, Hurricane, WV 25526
First in a series of 12 informational forums to be held around the mountain state, USGBC members field questions from business and building owners who want to know how to save time, money and resources related to their new and existing built environment.

Clara Mullins of City National Bank and Eric Mathis of the Mingo County-based Jobs Project will both showcase their needs for green expertise as they work to make their workplaces more efficient, healthier, and productive environments, models for others to follow. Contractors, designers, suppliers, and other professionals are encouraged to attend to hear what these projects encompass. It's anticipated that proposals for services will follow this initial conversation.

Ask the Experts aims to offer expert advice on the latest and best high performance green building training, practices, and products. The USGBC – WV serves professionals with top-quality training and development programs, to inspire local sustainable and green manufacturers and innovators, and to broadly educate the general public on the benefits of building green. This event is free and open to the public. Bring your questions, ideas or building project problems and ask the experts!

Sustainable Schools Summit @ Marshall U Sept. 19-20

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Those hoping to attend the 2010 Sustainable Schools West
Virginia Summit on Sept. 19-20 at Marshall University have
until Sept. 14 to register.

The event is free and is open to leaders in public and
private higher education, as well as public and private K-
12 school administration. To register or to view the Summit
agenda and area accommodations go to:

http://apps.dep.wv.gov/registration.
For more information, contact Marshall Sustainability Manager Margie Phillips, at
philli10@marshall.edu or (304) 696-2992.

The Summit is designed to bring together education leaders
to discuss the important roles schools, colleges and
universities have in creating sustainable campuses across
West Virginia. The event will take place on Marshall’s
Huntington campus in the Memorial Student Center.

Gov. Joe Manchin is scheduled to attend and deliver the
keynote address on Sept. 20. The agenda will include a
variety of breakout sessions, panel discussions and hands-
on opportunities for collaboration and learning. It will
target fiscal and financial officers; facilities,
maintenance or operations professionals; civic engagement
or community-based volunteer coordinators; as well as
students.

The Summit is sponsored by State Electric Supply Company,
with additional support from Marshall, the West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection and ZMM, Inc.

Free Workshop to Deliver Timely Energy Cost Cutting Info Mason, Lincoln, Cabell and Wayne Counties

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For Immediate Release

August 18, 2010

Contact:
Rebecca Kimmons
Office: 304.343.2882

Cell: 304.553.4576

r.kimmons@katscandu.com

www.wvgreenworks.com

Editor, please note: Call Sarah Halstead Boland at 304.343.2880 for an in depth interview on what will take place at the seminar, and why it is important to West Virginia businesses.

Free Workshop to Deliver Timely Energy Cost Cutting Info

Mason, Lincoln, and Cabell Business Owners and Building Managers
Can Learn No Cost, Low Cost Methods and Incentives

HUNTINGTON, WV -- A special energy efficiency workshop designed to help small business owners and organization facility managers save real building operations money will be presented in Mason, Cabell and Lincoln Counties in August and September.

The workshop, titled "Get Smart, Get Efficient," will be offered on Thursday, August 26 at the Lowe Hotel in Point Pleasant, on Thursday, September 2 at the Lincoln County School Board Building in Hamlin, and on Tuesday, September 14 at Huntington's Kitchen in Huntington. Each will be held from 5:30 p.m. though 7:30 p.m. Admission is free of charge, and anyone who manages buildings is invited.

www.WVGreenWorks.com or call 304.343.2880. ##

WV GreenWorks Vision

Working with schools, industry, government and community-based organizations, WVGreenWorks, Inc. will contribute to transforming West Virginia's workforce into one that innovates, and is truly ready for 21st century jobs.

WV GreenWorks Mission
· To link advocates, organizations, policy makers, practitioners, business and community leaders to develop a green economy initiative that benefits all West Virginians;
· To increase public awareness of the potential of green jobs to help diversify the economy and provide a means to escape the causes and affects of poverty;
· To leverage best green practices and policies into model, replicable initiatives that will increase green employment and entrepreneurship;
· To provide a variety of training assistance opportunities designed for career paths in viable industries.

###

Free Workshop to Deliver Timely Energy Cost Cutting Info in Mason, Lincoln and Cabell Counties

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

August 26, 2010 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The Historic Lowe Hotel, Fourth and Main Streets, Point Pleasant, WV 25555

September 2, 2010 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Lincoln County Schools Board of Education, 10 Marland Avenue, Hamlin, WV

September 14, 2010 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Huntington's Kitchen, 911 Third Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701

A special energy efficiency workshop designed to help small business owners and organization facility managers save real building operations money will be presented in Mason, Cabell and Lincoln Counties in August and September.

The workshop, titled "Get Smart, Get Efficient," will be offered on Thursday, August 26 at the Lowe Hotel in Point Pleasant, on Thursday, September 2 at the Lincoln County School Board Building in Hamlin, and on Tuesday, September 14 at Huntington's Kitchen in Huntington. Each will be held from 5:30 p.m. though 7:30 p.m. Admission is free of charge, and anyone who manages buildings is invited.

Build It Up, WV to Wine and Dine You! August 10, 2010

Mon, 9 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I REALLY hope you can be there for what promises to be an educational, inspiring, and fun evening with the Build It Up, West Virginia Summer Program. Our Open House is running from 5:30 to 7:30 at 1600 Virginia St E in Charleston, WV.

We'll have local food & drinks (from the gardens we helped plant), an active silent auction with everything from an old meat grinder to collectible records, as well as great music from our Program and Duo Divertido. It's going to be a great evening, here's the final schedule of events.

Event Schedule

5:30 - 5:45 = Duo Divertido plays Latin Jazz & Bossa Nova

5:45 - 5:50 = Event & Program Introduction

5:50 - 6:10 = Presentation from Community Sustainability Groups on the Program's Impact in their Communities

6:10 - 6:20 = Testimonials from Program Participants on the Hard Work Done this Summer & Why Healthy / Local Economies are Important

6:20 - 6:35 = Q & A from YOU

6:35 - 6:40 = Wrap Up the Q & A, Present vision for 2011 Summer Program

6:40 - 6:55 = Music from the Summer Program Participants

6:55 = Final Pitch for the Silent Auction + Duo Divertido Sets Up

7:00 - 7:30 = Duo Divertido plays Latin Jazz & Bossa Nova

7:15 = Silent Auction Ends & Winners Announced

7:30 = Thank Everyone for Coming + Wrap Up

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Newsletter gives info on C8 studies in W.Va., Ohio

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- A panel studying the effect of a chemical used to make nonstick coatings is producing a quarterly electronic newsletter to give the public updates on their work.

The C8 Science Panel produced a pilot issue last year. The group says on its Web site that the e-newsletter will now be published every three months.

The first quarterly issue is posted on the panel's Web site, www.c8sciencepanel.org. The e-newsletter also is available with an e-mail subscription.

The panel is studying whether the chemical C8 can be linked to disease as part of a class action settlement with the DuPont Co.

DuPont uses C8 at its Washington Works plant in Wood County. The chemical contaminated six water districts in Ohio and West Virginia.

Article found in the Charleston Gazette.

Feds Study State Wind Farm's Environmental Impact

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ELKINS, W.Va. -- Public input is being sought on the environmental impact of a wind farm in southeastern West Virginia.

Beech Ridge Energy is seeking an incidental take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its Beech Ridge Wind Energy Project in Greenbrier and Nicholas counties. Such permits are required for projects that might harm endangered or threatened wildlife.

Rockville, Md.-based Beech Ridge agreed to apply for the permit as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit by environmental groups worried about potential harm to the endangered Indiana bat.

Fish and Wildlife has scheduled an informational meeting on the proposed permit for Aug. 9 at the Community Center in Rupert. Public comments can be submitted through Aug. 23.

Article found in the Charleston Gazette.

Green Plains Renewable Energy and BioProcess Algae to Break Ground on Phase II of Algae Project

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

OMAHA, Neb., July 20, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:GPRE - News) and BioProcess Algae LLC today announced plans for Phase II of its Grower Harvester ^TM algae project located at Green Plains' Shenandoah, Iowa ethanol plant. Construction on Phase II is set to begin in the next two weeks with plans to scale the technology 20 times larger than the initial Phase I of the project.

"During Phase I, BioProcessAlgae has successfully demonstrated the scalability of the technology with a 40 times increase in growing volume from bench scale reactors to an industrial setting at our ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa," said Todd Becker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Plains Renewable Energy. "We have experienced 100% uptime since inoculation in October 2009 and continue to harvest algae on a daily basis. With the positive results we have achieved in Phase I, we will commit additional resources and expertise to rapidly build the next phase of this exciting project. Our vision remains the same of providing a solution to sequestering industrial carbon dioxide while producing a high quality feedstock for fuel and feed."

"We are seeing good carbon dioxide to algae conversion rates and solid productivity from our Grower Harvester technology," stated Tim Burns, Chief Executive Officer of BioProcess Algae, LLC. "Phase II will build on Phase I efforts to optimize growth of algae in our reactors through improved utilization of light, more efficient carbon dioxide absorption and enhanced dewatering and water re-use. Phase II will also allow for robust verification of growth rates, energy balances, and operating expenses, which we consider to be some of the key steps to commercialization."

"We are also excited to announce that the Iowa Power Fund Board of Directors has unanimously voted in favor of awarding the project an additional $2.0 million matching grant subject to final negotiations," added Becker. "This is the first time that the fund has participated in a second round of funding and we truly appreciate the vision and commitment of the Iowa Power Fund and the leadership of Iowa Governor Chet Culver. If we achieve our goal of commercializing this technology, it will not only bring jobs to the State of Iowa, it will put Iowa on the cutting edge of providing a high quality feedstock to potentially reduce our country's dependence on foreign sources of oil."

BioProcess Algae's Phase II facility will be co-located with the Shenandoah ethanol plant and linked to the plant's carbon dioxide and waste heat for its feedstock. The expansion is expected to cost $4.5 million and is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2010. The cost of the Phase II project will be shared by the joint venture partners and the matching grant provided by the Iowa Power Fund.

Article found on Yahoo Finance.

Van Jones Opposes Prop. 23 in California

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

President Barack Obama's controversial former "green jobs czar" Van Jones said efforts to roll back California's landmark climate change law will not only hurt Sacramento's budding clean-tech sector but also open the door for competing cities and states to wrest away green jobs and businesses. Jones, author of a book called "The Green Collar Economy" is in town today to speak at Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's monthly green initiative meeting. He will discuss the economic fallout of Proposition 23, which seeks to suspend the state's greenhouse gas reduction law.

"It's like taking a sledgehammer to a job-creating machine," Jones said in a telephone interview Monday. "It sends an awful message, and other states are going to take advantage of it" to attract green companies, he said.

Jones' message came as more than 100 California economists specializing in California's energy and climate policies on Monday issued an open letter opposing efforts to roll back the state's landmark greenhouse gas reduction law. The economists, including Nobel laureate and former Stanford University professor Kenneth Arrow, warned that any delays in implementing the climate change law, also known as Assembly Bill 32, will be financially disastrous.

"Postponing the implementation of California's 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act will make it more expensive in the end for California to clean up our air pollution," said Michael Hanemann, co-director of the Climate and Energy Policy Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. Signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, AB 32 aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the end of the decade.

The law's supporters say it will create jobs and nurture a growing clean-tech industry.

Backed by funding from Texas oil companies, advocates of the ballot initiative to suspend the law, Proposition 23, say AB 32 is a job killer. They want the law rolled back until the statewide unemployment rates drops to 5.5 percent.

Anita Mangels, spokeswoman for the California Jobs Initiative, which is spearheading the measure, said that while the legislation may create green jobs, it will destroy far more existing blue-collar jobs in the manufacturing, refining and energy sectors.

"There will be jobs lost and it increases energy (costs) exponentially," she said.

Jones noted that Sacramento is already "a national success story" when it comes to building a green economy. A recent study by MonsterTrak.com ranked the city among the top 10 in the nation when it came to creating green-collar jobs.

Jones, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., praised Johnson for bringing various interest groups – unions, businesses and environmentalists – together to boost Sacramento's green profile.

As the green jobs adviser to the Obama White House, Jones was a key player in the administration's clean energy policies.

But he abruptly resigned last year amid heavy criticism for negative comments he made about Republicans prior to joining the administration.

Article found in the Sacramento Bee.

Environmentalists Urge Tougher Water Standards

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Environmentalists said Monday evening that a new water quality standard proposed by West Virginia regulators isn't nearly stringent enough.

Don Garvin, lead lobbyist for the West Virginia Environmental Council, said the standard for total dissolved solids (TDS) pollution in state rivers and streams isn't as stringent as what is recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Garvin also outlined other steps that he said the state Department of Environmental Protection should have taken as part of its latest proposed changes to state water pollution limits.

"This is just not enough," he said during a DEP public hearing on the proposal, slated for submission for review by lawmakers during next year's regular session.

Garvin urged DEP to also consider adding language to require state permits for large-scale water withdrawals from state streams and adopting an EPA proposal for limiting the electrical conductivity of waterways.

The DEP proposal for TDS, unveiled in late May, would set a legal limit for total dissolved solids in waterways of 500 parts per million. It would apply in-stream to waterways statewide, making it more stringent than the existing standard in Pennsylvania, which applies a standard of 500 parts per million only at the intake pipes for public drinking water systems.

But Garvin said the federal EPA recommends an even tougher standard of 250 parts per million, and that the state DEP has given no clear reason for not adopting the federal recommendation.

Environmental groups and industry are closely watching the DEP action on dissolved solids, which are made up of various salts -- such as chlorides and sulfates -- that are dissolved in water. At high enough levels, such pollutants can be dangerous to aquatic life and can make water used in drinking supplies taste and smell bad.

DEP officials have considered the proposal for more than a year already. Their studies were prompted by TDS problems that brought complaints about unpleasant odors and tastes in drinking water drawn from the Monongahela River in the fall of 2008.

Last fall, a massive fish kill in Dunkard Creek along the Pennsylvania border was blamed at least in part on TDS pollution.

High levels of TDS can come from a variety of sources, including coal-mining discharges. Some citizen groups have become increasingly concerned about TDS from the disposal of fluids from large-scale oil and gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.

West Virginia currently has no TDS limits in its water quality standards.

At Monday's public hearing, Morgantown City Councilman Don Spencer said his council had passed a resolution supporting DEP taking action to put a TDS limit in place.

Ted Armbrecht, a member of the state Environmental Quality Board, urged DEP to move more quickly to limit nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous that he said are adding to the pollution problems in the Chesapeake Bay.

Armbrecht said West Virginia political leaders and regulators need to realize that clean water can be a major economic development tool.

"Water is the resource of the 21st century, and we have it," Armbrecht said.

Lew Baker of the West Virginia Rural Water Association said that DEP's proposal for a TDS standard is a "blunt instrument" and that the agency would be better off adopting specific standards for irons that make up dissolved salts, such as bromide.

Several industry officials attended Monday's meeting. They did not publicly voice their views on the DEP's proposals.

Previously, industry members of the DEP Advisory Council pushed a recommendation that the agency weaken its TDS standard by having it not apply only at the intake of public water supplies.

DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said her agency would consider that recommendation as part of its review of other public comments.

Article found in the Charleston Gazette.

Two Hearings at the State Capitol in Charleston Monday, July 19th

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

10AM: The WV Legislatures' Judiciary Subcommittee A and the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources will hold a joint hearing on slurry issues in the Government Organization Committee Room (215 E) at the State Capitol Building in Charleston. That room is in the East Wing (House side), on the second floor.

