The Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) is offering free Home Energy Saving Seminars to communities across Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Municipal Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association that provides advocacy, training, publications, research and other services to Massachusetts cities and towns. If you are interested in hosting a workshop in your community schedule the workshop soon, as the program ends in March.
Through this free service offered by MMA, the Cambridge Energy Alliance hosted a Weatherizing Your Home for Ultimate Energy Savings event on January 12th, that brought together over 45 individuals wanting to learn how to reduce their energy use at home. Speaker Clark Goody from the Conservation Services provided detailed information on home energy audits, cost effective investments, and access to resources to help residents save energy and money.… [view entry]
The Pink Panther saves the World… and Newark.
Dow Corning, the largest maker of residential insulation in the US, can expect their economic recovery to start ahead of time due to the tax rebates and incentives for housing weatherization included within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Obama last month.
“The weatherization program is the sort of activity that is likely to spur demand,” said Owens Corning spokesman Scott Deitz. “No doubt, people will install insulation because of this program. We just don’t know how many.”
This could also boost employment at Dow Cornings’ largest US insulation manufacturing plant in Newark, which has lost over 700 jobs… [view entry]
Here’s a list of the latest Renewable Energy Tax Incentives now available to residents and businesses in Massachusetts. The highlight being if you can somehow generate hydro-electric power from that attractive water feature in your backyard and hook it up to the grid, you’re good for a $50,000 tax credit from the Commonwealth.
On the other hand, if you’re interested in available Tax Credits for Qualified Hybrid Vehicles.
That’s the upside of the NYT story Dark Days for Green Energy, which details slowdowns and layoffs in the alternative energy world brought on by a combination of the credit crisis and the continued price moderation of fossil fuels. We’re trying hard to see the positive side of things here at Energy 2.0.
The price of solar panels has fallen by 25 percent in six months, according to Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who said he expected a further drop of 10 percent by midsummer. For homeowners, however, the savings will not be as substantial, partly because panels account for only about 60 percent of total installation costs.
So while congress debates how much of the stimulus package will be spent on tax cuts, and how much will be spent on,… [view entry]
The details of an interesting program to encourage energy efficiency in Utah just crossed our desk here at Energy 2.0.
The Energy Services Efficiency Program… eases the financial burden of making large changes that lower the energy load on the power grid, such as better insulation, more efficient air conditioning systems and improved swimming pool pumps.The rebates could pay more than $500 for improved attic insulation, $350 for a new air conditioning unit and up to $125 for a better swimming pool pump.
Energy 2.0 supports this idea because it achieves two things. It ties the reduction of energy use in each house to specific improvements, and it helps the homeowner make the capital investment in what are becoming tough times for all. Looking at the photo below,… [view entry]
From the Laconia Citizen:
“It was 30 degrees outside but inside a yet-to-be-finished basement of a home being built on Summit Road, the temperature remained above 42 degrees, with no heat.
That’s because the home, which belongs to Cecilia Rai and James Koren of Plymouth, is being built to be energy-efficient from basement to attic.”
Find out more about this couple’s experience in building an energy efficient home in New Hampshire.
Cecilia Rai stands inside her yet to be finished energy efficient house in Laconia, NH.
Note the use of ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms) in the outer walls. This is becoming a popular technique for including insulation in the construction process-particularly as it is independent of material used (stucco, brick, vinyl siding, wood…) for the outer walls.