Speakers include a representative from the WV Department of Environmental Protection and Wheeling Jesuit University professor Dr. Ben Stout. The subcommittee may also hear information on why some households in the Boone County community of Prenter do not yet have piped-in water.

The slurry hearing should run two hours.

11AM: Subcommittee B of the Joint Standing Committee on Finance will listen to Rory McIlmoil with Downstream Strategies and Ted Boettner with the WV Center on Budget & Policy present their report on coal and the state budget in Senate Finance Committee Room (451 M). That room is on the third floor of the Capitol's West Wing, right where you come up the stairs that originate on the right hand side of the Senate Chamber as you're facing it. The room is small, with no standing space, so you'll want to arrive early.

Also presenting will be Tom Witt and Cal Kent, the authors of "The West Virginia Coal Economy, 2008."

Rockefeller Bill Would Fund Long-Term Development of CCS

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Legislation introduced July 14 in the U.S. Senate would authorize hundreds of millions of federal dollars for carbon capture and sequestration, widely seen as necessary to coal’s viability as an energy source if Congress sets limits on climate-warming carbon emissions.

The Carbon Capture and Storage Deployment Act of 2010 was introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

"This bipartisan legislation represents the next generation of our energy economy — one that invests in clean coal and CCS technologies and keeps America less reliant on foreign fuel sources," Rockefeller said.

Carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, is the set of technologies still under development that would gather carbon dioxide emissions at their sources and store it permanently, underground or in other places.

“Technology is the biggest impediment to dealing with greenhouse gases,” Voinovich pointed out in a press conference before the bill was introduced.

The senators’ five-part proposal would provide federal grants, loan guarantees and tax credits aimed progressively at moving CCS technologies through research, development, demonstration and commercialization .

First, a CCS innovation program would authorize $850 million over 15 years for cost-shared industry-government research and development. The goal of this program will be to demonstrate new and innovative technologies to capture, use or store carbon dioxide.

A CCS Pioneer Program would provide incentives to encourage rapid deployment of 20 gigawatts of CCS systems and equipment. For comparison, American Electric Power’s leading-edge CCS validation project at the Mountaineer plant in New Haven currently operates on a 1.7-megawatt slipstream.

Following the first 20-GW pioneer phase, a CCS Early Adopter Program will provide certainty for investors through tax credits to power generation facilities based on volumes of CO2 captured.

Technology standards would go into effect after CCS technology is installed on the first 10 GW of generating capacity, or in the year 2030. Plants permitted after bill enactment would be required to be retrofitted with the demonstrated CCS technology.

Finally, widespread adoption of CCS would be supported through the establishment of a stable legal and regulatory framework for issues such as liability.

“It produces jobs, it reduces emissions, and it takes on head-on the question which people refuse to face up to — which is … add all of the alternative fuels up, they’re not going to match the approximately 48 percent … of that part of our electricity in this country which is done by coal,” Rockefeller said.

Rockefeller said the cost of the bill would be paid for by increases in utility rates of less than $1 a month per household.

Rockefeller and Voinovich said they are introducing their bill as a stand-alone piece of legislation, but that they could see it becoming part of a larger energy bill that does not include cap and trade — an increasingly unpopular measure they said has no chance of passing.

This bill, by contrast, has been crafted over the period of a year through conversations with major utilities and coal companies and enjoys broad support, they said.

The National Mining Association expressed its approval of the bill.

“CCS technology will enable U.S. power plants to not only neutralize carbon emissions from coal combustion but also to continue providing American households and industries with affordable electric power and high-wage employment from coal production,” the NMA said in a press release.

The senators said that, once created, these technologies would be made available globally and that it would then be difficult for developing countries to argue that they cannot control greenhouse gas emissions.

Rockefeller emphasized the necessity of developing CCS.

“It’s the only future that coal can have,” he said. “Let me say that again. It’s the only future that coal can have other than tailing off into obscurity.”

Article found in the State Journal.

First Net Zero Energy Home In Connecticut

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Consulting Engineering Services (CES) is a MEP engineering firm that is wholeheartedly committed to sustainable design and has a very strong "practice what you preach" mentality. This time a year ago, president and CEO of CES, George V. Keithan, Jr. decided to commit to fostering an entirely new life-style and design the first Net Zero Energy Home in the State of Connecticut, which coincidentally will be his family's private residence.

With the hard work of CES employees designing the MEP systems, J. W. Huber Architect LLC, Essex Squared LLC and numerous contractors, the home was completed in November and the Keithan family was able to spend their first Thanksgiving and start their new greener life-style in the very first Net Zero Energy Home in Connecticut.

This stunning new construction single-family home is 3,600 square feet and sits on 14 acres of land in Killingworth. The design approach to this project was to design a home that is not only energy efficient but fits into our New England Landscape. The home is a cedar shingled Farmhouse-style home with a post and beam barn, freestanding stone walls and what will be a working organic vegetable farm, Christmas tree farm and the home to 50 chickens for organic eggs. Another goal of this project was for it to be a learning experience; this was the first time building a zero energy home for everyone involved with the project.

The roof of the barn is where the 65 solar photovoltaic panels are installed that will provided all of the electrical power for the residence. On the roof of the main house are 10 solar hot water panels for heating the domestic hot water. Altogether these panels will generate 20,000 kwhr/yr of electricity. The house also has a water-to-water standing column Geothermal HVAC system that will also be used for the domestic water well.

The interior of the home has a soft elegance with its combination of modern technology and understated farmhouse details. When the rooms aren't being filled with natural light they are lit with LED fixtures and the paint, woodwork, flooring and cabinets were all chosen because they emit low or no VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Many of the finishing details throughout the home come from recycled materials; reused countertops from old homes, an old barn door installed on a slider to hide the LED television, recycled doors for the interior rooms and recycled slate for the window sills.

This home is a certified LEEDTM Platinum home, has a -7 HERS rating, won the 2009 Association of Energy Engineers Energy Award, was featured in the CT Department of Environmental Protections Earth Day 40 Video and is entered in Northeast Utilities Zero Energy Challenge.

Article found in the Hartford Courant. Photo by George V. Keithan, Jr.

Agritourism Conference Set in Eastern Kentucky

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky is co-sponsoring a conference later this month aimed at promoting agritourism in eastern Kentucky.

The conference starts July 28 and runs through the 30th at the Regional Enterprise Center in West Liberty.

It will open with a presentation by Peter Hille of Berea College, who believes it’s crucial for regional leaders to carve a new future for the area and not wait for solutions from outside the region.

On July 29, participants will hear from Todd Comen, who is founder and manager of the Institute for Integrated Rural Tourism.

The conference is also co-sponsored by the Eastern Kentucky Foothills Eco-Agri-Tourism Corp.

Article found in the Herald-Dispatch.

Solar Cell Maker Gets a $400-Million Boost

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A thin-film solar firm spun out of Colorado State University says it has developed a way to make cadmium-telluride photovoltaic modules that could be cheaper than processes used by other makers of such solar cells. Abound Solar of Loveland, CO, has received a conditional $400-million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The loan will be tapped over the next three years to fund a 12-fold expansion of Abound's capacity, bringing its total annual output to 840 megawatts and giving the company the scale it says it needs to compete with industry leader First Solar. "Abound's device is almost identical to what First Solar makes," says W.S. Sampath, a professor of mechanical engineering at CSU and inventor of Abound's manufacturing process. "Our real distinction is in how we make it. It's a more continuous in-line process. What might take five or six different machines (for another manufacturer), we do in one chamber."

Sampath says that even though Abound produces fewer cells, its per-watt cost of production is already "quite close" to First Solar's. "With a little more volume, we can get lower," he says.

It's a bold claim. Tempe, AZ-based First Solar, which currently has about 1,300 megawatts of annual production capacity and plans to add another 800 megawatts over the next two years, disclosed in its last quarter that it can produce its modules for an industry-leading 81 cents per watt.

Abound (previously AVA Solar) was founded four years ago, but its cadmium-telluride manufacturing process is based on nearly two decades of research. Two years after its 2006 spinoff from CSU, the company raised $150 million from private investors looking for a thin-film photovoltaic maker to rival First Solar.

Anders Olsson, the company's vice-president of research and development, says all of the semiconductor manufacturing steps are integrated within a single piece of equipment. "Inside the chamber, there are many stages, but it's all done in one vacuum envelope. There is no breaking of vacuums between steps. You put glass in and get a completed semiconductor coming out."

He says some steps have been eliminated as a result. For example, there are no expensive and time-consuming wet chemical processes during the making of the semiconductor. And where some manufacturers lay a thicker layer of cadmium telluride and then etch back to the thinness they desire, Abound doesn't require an etching step. "We grow the thickness we need and leave it," says Olsson.

Abound also uses an approach to module construction that it borrowed from the dual-pane window industry. "Our product, if you think of a dual-pane window, is two pieces of glass with an air-gap in the middle, and it's sealed around the edge with a silicone sealant and polyisobutylene," explains Olsson. Polyisobutylene is a synthetic rubber that is impermeable to air. Such a seal protects against moisture, which can cause thin film cells to degrade.

Harin Ullal, a researcher with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO, says it appears that Abound's manufacturing process has a smaller footprint compared to First Solar and can churn out modules in less than two hours--a half-hour quicker than the cycle time claimed by First Solar. Ullal says he doesn't think Abound risks overcrowding the market because there's no shortage of demand. "There is room in the market," he says.

Abound isn't the only thin-film maker chasing First Solar. Calyzo, a subsidiary of Q-Cells that was founded in 2005, and GE subsidiary PrimeStar are among several startups also pursuing the cadmium-telluride module market.

Germany to Switch to 100% Renewables for its Electricity by 2050

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Germany could derive all of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050 and become the world's first major industrial nation to kick the fossil-fuel habit, the country's Federal Environment Agency said today.

The country already gets 16% of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources – three times' higher than the level it had achieved 15 years ago.

"A complete conversion to renewable energy by 2050 is possible from a technical and ecological point of view," said Jochen Flasbarth, president of the Federal Environment Agency.

"It's a very realistic target based on technology that already exists – it's not a pie-in-the-sky prediction," he said.

Thanks to its Renewable Energy Act, Germany is the world leader in photovoltaics: it expects to add more than 5,000 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity this year to reach a total of 14,000 megawatts. It is also the second-biggest wind-power producer after the United States. Some 300,000 renewable energy jobs have been created in Germany in the last decade.

The government has set goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% between 1990 and 2020, and by 80-85% by 2050. That goal could be achieved if Germany switches completely to renewable sources by 2050, Flasbarth said.

About 40% of Germany's greenhouse gases come from electricity production, in particular, from coal-fired power plants.

Flasbarth said the Environment Agency's study found that switching to green electricity by 2050 would have economic advantages, especially for the vital export-oriented manufacturing industry. It would also create tens of thousands of jobs.

"The costs of a complete switch to renewables are a lot less than the costs to future generations that climate change will cause," he said.

Last month a report by the UK's Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, mid Wales, said Britain could eliminate all its carbon emissions by 2030 by overhauling its power supply.

Article found in The Guardian.

Clean Energy Jobs Forum July 20th in Charleston

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

                                           Tuesday, July 20th – 11:00 a.m.
                                                  Charleston House Holiday Inn
                                                 600 Kanawha Boulevard, East
                                                               Charleston

What: A discussion led by West Virginians for a Powerful Future (WVPF) about the importance of clean energy jobs to both our state and nation’s future. The discussion will include the role of comprehensive energy and climate change legislation in making sure our nation leads the world in developing new energy technology such as carbon sequestration, and why West Virginia should be leader in clean jobs of future.

WVPF members participating:

• Dr. Jim Smith, Professor and Director, Center for Industrial Research Applications (CIRA), WVU

• Jim Guidarini, Vice President & West Virginia Site Manager, The Dow Chemical Company

• Kenny Perdue, President, West Virginia AFL-CIO

• Jack Tincher, West Virginia veterans’ leader

Who should attend: Development professionals, community and business leaders, small businesses and anyone who is concerned about jobs and our future.

Registration: The event is free. Participants may register by emailing events@wvpowerfulfuture.com or may visit our website at:

www.wvpowerfulfuture.com/CleanEnergyJobsForumRegistration.html

The Future of US Southeastern Forests Depend on How They're Valued

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

July 7, 2010 · What’s the value of a forest? It depends on whom you ask. But the nation’s Southeastern forests may need some new answers to that question if they’re going to survive the growing pace of development.

Southeastern forests make up nearly 30 percent of the nation’s forest lands, and they’re among the world’s most biologically diverse temperate forests—home to some 3,000 plant species and nearly 600 bird species. But two recent reports project that these forests are on course for dramatic change within the next 50 years.

One report is from a U.S. Forest Service project focused on providing policymakers, landowners, and scientists the information they need to make decisions about future forest use.

“The work of the Southern Forests Futures Project is focused on trying to simultaneously simulate the development of forest in the south, in response to climate change, changes in population and urbanization, as well as changes in forest management and harvesting,” said spokesperson David Wear.

Wear says that, by 2060, nearly 30 million more acres will have been developed in the Southeast.

“That’s about a doubling of developed land in the region, said Wear. "That’s with about an 80 percent increase in population here. A majority of that land would come out of forests.”

“Continual but dispersed change often goes unnoticed,” said Craig Hanson of the World Resources Institute.

The World Resources Institute Southern Forests for the Future project just came out with its own report examining those trends to raise awareness about their implications.

Hanson says several factors are driving the kind of incremental change that could amount to lots of lost forest. He says, for example, forest will be lost not only to sprawl but also to converting agricultural land for timber or fuel products, especially as demand grows globally, and Appalachian coal mining will have cleared one and half million acres of forest by the end of this year. Since most Southern forests are privately owned, Hanson says these kinds of changes in land use reflect what owners find the most value in.

“So on average, they’re only getting paid for timber, although their forests also provide places for recreation, hunting, carbon sequestration, water purification, you name it, right? Now any business model where you’re making five things and you’re only getting paid for one of them is not a long-term sustainable business model,” Hanson said.

Those kinds of assets are often called ecosystem services, and the healthier and more intact the ecosystem, the better the services it can provide: oxygen to breathe, stable soils that prevent flooding, food, habitat. The challenge, says Jon Erickson, is that those services don’t traditionally have any market value. Erickson is an ecological economist with the University of Vermont. He says that’s why forest owners don’t have much incentive now to keep their forests intact.

“All the incentives in the marketplace are to convert a forest into something else, to convert a forest into board feet and sell it as timber, or to convert the forest land into acres and sell it for development,” said Erickson.

Maintaining an intact forest isn’t cheap: there are taxes and insurance to be paid, to name a few expenses, but Erickson says an emerging point of view says that keeping ecosystems, including forests, intact might be more valuable to the owner and to society as a whole. One possibility is to offer tax incentives.

“Giving forest landowners a break on taxes is a tried and true way to give them the incentive to keep forestry either in sustainable forestry or to preserve all those other services that come from forests, and in return, society is essentially compensating the landowner by lowering their tax bill,” said Erickson.

Erickson says that one way to measure a forest’s value is to consider the cost of replacing it. For example, if forest lands act as a city’s first line of water filtration from a primary drinking source, what would it cost in terms of manmade infrastructure to replace that filtration system? What about storing the carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming? If there were a price for emitting carbon, forests would be saving industry a lot of money. The World Resources Institute’s Craig Hanson says that in 2007, forests played a huge role in what’s called “carbon sequestration.”

"U.S. forests in total sequestered about 13 percent of the gross greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. We should be concerned about forest loss because as forests recede, our carbon sink shrinks,” Hanson said.

So the forces of change shaping Southeastern forests could have major effects on not only our landscape, but our health, and our livelihoods, but some emerging practices – like paying for ecosystem services or putting legal limits on how much land can be developed – may alter some of these trends.

This report is published here through West Virginia Public Broadcasting's partnership with the Ohio River Radio Consortium.

Article found on WV PBS's website.

Solar Power Now Cheaper than New Nuclear in North Carolina

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Former Duke chancellor, economist cites "historic crossover" … says solar costs keep dropping as nuclear costs climb – and that utilities should stop rejecting solar

DURHAM, NC – Solar electricity has become cheaper than juice from new nuclear power plants in North Carolina, and will be far less expensive before nukes could be built. That’s according to amajor new report by the former chancellor of Duke University and emeritus chair of its economics department, who also said power companies are rejecting solar energy that’s priced below what new nuclear power would cost. Moreover, he said, nuclear utilities are seeking additional, massive public subsidies and additional transfer of financial risks to electricity customers and taxpayers.

"North Carolina should be leading, not lagging, in the transition to clean energy," Dr. John Blackburn said during a press briefing today. "We call on Governor Perdue and state agencies to see that a very important turning point has been reached, and act accordingly." He explained that the fast-growing worldwide solar industry is poised to bring thousands of manufacturing andinstallation jobs to North Carolina if the utilities will stop impeding its development.

Clean energy proponents have long awaited the day when solar and nuclear prices cross. Solar photovoltaic and hot water system costs have fallen steadily for years, and are projected to fall even more over the next 10 years due to manufacturing and installation advances. Meanwhile, design problems and rising cost estimates have led to delays and cancellations of U.S. nuclear projects.

The report explains that states with open competition for electricity sales are rejecting the nuclear gamble in favor of the combined economic and environmental benefits of solar, wind, cogeneration and energy efficiency; at least 20 states are ahead of North Carolina in developing clean energy. By contrast, the report shows, states with monopoly power markets are the ones still proposing to build new nuclear plants – with each project absorbing billions of public dollars.

The emeritus professor produced an "apples to apples" cost comparison, net of incentives for both technologies, based on interviews with solar installers across the state and published reports of solar trends and cost estimates to build nuclear plants. His report includes "rooftop" solar photovoltaic systems for homes and businesses, along with large solar "farm" installations.

"This state should place a cost cap on new nuclear power – and remove the one on solar," added Blackburn, referring to legislation in 2007 restricting rate increases for solar energy while requiring that 0.2% of all utility sales be solar power. Solar installers and advocates have complained for months that the utilities are doing the bare minimum on renewables and energy efficiency so they can keep arguing for the need to build nuclear plants.

The economist, who has analyzed energy issues since the mid-1970s, produced the report for clean energy nonprofit NC WARN. It was co-authored by Sam Cunningham, a masters candidate at the Duke University Nicholas School for the Environment. The authors emphasize that solar prices should be compared to new nuclear plant costs, and that electric rates will rise much less with a cleanenergy approach.

NC WARN sent the solar-nuclear report to Governor Perdue today and asked for a meeting to brief her about the new economics of energy and the implications it has for North Carolina. The clean energy advocates also asked for the Governor’s help in developing the financing mechanisms for solar energy that are proving successful in other states.

"We are asking the Governor to take the leadership in creating the new solar economy," said NC WARN attorney John Runkle today. "The biggest barriers to solar electricity are the electric utilities, and if they begin construction on nuclear plants, our electricity rates will skyrocket and our solar industry will continue to be impeded."

As Dr. Blackburn reported earlier this year, even modest increases in efficiency and clean energy sources, when used in combination, will avoid the need for new nuclear plants. That approach will even allow the phase-out of the state’s coal power plants – which climatologists say must happen within 20 years.

"This report should be a game changer if our democratic institutions do their jobs," said NC WARN director Jim Warren today. "There is a global energy transition underway, one that is crucially needed to rebuild our economies and tackle the climate crisis. North Carolina’s big utilities need to either contribute to that transition or get out of the way and watch rooftop solar and other sources of distributed energy capture the market."

"We’re urging people who are financially able to invest in rooftop solar – PV and/or hot water – to do so right away," he added. Warren explained that this will help the customer, help grow the solar market, and help everyone by cutting energy demand and pollution. "This report should end the argument for risking billions of public dollars on new nuclear projects."

From a press release found on North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network's website.

Public Hearing on Water Quality Standards July 19th in Charleston

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public hearing on proposed water quality standards changes on Monday, July 19, beginning at 6:00 PM, in the Cooper’s Rock Training Room at DEP’s Charleston headquarters located at 601 57th Street S.E., Charleston, WV 25304. The public comment period closes at the end of that public hearing.　

Every three years each state is required by the federal Clean Water Act to update its water quality standards. It’s called the Triennial Review process, and it’s an integral part of the Clean Water Act’s attempt to ensure that state water quality standards are protective of human health and the environment. Water quality standards are basically the amounts of various pollutants that are allowed to be dumped into our rivers and streams. These standards determine just how clean – or how dirty – our water will be.

As part of the Triennial Review Process the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is proposing changes to the state Water Quality Standards Rule (47CSR2) for consideration by the Legislature in 2011.

If you are concerned about streams being dewatered or brine being dumped into streams by drilling Marcellus Shale gas wells, or fish kills on streams like Dunkard Creek, or huge amounts of algae clogging your favorite lakes and rivers, or maintaining the highest water quality standards on your favorite trout stream, now is the time to let DEP know.

Link to more talking points: http://www.wvecouncil.org/take_action/2010/07_09.html

Linking Green Buildings, Productivity and the Bottom Line

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Can promoting green initiatives and certifying the workplace as green increase productivity? And if so, what is the impact to the bottom line?

A review of scientific literature and studies indicate quite conclusively that the answer is yes on productivity, but the challenge is in quantifying those gains in relation to profit.

Let's first look at what is meant by a green workplace. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in a 2009 poll, "Green Initiatives, What has Changed in One Year," defined a green workplace as one that is environmentally sensitive, resource efficient and socially responsible. This definition can be viewed from the perspective of a corporate strategy, easily fitting under the concept of sustainability.

There are plenty of surveys linking corporate sustainability practices to employee engagement.

In a recent "LinkedHR: Green" on-line discussion, website manager Liz Pellet referenced a Harris poll that found that 33 percent of Americans would be more inclined to work for a green company compared to an organization that does not make a conscious effort to promote socially and environmentally friendly practices. She wrote, "There are a lot of benefits and measurable Return on Investment to going green and increased employee engagement is one of them."

To be more tactical, it is important to analyze the physical work environment. It helps to understand what goes into making a workplace or building green. A good approach is to look at the LEED system.

LEED is the international benchmark for buildings that are environmentally friendly and healthful. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, a LEED-Gold building has 50 percent less negative impact on the environment, and a LEED-Platinum building has at least 70 percent less negative impact than a conventional building.

Buildings that become LEED certified will typically have these features:

Advanced ventilating systems that increase air flow (decrease carbon dioxide levels and dilute contaminants) and maintain optimal temperatures.
Selection of building materials and furnishings that have low toxicity (prevent airborne chemical contaminants).
Elimination of sources of pollutants: paints, cleaning products, pest control, etc.
Increased use of daylighting (reduce energy, improve mood).
Use of high quality, energy efficient lighting (reduce glare, increase readability)
Promotion of wellness activities.

On the surface these green elements intuitively would be expected to contribute to productivity. However, as any HR professional in the service industry knows, objectively measuring productivity is difficult. White-collar jobs are knowledge intensive and qualitative, rather than task oriented which is easier to measure. The output of knowledge work is difficult to quantify. How can you measure the value added by thinking through a particular project?

Many scientific studies have been conducted in various workplaces and educational facilities to gauge the impact on human performance as defined by reading speed and comprehension, learning, word memory, multiplication speed, signal recognition, time to respond to signals, and typing speed. Obviously, these tasks could all contribute to productivity.

Here are some of the findings:

There is a strong link between the quality of the indoor air and the incidence of allergy and asthma symptoms. This is significant as 20 percent of the U.S. population has environmental allergies and 6 percent have asthma.
Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, which indicate a lower rate of ventilation, can cause fatigue, headaches and increased risk of Sick Building Syndrome. Also, tests have shown poorer performance in computerized tests of reaction time.
Temperature matters. Performance increases with temperatures up to 60-72 F (21-22 C) and decreases with temps above 73-75 F (23-24 C). The highest productivity is at 71.6 F (22 C). (The optimal environment is one where the individual occupant can control the temperature.)
While studies of lighting with office workers has had mixed results, a study performed in a school showed improvements in standardized test of 16-26 percent in classrooms with the most day lighting or window area, respectively.
Health care maintenance has been shown to have a strong correlation to an employee's productivity level. Successful wellness programs in particular improve future productivity.

There are also surveys that address this topic, but being surveys, they have to be considered more subjective. Many of these tend to focus more on the productivity elements of absenteeism, turnover, retention and engagement.

In the previously mentioned SHRM poll, on a question regarding positive outcomes as a result of green programs, "increased workforce productivity" ranked No. 8 of 11 choices. But "improved morale" ranked No. 1 in both 2008 and 2009.

That is interesting because most, if not all, HR professionals link morale to engagement, and engagement to productivity. This discrepancy may likely be due to the challenge of quantifying productivity.

Deloitte Consulting conducted a survey of large employers in 2008 that had implemented green retrofits. Here are some of the results:

93 percent of respondents reported a greater ability to attract talent;
81 percent saw greater employee retention;
87 percent experienced an improvement in workforce productivity;
75 percent reported improvements in employee health;
100 percent experienced an increase in goodwill/brand equity.

Several studies, including the 2003 Report to California's Sustainable Building Task Force (pdf), which involved 33 green building projects, calculate small percentage increases in productivity. The 2003 report recommends attributing a 1 percent increase in productivity and health to LEED-Certified and LEED-Silver buildings, and a 1.5 percent gain in LEED-Gold and Platinum level buildings. Those benefits resulted primarily from better ventilation, lighting and general environment.

In a five-year company case study, Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University measured a 3.2 percent productivity gain, or $1,600 per employee per year, on lighting improvements alone.

So how does 1 percent to 3 percent productivity gain impact the bottom line? The literature suggests multiplying annual payrolls times these increases. In such a case, the annual savings are substantial.

Indeed, the 2003 California report found average annual employee costs to be 10.25 times larger than the cost of space per employee. The author extrapolates these findings to calculate that a 1 percent productivity increase would therefore have a financial impact over time roughly equal to reducing property costs by 10 percent.

HR professionals should understand the correlations between sustainability, green initiatives that improve the work environment, and productivity.

At the 2008 SHRM corporate sustainability Executive Roundtable Symposium, participants -- global HR and sustainability leaders -- generally agreed that HR should have the knowledge required to take the lead in the people dimensions of sustainability.

It will help the environment, get employees more engaged, and contribute to the bottom line.

Article found on Greenbiz.com.

Bank of America, U.S. Green Building Council Promote Green Housing

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Green Building Council and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation have created a grant program to promote sustainability in residential areas. The program will provide funding and educational resources to developers and public agencies that seek LEED certification for neighborhood developments with an emphasis on affordable housing.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program is administered by the building council to certify environmentally friendly construction practices. The neighborhood development program recognizes projects that protect and enhance the health, natural environment and quality of life in a community.

The grants of up to $20,000 will offset the cost of LEED education and certification.

The building council says affordable housing remains a critical issue in metropolitan areas throughout the country. More than 6.5 million low-income families in the United States spend more than half their income on housing and utility costs; green homes typically require less energy and enjoy lower utility bills.

The partnership between the council and the foundation of Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) “brings together the combined goals of our two organizations in a way that can dramatically impact the health and vitality of communities across the country,” says Kerry Sullivan, president of Bank of America Charitable Foundation. “The ripple effect created by offsetting the costs of LEED for neighborhood development training and certification will help create more green affordable housing, while advancing the sustainability of entire neighborhoods.”

The application period for the affordable green homes grant program closes Sept. 9. Applicants will be notified of their status in October, and will receive their awards by early winter.

BofA is New Mexico's second-largest bank.

Article found at Bizjournals.com.

Firm to Assess Energy Efficiency of County Buildings

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

BECKLEY — An Ohio firm is paying the Raleigh County Commission a visit next week to see if it can find ways of making the eight county-owned structures more energy efficient.

If that can be done, it could translate into some more borrowing power for the commission, with special regard to installing new courthouse windows.

“We’re going to look at all the buildings the county has and do an energy assessment on those buildings,” commission president John Humphrey said after Tuesday’s meetings.

A recent law enacted by the Legislature opens the door for counties to borrow money, based on how efficient its sources of energy function, he explained.

Humphrey said the county possibly could borrow funds to help finance the installation of 240 new windows at the courthouse, based on what commissioners learn from its meeting with Johnson Controls of Cincinnati.

On its website, the firm bills itself as a global diversified technology and industrial leader, serving customers in 150 countries, with 130,000 employees. The company says its work dates back to its 1885 startup with the invention of the thermostat.

The county has received $256,000 in federal stimulus money toward the purchase of new windows, but one obstacle remains to be cleared — finding common ground with authorities who want the historical flavor of the structure preserved.

Humphrey said the county already has learned it can replace windows for about the half the cost of repairing them so that heat doesn’t escape and air conditioning units aren’t compromised.

“I’m not saying the county is going to borrow any money, but this does allow us to do that,” he said of the energy efficient status that qualifies a county to take out such loans.

In other matters, the commissioners:

-- Approved a $25,000 grant to replace the skylights at the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA.

-- Signed off on an $82,800 grant for the Pine Haven shelter.

-- Accepted a REAP grant of $760.95, with the understanding that the balance of its original application for $3,000 would be made up in materials.

-- Approved a $170,804 drawdown for Raleigh County Memorial Airport.

-- Approved drawdowns of $36,178 and $7,138.70, respectively, for the Summers County OEM and the Beckley Fire Department.

-- Reappointed Margot Bower to the Planning and Zoning Commission, along with a new appointee, Jim Wood, and named Judy Hackney to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Article found in the Register-Herald.

EPA Air Quality Transport Rule Would Reduce Coal-Fired Power Plant Emissions

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new regulations July 6 to cut air pollution from coal-fired power plants.

By 2014, the proposed “transport rule” and other state and EPA actions would reduce sulfur dioxide, or SO2, emissions by 71 percent from 2005 levels. Nitrogen oxide, or NOx, emissions would drop by 52 percent.

The regulation targets power plants in 31 eastern states, including West Virginia, and the District of Columbia and is expected to reduce premature deaths by 14,000 to 36,000 a year by the time it is fully implemented in 2014.

SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere to form fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone, or smog, which drift to other states where they cause health problems and interfere with states’ ability to meet air quality standards.

“We’re working to limit pollution at its source, rather than waiting for it to move across the country,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

The transport rule is expected to yield more than $120 billion in annual health benefits in 2014, preventing not only premature deaths but nonfatal heart attacks, cases of acute bronchitis and aggravated asthma, and sick days.

Annual benefits outweigh the annual cost of compliance, which the agency estimates at $2.8 billion in 2014.

EPA expects that the emission reductions will be accomplished by proven and readily available pollution control technologies already in place at many power plants across the country.

The proposal would replace and improve upon the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered EPA to revise in 2008.

The agency proposes to set pollution budgets for each state and D.C. and seeks comment on alternatives that would allow interstate trading or only intrastate trading, or would set limits for each power plant and allow no trading but some averaging.

EPA will take public comment on the proposal for 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.

The agency also will hold three public hearings, with dates and locations to be announced shortly.

Information may be found at EPA Air Transport Rule

Article found in the State Journal.

For WV Manufacturers July 13 in Morgantown

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Please join us for Manufacture America, a manufacturer-focused conference that will explore ways to improve performance and competitiveness.

The conference will cover:

-entering new markets, industries or supply chains
-finding export opportunities
-accessing resources and funding at the federal, state and local levels
-modernizing processes to become more sustainable and efficient while lowering operating costs.

Participants will hear from companies in their community that have successfully rethought and retooled their businesses. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet with government representatives to share perspectives on challenges facing them and to discuss possible solutions.

This conference will be followed by support from local, state and federal resources shaped by the needs of the manufacturers.

With Assistant Secretary of Commerce Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale and West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Kelley Goes.

When:   Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Where:  West Virginia University
              National Research Center for Coal & Energy
              Assembly Room
              385 Evansdale Drive
              Morgantown, WV 26506
Time:     9:45 AM - 4:30 PM
Cost:      $25 (Includes networking breakfast and lunch)

Manufacture America is designed for manufacturing company executives, financial officers, plant managers, sales managers, and other company decision makers.

Space is limited. To register for this event, Click Here⁹

Event Flyer¹⁰

Valley Supply Talks Tankless Water Heaters

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Valley Supply Company wants you to understand the technology behind high efficiency equipment that can save you money and resources. They've organized four public meetings around the state, at which a Navien America Inc. representative will demonstrate and explain tankless water heater technology and benefits.

These meetings are free and open to the public. Contractors, building and home owners who attend will be offered discounts! And, there will be refreshments!

Tuesday: July 27^th at 6 p.m. in Elkins at DreamScapes/Valley Supply

Wednesday, July 28^th at 6 p.m. in Clarksburg at Pierpont Community College

Thursday, July 29^th at 5 p.m. in St. Albans at Valley Supply

Friday, July 30^th at noon in Parkersburg at Valley Supply

For questions, please contact:

ELKINS 11^th ST. and Railroad Ave Elkins, WV 26241 (304) 636-4015 Fax (304) 636-4064 800-755-8259 Br. Mgr. – Ritchie Bennett	CLARKSBURG 415 N. Fifth St. Clarksburg, WV 26301 (304) 624-5636 Fax (304) 622-6266 800-766-9370 Br. Mgr. - Steve Tuzzo
CHARLESTON 230 Oliver St. Saint Albans, WV 25177 (304) 201-1963 Fax (304) 201-1964 800-829-5393 Br. Mgr. – Dwayne Tippie	PARKERSBURG 515 33^rd St. Parkersburg, WV 26101 (304) 422-3533 Fax (304) 422-5986 800-541-1925 Br. Mgr. - Bill Smith

Think BEFORE you Doze! Deconstruction Workshop Aug 23 - 24

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

August 23 and 24, 2010

A comprehensive business model comprised of deconstruction contracting, sophisticated training, and the distribution of used building materials can:

1. Help individuals acquire skills demanded by the construction industry

2. Assist graduates to obtain meaningful employment

3. Keep thousands of tons of reusable materials out of local landfills through a network of resellers, and

4. Improve both local environments and economies by bringing together for-profit deconstruction contractors and nonprofit distribution organizations.

Ted Reiff- The Reuse People

Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Charleston, WV

Homeowners, building-material dealers, contractrors, preservationists, municipal leaders, workforce development professionals: This workshop is for you!

$350/person

If you are a contractor interested in diversifying, a homeowner wanting to remodel, a used building-materials retailer looking for more and better materials, or simply an interested professional or preservationist, this course is for you.

Each workshop covers the entire deconstruction process, from project review and bidding, to the shipment of salvaged materials. The workshop is open to virtually everyone—homeowners, designers, public officials, architects and contractors. Registrants receive a shorter version of our contractor training and earn a certificate of completion.

Lectures and activities cover the following:

Day 1: Classroom

Safety
Tools
Equipment
Layout of jobsite
Sequence of work
Deconstruction techniques
Layered materials
Debris handling
Maintaining salvage values
Handling & shipping
Successful bidding

Day 2: Jobsite Visitation

Jobsite inspection and layout
Identifying materials to be salvaged
Removal and handling of salvaged materials
Identifying materials for recycling
Location and use of local recycling centers
Bid preparation
Final wrap-up

Participants receive a full-color notebook describing the deconstruction process, a hardbound book on deconstruction published by Taunton Press, a certificate of completion, box lunches on both days and transportation between the classroom and jobsite. In addition, TRI hosts a get-acquainted dinner on the first evening.

More links you'll find interesting about deconstruction:

South Charleston Company Has a Selenium Solution

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Liberty Hydrologic Systems started underneath the front seat of John Sawyer's sport utility vehicle.

A coal company had called Sawyer's South Charleston employer - the Mid-Atlantic Technology Research & Innovation Center - asking whether anyone there knew of a way to treat selenium pollution.

Sawyer had a plastic container filled with zero-valent iron - a material he had used to remove arsenic from water.

"I just happened to remember it was in my SUV stuffed under the seat," Sawyer recalled.

After many tests, Sawyer said he determined the "nanomaterial" could also be used to treat water with toxic levels of selenium.

The discovery led to the founding of MATRIC spin-off, Liberty Hydrologic Systems.

Since the company began, it has installed selenium-removal pilot plants at sites in Idaho, Kentucky and West Virginia. In six months, Liberty has generated more than $1 million in revenue.

"The goal is to protect the environment at the lowest possible cost," said Sawyer, Liberty's chief technical officer. "We're really excited about this."

Selenium pollution from mining operations can permanently damage the environment and pose serious health risks.

Selenium is a naturally occurring element found in many rocks and soils. In tiny amounts, selenium is needed for good health. But in slightly greater amounts, the element is highly toxic.

In humans it can cause hair loss, nail brittleness and neurological problems.

High selenium levels threaten fish survival and reproduction. Contaminated fish often have offspring with serious birth defects - crooked spines and deformed heads.

Mining has long been a source of selenium pollution.

A 2003 federal government study found repeated violations of water-quality limits on selenium by mining operations.

A more recent study by a Wake Forest biologist found toxic levels of selenium in 73 of 78 stream samples near the Hobet 21 mountaintop-removal mining operation along the Boone-Lincoln county line in West Virginia.

While studies have shown that iron-based systems such as Liberty's reduce selenium concentrations in water, the process has had varying success at meeting regulatory standards.

Sawyer said Liberty incorporates the zero-valent iron technology in eight plastic containers measuring 4 by 4 feet. The containers are placed in streams.

Other methods for removing selenium from surface water, such as reverse osmosis, are more costly and require electricity.

Another system uses bugs that eat selenium in the water, but it requires heat and a mechanical pump.

The problem with that method, Sawyer said, is that "you have a lot of bugs."

Many mining operations continue to search for a way to prevent selenium pollution before it starts.

"Unfortunately, the best we can do right now is treatment," Sawyer said. "We haven't found the magic bullet so that it doesn't occur anymore."

Liberty set up one of its first pilot plants at a phosphate mine in southeastern Idaho. Sawyer said places in the Western U.S. have 10 times the amount of selenium found in West Virginia. Toxic levels of the element get in water that livestock drink.

"It's enough that they have had horses and cattle killed," Sawyer said.

Liberty has since established selenium treatment plants in remote areas of West Virginia and Kentucky.

The company's clients include Patriot Coal Corp. Last month, a federal judge ruled that Patriot continues to violate water-quality limits on selenium in West Virginia.

State and federal regulators have argued for years over how much selenium coal companies should be legally allowed to discharge into West Virginia streams. The state Department of Environmental Protection has repeatedly delayed compliance deadlines. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce a tougher selenium standard.

Liberty, which is headed by former state Sen. Vic Sprouse, now has more pilot selenium treatment sites than any other company in the U.S., Sawyer said.

"We're trying to establish business outside West Virginia to bring money into the state," Sawyer said. "That's the one thing West Virginia sorely needs."

Article found in the Charleston Gazette.

President Obama Trumpets $2B in Green Energy Projects

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The government is handing out $2 billion for renewable energy projects that will create thousands of jobs and clean power for homes, President Obama announced yesterday amid mixed economic recovery news.

The clean energy projects, including the construction of one of the world’s largest solar plants, are part of broader economic recovery efforts, the president said during his weekly radio address.

“We’re fighting to speed up this recovery and keep the economy growing by all means possible,” he said. “It’s going to take months, even years to dig our way out.”

The $2 billion investment in clean energy will create 1,600 construction jobs, using mostly U.S.-made products at an Arizona plant, he said. The plant will provide energy to power 70,000 homes.

Two more solar power plants in Colorado and Indiana will create more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.

The initiative is being funded with Recovery Act dollars.

Obama’s announcement came a day after the U.S. Labor Department reported that employers slashed payrolls last month for the first time in six months. Meanwhile, private-sector hiring rose by 83,000 workers. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent.

Obama also called on Republicans to stop “playing the same old Washington games” in holding up legislation that extends unemployment insurance and helps small businesses get loans. Republicans fired back in their weekly address.

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said the country’s $13 trillion debt is a national security issue that will leave the United States vulnerable and force future generations to “pay higher taxes to foot the bill for Democrats’ out-of-control spending.”

“We have faced down many enemies at home and abroad. But one of the most dangerous threats confronting America today doesn’t come from without, but from within. And I’m talking about our national debt,” he said.

Article found in the Boston Herald.

Conservation Specialist Teaches Kids About Rain Water

Mon, 5 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

HUNTINGTON -- Conservation specialist Mark Buchanan gave the first of a handful of presentations Thursday at the Cabell County Public Library's Barboursville branch.

The interactive program, "Where Does the Rain Go?" teaches kids about erosion, flooding and water testing, among other rain water tidbits.

He also will visit Gallaher, 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 6; Guyandotte, 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 7; and West, 10 a.m. Thursday, July 8. He has already made stops at Salt Rock, Milton and Cox Landing.

Article found in the Herald-Dispatch.

Solar Project and Renewable Energy Education Center Unveiled in Vermont

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

State, city and Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) (NYSE:CV) officials recently officially unveiled the Solar Project and Renewable Energy Education Center in Rutland, Vermont.

Located just north of the city on Route 7, the official dedication ceremony took place on June 22, 2010. Vermont's Governor James Douglas was also on hand.

The 50-kilowatt solar project includes 33 individual, stationary modules made up of 264 solar panels, each 3 x 5 feet wide, mounted eight at a time. While the solar project could produce enough energy to power up to 50 homes, the project will more than likely provide enough energy to power 10 or 11 homes per year.

Touted as the “most publicly accessible solar project” in Vermont, the new project also includes an educational center for students and the public. The center features six museum-style educational displays that provide information on alternative energy including wind, water, biomass and sunlight.

Information on “poo power”, or CVPS Cow Power, is also available. CVPS customers can enroll in the CVPS Cow Power renewable energy plan. The plan not only helps the environment, but also helps support Vermont’s dairy farms as well.

Along with self-guided tours, formal tours will also be available for schools and organizations. A mulch path was added in an effort to encourage people to take a stroll around the solar array to get an up-close-and-personal look at solar energy production.

Students were instrumental in the hands-on project. Students helped design an on-site equipment storage building and assisted in the installation of the solar panels. They also were involved in the mulch path and parking. The Stafford Technical Center and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 300, helped in the building of the project.

In the future, the project may also include one or two wind turbines which would replace a wind measurement tower. According to the CVPS website, the $400,000 project was “funded by CVPS, a rebate on insurance related to the sale of Vermont Yankee and a grant from the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund.”

Article found on EnergyBoom.com.

Nevada Energy Uses Loophole in Green Project Approval Process

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

NV Energy received approval today to fund three times more green energy projects in Nevada.

There was so much demand for a renewable energy program, that NV Energy was overwhelmed with applicants, and with Wednesday's approval most of them will have a second shot at that money.

The firm worked out the deal through a loophole. Even though NV Energy operates under one name, it is still technically two utilities, Sierra Pacific and NV Energy. Principals at the firm say that is because the two have two separate power grids and they are not connected by power lines. So each is a utility according to the law, and thus the $78 million cap applies to both, for a total of $156 million.

That means renewable energy contractors will have a second shot at funding. Now projects for the city of Sparks, the Nevada Humane Society, the city of Las Vegas, along with more than 100 other public and non-profit entities that were previously denied can reapply with NV Energy to get money for their green projects.

NV Energy has the final say on which firm receives this money. Officials at the power company say that if all the projects are actually completed, each customer would have to pay about a dollar more on their bill. But they say that's unlikely.

Article and video found on MyNews4.com.

LEED Green Associates Training, August 16-17, Charleston

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Appalachian Regional Commission, in conjunction with West Virginia Division of Energy and BuildGreen WV, are sponsoring Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Green Associate (LEED-GA) training for our Appalachian Region members and our colleagues in West Virginia. The training will be at the Embassy Suites in Charleston, West Virginia on August 16-17 starting at 1:00pm on the 16^th. Details about the training are listed in the flyer below.

This is a great opportunity for people who have limited background in energy efficiency and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The cost of the training is very affordable at only $50 per person and attendees can take advantage of our negotiated rate of $101 for a hotel room by providing the code “ARL” to the booking agent or entering it online in the “code” box.

Please see sign up information and important deadlines in the flyer below!!

If you have any questions regarding this training please call Greg Faulkner at ARC (202) 884-7751

LEED Green Associates Training, August 16-17, Charleston

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Please see sign up information and important deadlines in the flyer below!!

If you have any questions regarding this training please call Greg Faulkner at ARC (202) 884-7751

Energy Efficiency Program Design and Implementation Training July 1

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

THE REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT

The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), with support from the Energy Foundation, is offering this training course at no charge to participants. The webinar is designed for advocates working to develop or improve the current processes used in their jurisdiction to design, develop and evaluate energy efficiency programs.

Webinar Topic: Portfolio Development and Evaluation Planning
Instructors: Mike Messenger, Itron and Steve Schiller, Schiller and Associates
Date: Thursday, July 1
Start Time: 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Length: Approximately 3 hours

The instructors will cover the following:

· Range of approaches used to develop energy efficiency programs portfolios, and a brief discussion of the pros and cons of each;

· Best practices to ensure the perspectives of all key stakeholders are included in this development process;

· How the public policy goals adopted by regulatory bodies shape portfolio development;

· How evaluation, measurement and verification approaches can be designed and developed consistent with these goals to assess portfolio performance—e.g., with respect to net and gross energy demand savings and avoided emissions;

· “Critical” information templates that should be used to ensure that necessary information is collected in the evaluation phase to support the portfolio planning process.

How to Register: Click to accept this appointment in your calendar or please send your RSVP to webinar@raponline.org

Please feel free to forward this announcement and registration information to others in your organization.

CONTACT:

Meg Gottstein at mgottstein@raponline.org (Mobile: 209.304.5931 Office: 209.296.4979) or

Richard Sedano at rsedano@raponline.org (Mobile: 802.272.0367 Office: 802.498.0710

Energy Efficiency Program Design and Implementation Training July 1

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

THE REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT

The instructors will cover the following:

· Range of approaches used to develop energy efficiency programs portfolios, and a brief discussion of the pros and cons of each;

· Best practices to ensure the perspectives of all key stakeholders are included in this development process;

· How the public policy goals adopted by regulatory bodies shape portfolio development;

· “Critical” information templates that should be used to ensure that necessary information is collected in the evaluation phase to support the portfolio planning process.

How to Register: Click to accept this appointment in your calendar or please send your RSVP to webinar@raponline.org

Please feel free to forward this announcement and registration information to others in your organization.

CONTACT:

Meg Gottstein at mgottstein@raponline.org (Mobile: 209.304.5931 Office: 209.296.4979) or

Richard Sedano at rsedano@raponline.org (Mobile: 802.272.0367 Office: 802.498.0710

EPA crackdown on Texas Air Quality Process Leaves Crossroads Up in the Air

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Environmental Protection Agency stopped last month a Texas agency from giving an operating permit to a Corpus Christi oil refinery.

It was the first action the agency took to get Texas plants and oil refineries to meet federal air quality requirements, said Dave Bary, a spokesman for the federal agency.

So just how will this affect Texas and the Crossroads? The answer is still up in the air, experts say.

Environmentalists and federal officials say they hope that by cracking down on some of the largest sources of harmful emissions, air quality in Texas will improve.

Business leaders, meanwhile, worry stricter regulations could increase operating costs and thus reduce jobs.

"It's premature to even guess where this may lead," Bary said. "What we're hoping ... is to sit down with the state, continue our discussions and come to an agreement that will allow the state to continue to issue permits, but fully in compliance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act."

The question is whether the state's flexible permits, which set a plant-wide cap rather than source-specific limits, meets minimum requirements of the Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency says it does not.

It's a lax permitting system put in place by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that air quality expert and environmentalist Neil Carman says contributes to the public health hazard that is ozone pollution.

OZONE STANDARD TIGHTENED

In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency enlisted the help of a panel of ozone experts to review the agency's research.

In a 2007 letter, the panel recommended the agency reduce the ozone standard, which was 80 parts per billion then, to somewhere in the range of 60 to 70 parts per billion. The next year, a new standard was announced: 75 parts per billion.

The panel wrote the outgoing environmental agency administrator of the Bush administration again in 2008:

"It is the committee's consensus scientific opinion that your decision to set the primary ozone standard above this range fails to satisfy the explicit stipulations of the Clean Air Act that you ensure an adequate margin of safety for all individuals, including sensitive populations."

In January, the EPA, under new administrator Lisa Jackson, announced the new federal standard would be reduced to the recommended range. The official standard will be announced Aug. 31.

Carman said the panel's recommendations have set off more action on ozone. Before 2008's reduction, the ozone standard had not been lowered since 1997.

But if Texas's permitting system remained in place, it would allow plants to circumvent these federal requirements, Carman, who works with the Texas chapter of the Sierra Club, said.

"Major areas of the TCEQ's air permitting program have some flaws in them," Carman said.

Carman said the environmental group sought changes to the state's air permitting program since 1995.

Air pollution became an even greater cause for concern when new scientific research emerged pointing to more severe health effects from ozone, Carman said.

"There's new scientific medical research showing that ozone damages sensitive lungs, like asthmatics and children, at 75 parts per billion," Carman said.

THE IMPACT

Texas Gov. Rick Perry chided the federal agency for killing Texas energy jobs and a state air permitting program that he said has helped clean Texas air for 16 years.

Last Tuesday, the federal agency asked more facilities to bypass the state permitting program and apply for a federal permit.

The state responded by filing a lawsuit against the agency.

Dale Fowler, president of the Victoria Economic Development Corp., said more stringent standards could force refineries and plants to buy more expensive equipment used to abate and monitor emissions.

Further, facilities could face the prospect of halting operations if they fall out of regulatory standards and have to resubmit federal permits. The effect on area jobs could be significant.

The government also limits industrial expansion in areas that fall out of attainment for the ozone standard. Local businesses, such as gas stations, could also face government sanctions. Victoria is one of several areas at risk of becoming a non-attainment area when a reduced ozone standard is announced in August.

"We currently use it as an advantage for this area that we are in an attainment area," Fowler said. "However, even in non-attainment areas industry can grow."

The possible federalization of the permitting program could also create problems for the plants and refineries applying for new permits.

"We'd have to start from scratch again," Steve Rice, a Formosa spokesman, said. "And that's a lot of time and effort to prepare and re-submit brand new applications for something that we have already done."

He added, "You just don't fill these out in an afternoon. These are weeks and weeks of people's efforts."

Rice hopes the issue between the state and federal governments is resolved soon, so the plant can begin re-submitting its applications, he said.

Mike Fields, a spokesman for Coleto Creek Power, said coal plants are less exposed to federal changes than are chemical plants and oil refineries, which are typically larger and have more sources of emissions.

Flexible permits allow plants to cover all their emissions sources under one plant-wide cap, Fields said.

So where flexible permits set a cap for the entire facility, standard air permits, such as the one the Coleto Creek power plant holds, set source-specific emissions caps, measuring emissions at boilers, fire pumps and other units in the plant.

While adhering to conditions set in flexible permits is "easier," Fields said, the plant takes the precaution of applying for the standard permits.

"We don't want to have any issues come up when you go through the permitting process," he said.

But for smaller plants like Coleto Creek Power, being under a standard permit is a little bit more practical than it is for oil refineries and chemical plants.

"It certainly can be done," he said regarding what it would take for larger plants to meet federal air permit requirements. "It would take a lot of work."

CLEANER AIR?

While many hope the outcome of stricter regulation of Texas plants is cleaner air, the effect on air quality is still unclear, said Jerry James, Victoria's environmental services director.

For 15 years, Victoria has been near non-attainment for ozone levels.

Victoria is at risk of falling out of acceptable levels mostly because of pollution imported from other areas, a University of Texas researcher said at an air quality meeting in April.

Calls made to the University of Texas office of Cyril Durrenberger, who is contracted by the city to measure ozone emissions, were not returned.

According to the researchers' modeling studies, 91 percent of Victoria's ozone emanates from outside Victoria County.

Most of Victoria's ozone problems come from the northeast, ranging from the industrial areas of Houston and Galveston, to Louisiana and the Ohio River Valley.

Area chemical plants are not significant contributors to the ozone problem, according to the studies.

Last year, ozone levels in Victoria were at 66 parts per billion.

Because transport is a big part of Victoria's ozone problem, it's unknown whether hunkering down on Texas plants will clean the Crossroads' air.

"Until it works its way a little bit further along, I'm not sure whether it will have a positive or negative impact on our local air quality," Jerry James said. "But we'll certainly be watching that."

Article found in VictoriaAdvocate.com.

Sustainable Business Conference Planned for August at UC

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

If you go

What: The Making the Business Case for Sustainability conference

When: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 5

Where: Emma Byrd Gallery, Riggleman Hall, University of Charleston

For tickets: E-mail tickets@zmm.com by July 2

For information: Contact Adam Krason at 304-342-0159 or ark@zmm.com.
　

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Yes, your business can be socially and environmentally responsible and still make money. That's the theme of an all-day conference to be held Aug. 5 at the University of Charleston.

The "Making the Business Case for Sustainability" event is the latest in a series of seminars organized by ZMM Architects and Engineers. The Charleston firm is a leader in designing "green," or sustainable, buildings.

"We define a sustainable business as a company that meets the triple bottom line of economics, equity and ecology," said Jill Watkins, ZMM's sustainability coordinator.

"It's all three factors, not just the economic factor. How do you treat the environment? And social factors: How do you treat your employees and how do you engage with the community?"

Organizers chose Jim Hartzfeld as keynote speaker, who is the founder and managing director of a company called InterfaceRaise, a subsidiary of Interface Inc., an Atlanta-based manufacturer of carpet tile.

Back in 1994, Hartzfeld led a task force at Interface that convinced the company chairman to adopt a sustainability strategy. "Their goal was to be a zero-waste company by 2020," Watkins said. "It has taken them time, and will take more time."

Hartzfeld formed InterfaceRaise in 2006 and teaches other companies how to operate sustainably.

"A company like Verizon would hire him to look at their business and help them become more sustainable with this triple bottom line approach," Watkins said.

The UC conference is part of a partnership between ZMM and the state Division of Environmental Protection. Watkins and ZMM architect Adam Krason coordinated the previous seminars, along with Greg Adolfson of the DEP. They attracted a mix of business owners, architects, engineers, educators and the general public, she said.

When Adolfson secured a federal grant from the EPA for sustainability education, he turned to ZMM, Watkins said.

"He left the specific nature of the program pretty wide open, as long as it covered sustainability -- green buildings. We felt like we'd done several green-building programs in the past. In order to differentiate this one, we thought we'd focus on sustainable business."

While Hartzfeld is expected to give an overview of sustainable business practices, four other speakers were chosen because of their West Virginia ties, Watkins said.

Anita Snader, for example, is the environmental sustainability manager with Armstrong Commercial Ceiling Systems, whose parent Armstrong World Industries announced plans in March to build a ceiling tile plant in Jackson County.

"She will be talking about what they do on a global scale and what they will do at their new plant in West Virginia," Watkins said.
"Sustainability is a very complex concept and means different things to different people. When people think, 'Oh, we can't do that, it costs too much money' ... people at this conference will make the case you can make a product and be socially responsible."

To her knowledge, no West Virginia companies have adopted the zero-waste sort of strategy embraced by Interface Inc., Watkins said, and none is likely to do so after attending the conference.

"In reality, if business leaders take one or two things away that are attainable, that would be great."

The Aug. 5 conference is free, but seating is limited and advance tickets are required.

Article found in the Charleston Gazette.

US Green Building Council Wants You to Weigh in on Wood Credits

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The USGBC did not notify members on the day they opened the next wood credit draft for public comment, but there is a notice on their website home page with a link to more information;

http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEEDDrafts/RatingSystemVersions.aspx?CMSPageID=1458

Here's that draft. They're seeking public comment on some proposed edits from the last public comment period - 3rd draft, and the proposed final language for which they are not soliciting comments appears gray. This will give you a sense of the direction they are intending for this prescriptive benchmark.

If you go to the USGBC website there is also some informational documents you can view from the last public comment period.

Report: Coal Costs W.Va. Budget More Than it Pays

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- While coal mining provides West Virginia valuable jobs and tax revenue, the industry actually costs the state government budget more than it pays, according to a report released Tuesday.

Last year, the coal industry cost the state budget $97.5 million more than it paid in taxes and other revenues, according to the report released by the Morgantown consulting firm Downstream Strategies and the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy.

Government pays out huge sums each year for agencies that regulate coal, tax breaks for mining companies, and coal truck damage to state roads and bridges.

"While the coal industry provides significant benefits for the West Virginia budget, the industry also imposes substantial costs that impacted the budget in 2009 and that have accumulated from past coal industry activity," said lead report author Rory McIlmoil of Downstream Strategies. "These are costs that, lacking a change in state policy, will be paid by the citizens of West Virginia for decades to come."

The report was paid for in part by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, environmental groups that oppose mountaintop removal and generally favor switching to cleaner forms of energy than coal.

Coal industry officials were still examining the report, but complained to The Associated Press that "anti-coal extremist groups" prepared the study.

"We are still reading it," West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney told the Gazette. "But we think there is a big understatement in revenues in this thing."

McIlmoil and other authors acknowledged their numbers are estimates that involve "an inherent degree of uncertainty," but also described their report as a broader and more inclusive analysis than previous industry-supported reports.

"Coal plays a significant role in West Virginia's economy, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local revenue and providing well-paying jobs to tens of thousands of West Virginians," the report said. "But the size of the coal economy, while substantial, is not as considerable as previous accounts suggest. Further, such accounts have only presented coal's benefits; our estimates provide an initial accounting of both benefits and costs.

"As estimated in this report, the industry itself -- including direct and indirect employers -- actually costs West Virginia state taxpayers more than it provides," the report said. "Such an accounting is important, for projected declines in production, should they prove accurate, will further diminish coal's contribution to state revenues, while the negative impacts resulting from coal industry activity will result in ongoing costs to the state and its citizens."

Among the report's findings were that the coal industry in 2009 paid $307.3 million in severance taxes, corporate net income tax, business franchise tax and other taxes. But the state spent $113.7 million to support units of government that regulate mining and for the repair of the state's coal-haul roads. So, the report concluded that the industry in this respect provided a net benefit to the state budget of nearly $194 million.

But the state provides a variety of a tax credits and subsidies that amounted to nearly $174 million in 2009 -- all of which show up in the report as "expenditures," or costs to the state budget of the industry.

Looking into the future, the "legacy costs" of coal could pose the state major problems, according to the report.

"External costs resulting from coal industry activity, including the costs to human health, for repairing damage to personal property, and in the value of lost economic opportunities resulting from the loss of clean water and timber resources, for instance, were not considered in this report," the report said. "However, they all represent real costs to society, and should be considered in any full accounting of the benefits and costs of the coal industry."

Article found in the Charleston Gazette.

Whale Poop Cleans the Environment

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Sperm whale waste isn't much to look at. It's a diarrhea-like substance with a few squid beaks floating around. But new research has found it removes carbon from the atmosphere, helping to offset greenhouse gases that have been tied to global warming.

Sperm whales in the Southern Ocean release 220,462 tons of carbon when they exhale carbon dioxide at the water's surface, but their poo stimulates the drawdown of 440,925 tons of carbon, according to the research, published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

These ocean giants and certain other marine mammals may therefore be among the most environmentally beneficial animals on the planet.

If Southern Ocean sperm whales were at their historic levels, meaning their population size before whaling, we would have an extra 2 million tons (2,204,623 tons) of carbon being removed from our atmosphere each and every year," lead author Trisha Lavery told Discovery News.

Lavery, a marine biologist at Flinders University of South Australia, and her colleagues explained how the cleaning process works.

It begins with sperm whales feeding on squid and fish, their favorite prey, deep in the ocean. The whales then return to the water's surface to relieve themselves.

"They do this because they shut down their non-crucial biological functions when they dive," Lavery said. "So it's only when they come to the surface to rest that they defecate."

Their waste comes out as a giant liquid plume (save for the undigested squid beaks) that showers over minute aquatic plant "seed stocks," which she said are "just floating around waiting for nutrients so they can use them to grow and reproduce." The whale poo provides these nutrients, functioning as a natural fertilizer.

The plants, known as phytoplankton, take up carbon from the ocean as they grow. Through the entire life and death cycle of these plants, the carbon then stays "trapped" for centuries to millennia.

Published estimates suggest that 12,000 sperm whales currently inhabit the Southern Ocean. Lavery and her team estimated the amount of prey consumed by each whale, along with the iron content of that prey. Iron is a critical phytoplankton fertilizer component.

Assuming that 75 percent of defecated iron persists in the photic (light-receiving) zone of the ocean, Southern Ocean sperm whales contribute 40 tons of iron to this region each year.

Humans driving cars, burning coal and engaging in other activities pump enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, something that whales could never entirely offset.

"However, most whales are currently at 1 to 10 percent of their historical population sizes, so in the past, whales may have made a substantial contribution to carbon drawdown," Lavery said. She added that other marine mammals probably beneficially redistribute carbon just as whales do. These may include seals, sea lions and other types of whales, such as fin whales.

Unfortunately, some of these species wind up on sushi plates in restaurants here and abroad. A recent covert operation conducted by Scott Baker, associate director of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, determined that sashimi purchased at prominent sushi restaurants consisted of fin whale flesh, along with that of Antarctic minke whales, sei whales and a Risso's dolphin.

Lavery hopes all of the new research will help fuel efforts to conserve whales and other marine mammals.

"It is sometimes thought that conservationists try to 'save the whales' only because they are cute, however my work and the research of others is increasingly showing that whales play a crucial role in marine ecosystems," she said. "We must protect whales in order to have healthy, well-functioning marine ecosystems."

Article found on MSBC.com.

Kevin Costner's Oil Separation Inventor Weighs in on Gulf Spill

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The water-cleaning centrifuges sold by movie star Kevin Costner to BP for oil spill clean-up testing have received a thumbs-up from at least one scientist -- its inventor.

"A fleet of these could make a significant impact," says Dave Meikrantz of the Energy Department's Idaho National Laboratory, who patented the devices with INL in 1990, and later sold the rights to Costner's company in 1993. "It is most gratifying to make a technical contribution during the past decades that can assist today in a major environmental incident in the Gulf of Mexico."

On June 10, Ocean Therapy Solutions, partners with Costner's environmental clean-up firm, reported that BP had contracted with the firm for 32 of the devices to be flown to the Gulf. The company's "V20" centrifuges, about the size of a phone booth, a stand-up centrifuges with 20 inch rotors that spin fluids to high speeds, treating up to 200 gallons-per-minute of fluid. The spinning motion of the rotors separates heavier water from lighter oil, allowing both to be separately siphoned out of the top of the device with what the company claims is 99% purity.

"Each V20 unit using this technology can separate about 200,000 gallons of mixture each day, capturing oil that can be taken to shore for refining," Meikrantz says, by email. He was with Costner Industries for nine years as Director of Technology before returning to INL.

"Like many, I at first thought the idea of Kevin Costner as Gulf savior sounded absurd. But unlike BP or the federal government, he's actually been thinking about this issue for the past 15 years," wrote environmental writer Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones magazine, in a recent blog posting. "Meanwhile, the government's response plans have remained essentially unchanged in the two decades since our last big oil spill."

However, the United Kingdom's Guardian newspaper calls the machines a "a tokenistic effort at best, a distraction at worst," figuring it would take one V-20 about 6 billion years to clean up the Gulf of Mexico at its 200,000 gallons-a-day rate of purification. (That's 187.6 million years for 32 machines)

The centrifuge work is an outgrowth of nuclear fuel separation technology that started during the Manhattan Project and continues today, Meikrantz adds. "This demonstrates the proven axiom that technologies in specific areas, like nuclear technology research, can have application in other key areas such as environmental oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico," he says.

Article found in USA Today.

Senators Call for Big Oil to Fund Renewable Energy Grants Program

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A group of US senators is proposing measures to extend a federal grant program for renewable energy projects, which is due to expire at the end of the year.

The move could create as many as 65,000 jobs according to various studies cited by the Senators, who include Maria Cantwell (D-WA), George LeMieux (R-FL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Ben Nelson (D-NE).

The senators are seeking an amendment in the current unemployment bill going through Congress – known as the “tax extenders” bill – in order to extend the Clean Energy Treasury Grant Program through until the end of 2012.

The Program, which is currently funded through federal stimulus money, provides grants for renewable energy projects if they cannot secure tax credits under other initiatives.

The amendment would also make non-profit power producers eligible for the Treasury Grant Program, since public power producers and rural electric co-ops which do not pay tax are not eligible to receive tax credits under the Program at present.

The finances involved in the proposals are currently being examined by the Joint Committee on Taxation, but the senators want to see funds provided by closing a tax loophole being enjoyed by major oil companies.

“Successful”

Senator Cantwell said the Treasury Grant Program had proved “one of the most successful” components of the 2009 Recovery Act for renewable energy.

She said on Tuesday: “Extending this program for another two years will create tens of thousands of jobs and enable enough renewable power to come online to power millions of homes.

“This bipartisan amendment is fully paid for, and along with a predictable price on carbon, will jumpstart America’s urgently needed transition to a cleaner, more diverse 21st century energy economy,” added the Senator from Washington.

The Senators cited a report published last month by EuPD Research suggesting their proposals would create 65,000 jobs in the solar industry alone.

They have suggested that funding for the extension could come from ending the current loophole allowing big oil companies to write off their contributions to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund as a business expense in regard to their corporate taxes.

Senator Feinstein said the Program had already helped bring 4,250 megawatts of clean power online, and was expected to foster 143,000 “green” jobs by the end of this year.

“If we don’t extend this grant program, which is slated to expire at the end of the year, we could see these types of projects stalled or shelved completely as affordable credit evaporates,” warned the Senator from California.

Lower costs

The proposed amendment has received backing from a host of environmentalists, the renewable energy industry and public power companies.

The American Public Power Association, which represents municipal electricity companies, said opening up the Treasure Grant Program to non-profit power companies would bring direct benefits to ratepayers.

Mark Crisson, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association, said: “Allowing public power utilities direct access to the Section 1603 program would give public power the same menu of options provided to for-profit utilities, directly benefitting public power, and allowing our members to own the generation outright.

“These outcomes will lower costs to our customers which is in keeping with the spirit of the program.”

Capital

A joint letter from the AWEA, GEA, NHA and SEIA to members of Congress, supporting the amendment, warned that renewable energy projects approaching this year’s deadline for the Treasury Grant Program are already losing their finance.

The trade associations for, respectively, wind power, geothermal energy, hydropower and solar energy, said: “Large utility-scale renewable energy projects can take more than six months to arrange financing. Projects that cannot be certain about meeting the December 31st commence construction date are losing financing now. The certainty of an extension is necessary if we are going to realize all of the renewable energy projects currently in the pipeline.”

A collection of environmentalist groups including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the Union of Concerned Scientists said: “The debt and tax equity markets are beginning to recover, but renewable projects still face difficulties obtaining sufficient project capital at competitive rates.

“Without a prompt extension of the program, we will face a slowdown in renewable energy development at a time when the United States is regaining its momentum as a leader in the renewable energy industry,” added the environmental groups.

Article found on BrighterEnergy.com.

Growing Green Collar Jobs in Duluth

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Creating green-collar jobs is the focus of Duluth's, Green Job Summit. Since mid-February, over 120 community members have come together to create 30 plans that would bring eco-friendly jobs. On Wednesday, those plans were introduced to the public.

Community members gathered to review 30 ideas that they hope will create sustainable jobs in the Northland. Jodi Slick, an event organizer, said some strategies would take longer to implement.

"Each plan kind of has its own time frame and some of them have already started, and we have seen some green jobs developed from the action plan. Others are plans that are really looking at the longer term strategic plan for the community, that may not create jobs for five years," said Slick.

After speaking with event coordinators, it's still unclear as to the number of jobs that would be created. In an interview, City Councilor Cuneo, estimated between hundreds, if not thousands of jobs. Slick said work in a variety of sectors would be developed.

"One was built environment, we also looked at resource protection, energy production, food systems, and also transportation systems," said event coordinator, Jodi Slick.

According to Slick, Como Oil, is a local business that is looking at how they'll have to change over the years to stay marketable.

"They know that if they're going to move forward, 50 years from now, they need to be involved in delivering things that are beyond fuel oil. So, they have been working on looking at biomass as an option in our community," said Slick.

Community Action Duluth, a local organization, said it has added 2 green jobs to its workforce and is in the process of developing 7 more. Emily Kniskern, a program coordinator for "Seeds of Success," said they have eight garden across the city, where they grow produce to sell.

Article and video found on WDIO.com.

TN Launches Eco Tourism Policy

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

June 7: Tamil Nadu has come up with an exclusive eco tourism policy, the first such policy among southern states, which will play an effective role not only in conserving ecology but also in prescribing standards for hotels and other stakeholders to follow.

The new policy, which lays down penal measures for violation of rules, has set an agenda to make the state a world-renowned destination specialising in sustainable tourism through focused efforts on creating synergy among all stakeholders.

Interestingly, it also proposes to take steps to prevent the use of plastic and other non-biodegradable products around water bodies, parks, zoos and reserves.The policy will provide strategic direction to engage local communities, tourists, forest officials, government departments and other stakeholders in promoting effective eco tourism activities in the state. This will be a systematic process for assessing and monitoring eco tourism ventures, providing comfortable stay and amenities to travellers and setting up hotels in potential eco tourism spots.

The policy was released by deputy chief minister Mr M.K. Stalin at a function in the city on Monday in the presence of tourism minister Mr N. Suresh Rajan, forest minister Mr N. Selvaraj, tourism secretary Mr V. Irai Anbu, principal secretary of forests Mr Debendranath Sarangi, TTDC managing director Mr A.C. Mohandoss, general manager of eco tourism wing Mr P.A. Mani and other officials.

The policy also envisages guaranteeing livelihood opportunities to people living close to eco tourism zones besides ensuring safety of tourists. It would encourage public-private partnership initiatives “as far as possible” to mobilise investments in creating infrastructure on sites.

Article found in the Deccan Chronicle.

Conservation Groups Eye Scout Camp

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Friends of Camp Little Notch hope land will be used as wilderness area

FORT ANN -- Supporters of a longtime Girl Scout camp in the Adirondacks near Lake George hope to save the camp under a tentative $4 million sale to two land conservation groups.

The fate of Camp Little Notch, up for sale since November by the Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York, could be settled by its possible purchase by the Open Space Conservancy and The Conservation Fund.

The groups have an agreement with a newly created organization of former Scouts to sell the camp and the lakefront portion of the 2,300-acre property so the site could be run as a wilderness center for children, said Julie Dye, a board member of the Friends of Camp Little Notch.

Located west of Route 22 near Comstock in the Adirondack Park, Camp Little Notch has an 80-acre lake, a ropes course and hiking trails. The property includes a historic former iron smelting furnace and artifacts.

"We are working on fundraising now, and we are confident that we will be able to purchase and update the facilities," said Dye, who attended the camp and worked there as a counselor.

Plans call for the camp, which opened in 1939 and has been closed since 2004, to reopen for the 2012 summer season.

Dye said the camp has long been an important introduction to the natural world for thousands of young girls over the decades. "I am still using the lessons in self-reliance that I learned there," said Dye, a 36-year-old marketing consultant. "And I am still singing camping songs that I learned to my two girls."

Under the arrangement, whatever portion of the property is not purchased by the Friends group would be sold to a timber company, which would practice sustainable forestry under a conservation easement that bars development, said Joe Martens, executive director of the Albany-based Open Space Institute. The Open Space Conservancy is an arm of the institute.

Martens said a sale contract with the Girl Scouts chapter is awaiting approval by the OSI board. Attempts to reach a Girl Scouts spokeswoman for comment Monday were not successful. The Scout chapter decided to sell the property because it lacks modern facilities, such as flush toilets and running water, deemed necessary to attract enough campers. Along with Little Notch, the Girl Scout chapter decided to sell Camp Little in Fulton County, a recreational area, and Camp Sha Te Mac in Columbia County, which had several overnight sleeping areas.

"Camp Little Notch is very important because of its location," said Martens. The property bounds the southern edge of the state-owned Lake George Wild Forest, as well as connecting to land once held by the Finch Pruyn paper company that was sold to The Nature Conservancy, which then sold the land to a Danish pension fund that will promote sustainable forestry.

The camp is in an area, located between Fort Ann and Whitehall, that is being studied by The Nature Conservancy as an important corridor that allows solitary, wide-ranging predators such as bears, bobcats and fishers to migrate between the Adirondacks in New York and the Green Mountains in Vermont.

"This plan would also allow much of the property to be involved in timber production, which would be good for the local economy," Martens said. "And it would keep a lot of the property on the local tax rolls."

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or bnearing@timesunion.com.

Learn more

More information on the Friends of Camp Little Notch and upcoming fundraising efforts can be found online at http://www.friendsofcln.org/index.html

Article found on TimesUnion.com.

The Responsible Bathroom Water Tour is a Nationwide Effort to Promote Water Conservation.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A rolling tour of ways to reduce bathroom waste made a pit stop in Colorado Springs. The Responsible Bathroom Water Tour is a nationwide effort to promote water conservation.

Sponsored by American Standard, the tour demonstrates new and improved products and techniques for conserving water. ''We give them a calculator to help them calculate changing the aerators, changing the shower heads, especially changing the toilets can save them a lot of water,'' says Bill Smith who is with the tour. It all happens inside forty foot trailer set up to demonstrate new plumbing technology.

Article found on 5 NBC's website.

Los Gatos Union School District Gets Air Quality Mini-Grant

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Los Gatos district gets air quality mini-grant

The National Center for Safe Routes to Schools is giving the Los Gatos Union School District $1,000 to sample the air quality at Blossom Hill, Daves, Van Meter and Lexington elementary schools, as well as Fisher Middle School.

Students will look for differences in air quality when cars are idling in drop-off lanes, compared to air quality at non-drop-off and pick-up times.

The LGUSD mini-grant is one of 34 that was awarded nationally.

The grants are given to help communities create walking and bicycling to school programs.

Locally, Blossom Hill parent Thomas Cook applied for the grant. He is a member of the school's Safe Routes to School Committee. "This is a great opportunity for the kids to see for themselves the effect vehicles may be having on their school's air quality."

Kindergarten age bill goes to state assembly

The state Senate has approved a bill that would change the minimum age of children entering kindergarten. Currently, kindergarteners must turn 5 years old by Dec. 2 of the school year. The so-called "Kindergarten Readiness" bill would require that students starting kindergarten turn 5 by Sept. 1 of the school year.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian, who represents Campbell. "Today's kindergarten classroom is a much different place than most of us experienced," Simitian said in a news release. "We're placing real academic demands on our kids, and the youngest are struggling to keep up."

The bill proposes that the new age requirement be phased in over three years, beginning in 2012.

It's estimated the bill would save the state $700 million annually because the student population would be reduced.

Article found on MercuryNews.com.

Cafeteria Chefs Get Schooled

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It's 9 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, and chef John Turenne is where he feels most at home: a school cafeteria. What's unusual is that it's a school cafeteria not far from his home in Wallingford, where's he's making pizza for second-graders using all local, healthy ingredients.

For the past nine months, you'd be far likelier to find Turenne in the school cafeterias of Cabell County, W.V.

Sound familiar? That's the county that international celebrity chef Jamie Oliver ran roughshod over in a TV series earlier this year. "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" named Cabell County something akin to the unhealthiest area of the country (debatable, but the statistics were pretty grim). Oliver decided to bring the campaign he started in his native England to reform school food to Appalachia.

When Turenne's assistant gave him the message that Jamie Oliver's office called, "I said, 'You're joking'," Turenne laughs.

She wasn't. Oliver wanted to hire Turenne's company, Sustainable Food Systems, to be the unseen force that reconstituted the food in all 26 schools in Cabell County, patiently, methodically and anonymously, as opposed to Oliver's style of bang-them-over-the-head.

Peeling And Chopping

That meant getting rid of heat-and-serve processed food, bags of dried gravy mix and cans of green beans and returning to labor-intensive cooking: peeling potatoes, chopping vegetables and such.

Turenne started Sustainable Food Systems in 2005 to help schools, hospitals, companies and other public and private institutions upgrade their food service, usually to include local foods.

The idea of retrofitting a large public-school system, even without a local food component, and with all the headaches of West Virginia's strict school-lunch requirements, was an offer Turenne couldn't refuse.

It was also a jolting but ultimately useful reminder of his own nerve-wracking experiences when a famous foodie hijacked his food service.

Turenne was the executive chef at Yale University, working for the food-service giant Aramark, in 2001 when the iconic American chef Alice Waters persuaded Yale to experiment with healthy, local and sustainable student dining. While thrilling for Turenne — so much so that it was the impetus for starting Sustainable Food — the bruised egos of his own staff convinced Turenne that diplomacy and collaboration had as much to do with food service reform as food.

"A big piece of it is empathy and being in their shoes," he says, noting Oliver's high-voltage demeanor and the chaos of TV cameras. "We'd come in and try to be the medics and patch the egos and bring people back up again and say, 'It's OK, they're gone. Now let's talk about this. Here's what we're trying to do. You've been here for a long time; help us figure this out'."

And they did, much better in most everyone's estimation than the show let on.

Turenne's first job was to give Oliver a crash course on the vagaries of the U.S. school-lunch program. Turenne says Oliver finally got it when some of his super-healthy foods made with fresh ingredients didn't meet government guidelines.

Before doing the training, Turenne helped develop recipes, which included dissuading Oliver from British favorites like curry chicken in favor of more kid- and region-friendly barbecue. He also had to assess what the kitchens could do given their staffing, equipment and financial constraints, especially when it came to procuring foods that were not available free from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The show documented the frustrating battle to get real chicken from the USDA instead of processed-chicken patties and nuggets. Turenne says he finally presented West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin with two plates, one with a chicken leg and the other with a chicken patty and its list of 16 ingredients.

"He just looked around at his people and said, 'This is ridiculous; make it happen'," Turenne recalls.

Hummus And Other Flops

Most of the development — about 30 recipes in all — was done over six weeks at Central City Elementary School with Turenne and one of his chefs, Alden Cadwell.

"We're translators between what cooks need, food-service directors need, food-service providers and the federal government," Cadwell says. But some translations missed the mark. By all accounts a shepherd's pie, even with fresh mashed potatoes, was a flop. So were the white beans and sausage. They also tried hummus.

"Some of the adults loved it. [But] our kids are going, 'oh my God, no'," says Alice Gue, the chief cook at Central City. Portrayed on the show as something of a culinary Maginot Line, she is chatty and supportive of the changes, though happy to be rid of the cameras.

"We learned that it can be done," Gue says. Among the improvements, she points to the tomato base sauce, used in many dishes, that has seven fresh vegetables pureed into it; sliced sweet potatoes baked in oil, brown sugar and paprika; steamed fresh broccoli sprinkled with Parmesan cheese; and garlicky string beans.

Other clever creations included disguising kidney beans by pureeing them to add protein and cut expense in dishes like sloppy Joes. Macaroni and cheese was made from scratch using USDA-supplied cheese and pasta with pureed broccoli stems hidden in it. The kitchens invested in industrial-size salad spinners to wash lettuce instead of paying for pre-packaged greens. Caesar-style salads with whole-wheat croutons and ranch dressing, both homemade, are popular, as is the real chicken now served: honey lemon, rotisserie, barbecued and oven-fried. The chicken quesadillas reportedly are a huge hit.

Gue points out her staff always had done some scratch cooking, including fresh whole-wheat rolls, almost every day. What really made a big impression, she says, is that the Sustainable Food System chefs were on the line and accepted suggestions about practical ways to get all the extra cooking done. (Gue calls it kitchen Kung Fu.)

"Alden came at 5 in the morning and helped," she said. "They were in there and did it, put their gloves on and they worked, too."

Gue's top boss, county food-service director Rhonda McCoy — portrayed in the show as skeptical and concerned with meeting state nutrition guidelines that Turenne and others felt were illogical — says having Turenne and Cadwell in all 26 kitchens over nine months — a process that ended just before Memorial Day — helped doubting cooks realize they could make the changes, which she feels are for the better.

"I think we're going to make it," she says, adding she hoped the USDA would improve its product selection and that she'd like to add local farm products to the mix.

White House Initiative

She and others are mindful that their experiment could be a catalyst in First Lady Michelle Obama's anti- obesity effort to change how American schoolchildren eat. "I think it feels pretty good that we can try to be an example and it can spread across the nation," McCoy says, "to show change can work and is really needed."

That need can't be understated, according to Turenne, who is among a handful of chefs working directly with the White House on the just-announced school-food initiative called "Chefs Move to Schools." He says his biggest frustration over the nine months — aside from being away from his family for huge chunks of time — was what he called the lunch program's "perverted guidelines."

"When the system says it's OK to serve frozen pizza with 17 separate ingredients, or canned fruit loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, yet demands to know the science behind a fresh vegetable stir-fry, it's time to say, 'snap out of it!' " he says.

"Our biggest challenge was not the cooks, was not the people on the front lines," he says. "It ended up being some administration and state USDA people in my mind feeling, 'Oh God, how is this going to make us look?' "

But if the opportunity arises again — administrators, chicken patties and all — he'll be there.

"I'm from the camp that continue to push the envelope," Turenne says. "It's all about taking baby steps, but those baby steps have to be progressive."

Article found in the Hartford Courant.

Legislators Discuss Alternative Slurry Technologies

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

June 8, 2010 · Officially, the Legislature isn’t sure yet what to think about the dangers of coal slurry and underground injection. Coal slurry is the toxic, heavy-metal laced soup that’s left over after processing.

Sometimes the slurry is disposed of in containment ponds or it’s injected into abandoned underground mines.

Lawmakers ordered the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health and Human Resources to study the process in 2007; the DEP delivered its results two years late, and DHHR still hasn’t completed its portion of the study.

Activists with the Sludge Safety Project say the slurry is dangerous—AND it’s responsible for contaminating drinking water in several coalfields community. Pam Johnson is a nurse at a kidney dialysis center. Yesterday, she told a joint legislative committee of the health damage she’s witnessed because of slurry-contaminated water.

"We found a higher than average number of cases of cancer, renal failure, ADD, ADHD, autism, GI problems,” she said. “Nobody in Prenter had a gallbladder. Infants’ teeth came through the gums decayed.”

But the coal industry disagrees that these health problems are caused by coal slurry seeping into drinking water supplies. Despite these differences in opinion, Sen. Jeff Kessler has been meeting with both sides to find common ground.

“Why don’t we look to see if there are some opportunities to get the two groups—the environmental groups and the mining industry - together to try to see if there are rapidly developing technologies, clean coal technologies that could clean up the water, eliminate the extent of the need for ongoing impoundments, that would not only be profitable to the industry but also eliminate many of the environmental obstacles,” he said.

During yesterday’s joint judiciary committee meeting, the focus was on finding these mutually-beneficial alternatives to disposing of coal slurry.

Roe-Hoan Yoon, from the Center for Advanced Separation Technologies at Virginia Tech says the solution to the state’s slurry problem lies in technology. Companies started building impoundments and injecting the slurry because alternative disposal options were limited. Now, he says, there are, including two that his center is developing.

And Yoon estimates using these technologies could help the industry recover small bits of coal within the slurry that could be worth as much as $84 billion.

“So I call it, it’s a treasure box if you have the right technology,” he said.

Jason Bostic of the West Virginia Coal Association says the coal industry is excited about new technology. But he says there’s nothing wrong with the way the industry treats slurry now.

“As far as the industry is concerned, impoundments, force coal refuse fills and underground injection control have a very proven track record of safety and performance,” he said.

“We’ve gotten very good at constructing these things. Before anything happens to upset the status quo with respect to how we dispose of these processed cleanings, we need to proceed cautiously.”

Sen. Kessler says interim committees will be studying the issue all year, with the goal of introducing legislation during the regular session.

Article found on WV PBS.

Yingli Green Energy Unveils High-Efficiency Monocrystalline Panda Module

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

BAODING, China, June 8 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE:YGE - News) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), a leading solar energy company and one of the world's largest vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers, which holds the brand "Yingli Solar," today announced that it will introduce its new high-efficiency N-type monocrystalline modules under the brand name "Yingli Solar Panda" at this year's Intersolar Trade Shows in Munich from June 9 to 11 and in San Francisco from July 13 to 15. The Company expects to start commercialization of this new generation of modules on its 300 MW monocrystalline silicon-based manufacturing lines at its Baoding headquarters in the third quarter of 2010. The modules have earned TUV certificates.

The Yingli Solar Panda Module is based on N-type monocrystalline solar cells, which have been developed through Project PANDA and have an average efficiency higher than 18.5%. Compared to traditional modules based on P-type solar cells, the Yingli Solar Panda Module features lower degradation and better performance under high temperatures or low irradiation conditions.

"We are pleased to add this high-quality module to the top line of our product portfolio," said Mr. Jingfeng Xiong, Vice President of Technology of Yingli Green Energy. "In order to meet our customers' demands for highly- performing solar products, we are always concentrating on innovation and breakthroughs in photovoltaic technology. Today's introduction of the Yingli Solar Panda Module illustrates and proves our everlasting passion and dedication to excellence. In addition, we're pleased to have achieved commercial availability of the technology developed through Project PANDA within one year."

Article found on Yahoo Finance.

Sierra Club Seeks Lobby and Outreach Organizer

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The West Virginia Sierra Club works to protect the environment in West Virginia. We are seeking an individual to promote better regulation and/or legislation for shale (Marcellus) gas drilling in WV. This is a contract job, equivalent to 3/4 time, with salary and expenses. Duration is July 1 - December 31, 2010.

Responsibilities

Represent the Club and the environment at legislative or agency meetings.

Grassroots outreach to citizens, communities, and organizations.

Ø Public education: prepare fact sheets, presentations to groups, newsletter articles, web content.

Ø Meet with/present to community groups.

Ø Media: generate letters, op-eds, radio/TV/newspaper articles and coverage.

Qualifications

Ø Self-starter with experience working independently and as part of a team.

Ø Public speaking and presentation skills

Ø Excellent writing skills

Ø Concern for WV environmental issues in general. Knowledge of shale (Marcellus) gas and water issues is a plus.

Requirements

Ø Able to travel (mileage reimbursed).

Ø Some weekend and evening work necessary.

Ø Ability to work with boards, committees, and a wide range of people.

Desired

Ø Computer skills (email, web, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Ø Prepare print material - flyers, pamphlets, fact sheets, etc.

Ø Engage and activate individuals and groups.

Questions? Contact Karen Grubb (304.367.4878, karen.grubb@fairmontstate.edu), or Jim Kotcon (304.293.8822, jkotcon@wvu.edu).

To apply, send a letter of application outlining your interests and abilities, a resume, and names and contact info for 3 references to: karen.grubb@fairmontstate.edu

All material must be submitted electronically. References must include email addresses. Application deadline is June 20, 2010.

Energy Independence Day a Success

Wed, 9 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The annual Energy Independence Day celebration was held this weekend at the Williamson campus of Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

The event featured live music, a cookout, informative workshops and information about renewable energy as well as ways to build greener communities.

The JOBS project also used the event to commemorate the sacrifices West Virginia and Kentucky coal communities have made to provide our nation's energy, and look toward the future through presentations from students and experts in renewable energy.

This event brought together local officials and residents from throughout southern West Virginia and Kentucky to discuss how renewable energy can bring jobs and economic opportunity to this area.

The keynote speaker, Williamson Mayor Darrin McCormick, discussed his vision for saving the city money through efficiency and solar investments on public buildings. Guest presenters from Oregon shared how building a wind farm benefited their county. Each turbine brings local landowners between $2000 and $4,000 each year, and the wind farm has raised the county tax income by 10 percent, or $20,000 per turbine.

The cookout started at noon, when attendees were entertained by Hard Luck Child, a three piece family band playing old-time music, while kids spent time painting pictures at the art station.

The event also served as a call to local artists. One display table entitled “Appalachian Memories” showcased photography of memorable places by Wilma Lee Steele, an art teacher at Gilbert High School. Canary cages, mining hats, and antique lamps were in the exhibit entitled “Miner Tributes.” This exhibit is expected to grow over the course of the year in preparation for next year’s event and local artists are invited to contribute their work in commemoration of coal heritage.

Another display, The Energy Independent House, showcased solar energy panels on the rooftop. These panels actually make home electric meters spin backwards to save residents money each month.

The Mingo Career & Technical Center brought an alternative fuel demonstration vehicle. Nick Branham, a student who helped to build it, offered rides in the cherry red electric car to participants at the event.

The workshops about energy saving techniques, solar, and wood-fired power will lead into upcoming trainings this fall. The next events hosted by the JOBS Project will be solar trainings to coincide with the installation of solar panels in downtown Williamson. Electricians, contractors, home and business owners from surrounding areas are welcome to attend. If you’d like to learn more, go to www.jobs-project.org/you-are-invited/ .

Article found in the Williamson Daily News.

Sustainability Workshop June 10 in Charleston

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Sustainability Workshop
Thursday, June 10
9 a.m. to noon
Charleston Area Alliance
1116 Smith Street

Click here to register.

Join in Thursday, June 10 for a Sustainability Awareness workshop. This workshop, led by Matt Earnest, executive director of workforce development at Bridgemont Community and Technical College, will focus on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the human species on the planet and the "Nine Opportunities for Sustainability" as potential solutions to those impacts. The Nine Opportunities for Sustainability (9 OPPS) are:

· OPP 1: Eliminate Waste---of all kinds

· OPP 2: Go Non-toxic---supply chain, our process, emissions and products

· OPP 3: Fight Global Weirding---reduce our carbon footprint

· OPP 4: Reduce, Reuse, Recycleand Redesign---mimic nature

· OPP 5: Make Transportation Efficient---move less stuff over shorter distances

· OPP 6: Get Healthy---practice personal sustainability

· OPP 7: Add Value in Our Community---give something back, it's a two-way street

· OPP 8: Engage Others---spread the word and listen

· OPP 9: Challenge the Future---rethink how we create value

Cost to attend is $25 for current Alliance members, $45 for future Alliance member. Refreshments will be provided. For more information please contact Lesley Hager at LHager@CharlestonAreaAlliance.org.

Coal Slurry Hearing Before WV Legislature June 8th

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Come listen to the first 2010 Legislative Hearing on toxic coal slurry.

An interim subcommittee will meet Tuesday, June 8th from 4-6PM to hear speakers from the Sludge Safety Project, the WV Coal Association and Virginia Tech's Center for Advanced Separation Technologies discuss the impacts of coal slurry injections and impoundments, and the available alternatives that could eliminate coal slurry.

Where & What

Tuesday, June 8 from 4-6pm in Senate Judiciary Room 208W of the WV State Capitol, Charleston.

Oglebay Drilling at Permit Stage

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

WHEELING - A short hike down through the woods near the Oglebay Stables leads one to the site where Chesapeake Appalachia is preparing to extract natural gas by drilling into the Marcellus Shale.

After spending the past several months locking up land from both public and private owners - including 30 Ohio County contracts recorded in the month of May - Chesapeake seems ready to proceed with its drilling work at Oglebay Park. In May, the company filed drilling permit applications with the West Virginia Office of Oil and Gas for property owned by the city of Wheeling and the Wheeling Park Commission at Oglebay.

These permits have not yet been granted, though, as park commission officials have issued comments to the oil and gas office regarding Chesapeake's site plans. G. Randolph Worls, president of the Oglebay Foundation said, however, the comments should not significantly delay the process.

"We are trying to be as cooperative with the company as we can," said Worls. "Our impression is that they (Chesapeake) want to begin drilling as soon as possible. We could see the road and pad under construction by late summer."

The road of which Worls spoke would be cut through the woods, beginning just to the southwest of the stables. The road would then lead to a point between W.Va. 88 and GC&P Road, at which a 400- by 300-foot flat pad would be created from the currently graded, tree-filled terrain.

Once the pad is in place, Chesapeake can begin drilling the actual natural gas well, which Worls said could happen some time in 2011.

Worls said the bridle horse trails near the stables would need to be closed during the drilling process. Though he regrets having to close these trails, Worls said horse riding at Oglebay has "dropped off over the years."

"It is hard to tell if the trails will reopen," he said. "It really depends on demand."

The park commission and city of Wheeling are set to evenly split the 14 percent production royalties for the property. Earlier this year, the commission and city each gained $386,629 in lease payments from Chesapeake as part of the drilling contract.

Chesapeake also paid the park commission $100,133 to lease property at Wheeling Park. Any of the 14 percent in drilling royalties for action at this park would go toward improving the facility.

Though park and Chesapeake officials seem eager to begin drilling, Chesapeake spokesman Matt Sheppard said the drilling permits, once granted, are good for a period of two years.

"We file our permits well ahead of any activities, so that we can prepare our future drilling schedules and adjust our schedules in the event we need to move a drilling rig to a new location. ... It's important to understand this is a preliminary step in this process," Sheppard stated via e-mail.

Worls said park officials sent comments to the oil and gas office to question Chesapeake's plans for delivering water to the site and how the company will distribute the natural gas from the well.

"They have not given us the plans for how they will get the water for fracking to the site," Worls said regarding the process of using millions of gallons of water to fracture underground rocks to extract the gas. "We would prefer they not truck the water up to the site."

Additionally, Chesapeake must find a way to deal with the briny wastewater left over from the fracking. Upon fracturing the rock, some of the water - 15 to 40 percent - comes back up through the well. Company officials previously noted they plan to recycle as much of the water as possible.

The other problem park leaders saw with Chesapeake's site plan, Worls said, was that it does not account for how the company will actually get the gas from the well to a point where it can be distributed. Because this may call for the construction of underground lines, Worls wants to know how the company plans to proceed.

"We can control when they can do things and where," Worls said in reference to the park commission's authority over the grounds.

Sheppard said Chesapeake is prepared to address park commissioners' concerns.

"We take concerns from all of our surface and mineral owners very seriously and are committed to working through issues in a mutually beneficial manner. In this instance, we had agreed to six approximate surface locations, and the permits we filed are on the surface locations designated in our letter of agreement with the city of Wheeling," he said.

Worls noted that Chesapeake is responsible for any potential environmental damage the company's operations may cause. A damage clause in the agreement states the company would be responsible for any damage to the area.

Though the mineral extraction process may cause some concerns among some Oglebay patrons, Worls calls the action "a short-term inconvenience for the long-term vitality of the parks."

In May, Chesapeake signed up the Ohio County Commission and Ohio County Development Authority for potential drilling at The Highlands, the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport and the former Ohio County Poor Farm. Commissioners later agreed to pay $6.2 million to purchase the property Chesapeake leased from the OCDA to facilitate transactions with the company.

The commission is set to gain 18 percent production royalties for action on its land, as well as lease revenues of $3.600 per acre. County Administrator Greg Stewart said Chesapeake officials have checked out sites at both the airport and farm.

However, Chesapeake has not, to this point, applied for permits to drill on county lands.

"We have not determined an exact time frame for drilling on Ohio County Commission property," Sheppard said.

Article found in The Intelligencer-Wheeling News-Register.

RESNET Home Energy Rater Cert Course July 12 & August 16

Fri, 4 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

RESNET Home Energy Rater
$1500
$1250 for multiple students from same organization

12 slots open.

Two different dates: Week of July 12 & Week of August 16
Location to be announced. Instructor-Led Workshop Register Now HERS Course Overview

General Information
A Certified Home Energy Rater or Rater is a person trained and certified by an accredited Home Energy Rating Provider to inspect and evaluate a home’s energy features, prepare a home energy rating and make recommendations for improvements that will save the homeowner energy and money.

Opportunities for Raters

Raters will be needed to calculate and verify energy and environmental savings from a building's improvements so that value can be traded in emissions and energy efficiency markets.
Certified raters will be needed in the environmental emission, energy efficiency certificate and forward capacity markets that will invest in reductions in energy usage.
The potential for energy efficiency to create certificates that can be included in Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards (Compliance Markets) or voluntary clean power markets (White Tags)
Creation of a new revenue source for building owners to finance the energy performance of their homes and offices and for third parties to aggregate and sell the value of savings
New service raters can offer to their builder clients
By applying the existing RESNET standards for energy efficiency to energy efficiency trading, raters and builders would avoid the hassle of learning a new set of standards” RESNET.us

Test Houses Needed!

One day of the Basic HERS class is spent doing hands-on testing and data collection in houses. The benefit to the home owner is that they essentially get a free energy audit (without a written report). If you know of someone who would like to volunteer to have their house audited during the class, please contact WV GreenWorks. All houses must have built-in heating and air conditioning systems and residents must be home during the audit.

Energy Ratings and Mortgages

RESNET's Standards

About RESNET

RESNET's standards are officially recognized by the U.S. mortgage industry for capitalizing a building's energy performance in the mortgage loan, certification of "White Tags" for private financial investors, and by the federal government for verification of building energy performance for such programs as federal tax incentives, the Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program and the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program.

RESNET Ratings provides a relative energy use index called the HERS^® Index - a HERS Index of 100 represents the energy use of the "American Standard Building" and an Index of 0 (zero) indicates that the Proposed Building uses no net purchased energy (a Zero Energy Building). A set of rater recommendations for cost-effective improvements that can be achieved by the Rated Building is also produced.

RESNET standards encompass three areas:

Software accreditation achieved by passing a battery of software verification tests developed by U.S. National Laboratories and RESNET
Definition of knowledge base and skill sets that a rater must demonstrate through passing an online RESNET National Rater Test
A quality assurance evaluation that features each Rating Provider employing a certified Quality Assurance Designee. The Quality Assurance Designee must annually independently verify internal consistency of a minimum 10% of all building input files and independently field verify the accuracy of a minimum of 1% of each certified Rater's homes

Green Advantage Commercial/Residential Training July 15/16

Fri, 4 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

July 15 & 16 2010
Charleston, WV

$350 per student
Student is responsible for ordering text Amazon.com for $33.33.
Purchase the Updated to LEED Version 3 – ISBN 0-13-602303-7

Exam fee is $175.00 Register here for exam. (This test is independent of the workshop. You can register whenever you want to take the test.)

Introduction
The construction industry is changing. In this new era, the green environment is an important consideration. As a construction craft worker, you must understand how your daily activities at work and at home affect the green environment. With this knowledge, you can make smart choices to reduce your impact. This class explains how the things you do each day can make a difference. You will learn to measure your carbon footprint and find ways to reduce it. You will also learn how the buildings you construct affect the green environment and how to apply the principles of a green building rating system.

Instructor

J. Chris Haddox, MBA, LEED, AP, GA/R
Chris is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sustainable Design at West Virginia University. His interest in greening the built environment was honed during his nearly 10 years as Executive Director of Mon County Habitat for Humanity. While with Habitat, he was challenged to find ways to build homes that were not only affordable to purchase, but also affordable to operate and maintain and provided a healthy environment in which to live. Chris has developed and teaches course work on Sustainable Design & Development, Residential Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Construction. Outreach includes serving as the Chair of the Morgantown Green Team Architectural Sub-Committee and serving on the WVU Sustainability Committee. In addition, he travels the state and region giving presentations, workshops and trainings on green building.

Course Objective
The student will receive good introductory information on green building concepts and techniques. This class should assist students in their preparation for the Green Advantage Commercial/Residential certification exam.

Course Outline

1.0.0 Introduction
1.1.0 The Nature of Change
1.2.0 Impact of Individual Human Activities
1.3.0 Things You Can Do to Make a Difference
2.0.0 Best Practices for Construction
2.1.0 Facility Life Cycle
2.2.0 Site and Landscape Best Practices
2.3.0 Water and Wastewater Best Practices
2.4.0 Energy Best Practices
2.5.0 Materials and Waste Best Practices
2.6.0 Indoor Environment Best Practices
2.7.0 Integrated Strategies
3.0.0 Tools and Strategies
3.1.0 LEED Green Building Rating System
3.2.0 Goals of the LEED Green Building Rating System
3.3.0 LEED Documentation
3.4.0 Common Pitfalls During Construction

Course Structure and Schedule

Cost for the course is a total of $350/per student. “Your Role in the Green Environment” paperback can be purchased at Amazon.com for $33.33. The student should purchase the Updated to LEED Version 3 – ISBN 0-13-602303-7.

Registration for Class

Email or call Sarah to register.
Send check to:
WV GreenWorks, Inc.
4 Players Club Drive, Charleston, WV 25311
Call 304.343.2880 if you have any questions, or email sarah@wvgreenworks.com.

Registration for Exam

https://www.webassessor.com/wa.do?page=publicHome&branding=GREENADVANTAGE (This test is independent of the workshop. You can register whenever you want to take the test.)

Federal Tax Credits for Consumer Energy Efficiency

Thu, 3 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Federal Tax Credits for Consumer Energy Efficiency
Source: energystar.gov

If you purchase an energy-efficient product or renewable energy system for your home, you may be eligible for a federal tax credit. Below you will find an overview of the federal tax credits for energy efficiency.

Please note, not all ENERGY STAR qualified products qualify for a tax credit. ENERGY STAR distinguishes energy efficient products which, although they may cost more to purchase than standard models, will pay you back in lower energy bills within a reasonable amount of time, without a tax credit.

What You Need to Know

What is included in the Tax Credit?

Tax Credit:: 30% of cost up to $1,500
Expires:: December 31, 2010
Details:: Must be an existing home & your principal residence. New construction and rentals do not qualify.

Tax Credit:: 30% of cost with no upper limit
Expires:: December 31, 2016
Details:: Existing homes & new construction qualify. Both principal residences and second homes qualify. Rentals do not qualify.

Tax Credit:: Credit Details: 30% of the cost, up to $500 per .5 kW of power capacity
Expires:: December 31, 2016
Details:: Existing homes & new construction qualify. Must be your principal residence. Rentals and second homes do not qualify.

Fuel Cells (Residential Fuel Cell and Microturbine System)

Address:	410 Elizabeth St Charleston, WV 25311
Phone:	(304) 345-3914

WV Green Works

Bridgemont Gathers Key Stakeholders for January Energy Efficiency Study Session

W.Va. lawmakers host discussion on building ‘green’

Cathy Kunkel: W.Va. wasting money on energy

Advancing Building Codes for Energy Efficiency a Challenge

Posted: Nov 16, 2011 8:29 AM EST

Work Remains to Increase Energy Efficiency in W.Va.

Appraisers Come Up With Addendum to Evaluate Green Homes

Mid-Atlantic Energy Efficient Building Conference to be in Morgantown, WV

Energy Star V3 Rater Training

Deconstruction Services Now Available Through WV GreenWorks

EarthCraft House Builder Certification Training

Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment

Marcellus Shale Committee Approves Three Measures for Regulation Bill

Free Training in Deep Energy Retrofit using Nailbase Panels - October 31

Alderson Family Energy Fair - October 1st @ Alderson Community Center

The ReUse People are in West Virginia - September 13 @ Capitol Roasters

Rising Electric Rates and Energy Policy Workshop - October 8th @ Camp Pioneer

The Latest on Maryland’s Grand Smart Growth Plan

IEA: Solar Energy Could Produce Majority Of World's Energy By 2060

Coalition for Reliable Power - Taking Responsibility For Our Electrical System

Friends of the Cardinal Meeting - August 24 @ Amtrak Station, Charleston

Summer Energy Efficiency Series: Special Session - August 23 @ Capital Roasters

West Virginia's First LEED Silver School Opens in Berkeley County

Strategy Session: How Do We Reverse Climate Change & Social Chaos? - August 13 @ the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation

Summer Energy Efficiency Series - August 9 @ Capitol Roasters

The Healthy Drink that May Destroy Your Sleep

When Your Pineal Gland Stress Leads, Disease Follows

Research Confirms Pineal Gland as a Major Fluoride Collector

Book Signing: Christian Parenti @ Taylor Books - August 12

Citizens Recruit Each Other to Influence Energy Efficiency Programs

Final Public Hearing on Marcellus Drilling Clarksburg July 27

Summer Energy Efficiency Series - July 14 Taylor Books, Charleston

Inform Your Opinion. Support Your Position with Facts.

Rally for Moratorium on Marcellus in Charleston on July 11

Music

Speakers

Music

Speakers

Music

Speakers

Rally, educational forum on Marcellus Shale drilling scheduled in West Virginia

Davis & Elkins Works with PIMBY to Light Lake with Sun

West Virginia Sustainable Fair 2011 April 16, Davis and Elkins

WV GreenWorks Teams with MaGrann Associates for Energy Star Training

WV GreenWorks Plugs in EDISON.21 to Light Up New Breed of Entrepreneurs

EDISON.21 to officially launch March 3 at Tamarack

Nov. 23 Green Jam WVEC Fundraiser @ Empty Glass

Green Jam 2010 WV Environmental Council's Annual Fundraiser November 23 @ 5:00 pm at the

Empty Glass Address: 410 Elizabeth St Charleston, WV 25311 Phone: (304) 345-3914

Coal Mining Doesn't Require Mountain Top Removal

Pecha Kucha Night Charleston, WV Debuts December 14!

Greenwashing For Dinner: 8 Faux Green Foods To Avoid

Solar Tour and Open House - Oct 2 Naoma, WV

passenger trains, sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, Cardinal

Seven Sustainable Building Designs and Materials for a Greener Home

Open Invitation to Learn More about Climate Change on 10-10-10

National Fuel Snubs Efforts to Improve Program

Green Swindle or Real Chance to Save Money? Free Workshop Helps You Decide.

WV Sustainable Communities Initiative Names Three More Members

CEO of Valley Supply Company Helps Building Owners Save

Hang with PickUpAmerica Volunteers Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Under 600 Miles Walked, More than 27 Tons of Trash Picked Up By Hand

USGBC – WV Ask the Experts Goes to Hurricane, WV (Free!)

Sustainable Schools Summit @ Marshall U Sept. 19-20

Free Workshop to Deliver Timely Energy Cost Cutting Info Mason, Lincoln, Cabell and Wayne Counties

Free Workshop to Deliver Timely Energy Cost Cutting Info in Mason, Lincoln and Cabell Counties

Build It Up, WV to Wine and Dine You! August 10, 2010

Newsletter gives info on C8 studies in W.Va., Ohio

Feds Study State Wind Farm's Environmental Impact

Green Plains Renewable Energy and BioProcess Algae to Break Ground on Phase II of Algae Project

Van Jones Opposes Prop. 23 in California

Environmentalists Urge Tougher Water Standards

Two Hearings at the State Capitol in Charleston Monday, July 19th

Rockefeller Bill Would Fund Long-Term Development of CCS

First Net Zero Energy Home In Connecticut

Agritourism Conference Set in Eastern Kentucky

Solar Cell Maker Gets a $400-Million Boost

Germany to Switch to 100% Renewables for its Electricity by 2050

Clean Energy Jobs Forum July 20th in Charleston

Green Jam 2010
WV Environmental Council's Annual Fundraiser

November 23 @ 5:00 pm

at the

Empty Glass

Address:
410 Elizabeth St
Charleston, WV 25311

Phone: (304) 345-3914