Sustainable Warming

The leaves are changing color and cooler weather is upon us here in La Plata County.  We all are beginning to cut and stack firewood, top off the propane tank, check our furnaces, fireplaces and equip our homes with the needed measures to ensure the optimal deliverance of warmth in the months to come.

As we prep our homes for the coming of colder weather, there are some helpful practices for ensuring energy efficiencies and equally, cost savings when we go to turn on the heat this winter. One of the biggest ways to save energy and money is to consider weatherizing your home. Weatherization, as Beverly explained in the last post- Weatherization- more than comfort and safety, is a means of making your home more energy efficient. One way is to utilize local resources that already have the steps all mapped out. Visit the Weatherization Assistance Program page at 4CORE and learn more about what it is like to have your home weatherized. Maybe you even qualify for 4CORE Weatherization Services.

How to test household efficiency?If you don't qualify for the Weatherization Program, there are rebates through Recharge Colorado for doing an overall energy assessment to find the best ways to make improvements and upgrades. This could include insulation, heating units like furnaces, household appliances like refrigerators, sealing air leaks, changing old light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL), installing storm windows and doors.

There are many organizations offering easy-to-use guides and resources to help your household become more efficient and sustainable. One site that I think really offers a lot of helpful information is the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide.

Here they offer the opportunity of asking professionals questions concerning the building and/or maintenance of an efficient home. They have guidance on types of homes- new or old, rooms (bathrooms to nurseries), appliances, interior and exterior paints and facades, homeowner situations and general energy efficiency insight and guidance. They also provide 9 Ways to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient, similar to the measures mentioned above with some insightful additional strategies.

Also, The US Department of Energy has a great Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Assessment guide which leads one through an essential step-by-step process. Home Energy Saver is also a resourceful website, sharing different strategies, tips, incentives, and current State and Federal rebates.

Efficiency and Beyond...
Maybe you are thinking about generating some of your own energy? A local Durango woman, Kathleen Adams, began to think the same thing and started working towards efficiency by first getting an energy audit to best understand her baseline demand for energy and inefficiencies. From there she began to upgrade her 1920's bungalow home into an energy-efficient model home, which was recently featured in 4CORE's Energy Tour. The Energy Tour brought many community members together to learn how Kathleen, among many other home owners, devised ways to save energy and money and set-up their own solar photovoltaic systems.

Kathleen installed a 10-panel 2.1 kw solar photovoltaic system on her roof along with two solar tubes for free and easy day lighting. Kathleen now enjoys not paying utility bills from spring to fall and watching her meter run backwards when she produces more energy than she uses and more than anything is reassured knowing that all the energy she produces and sources from the local utility company is not 'going out the door.'

Wondering about how to assess your own potential for solar and/or wind energy generation? A great source to check out for your on-site residential generation is through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s“In My Backyard” (IMBY). Check out this online tool that helps you gauge either your solar photovoltaic (PV) array or wind turbine electricity generating capacity based on your specifications of system size, location, and other variables.

About the Author...
Elsa Jagniecki began working for 4CORE last month and since has enjoyed working on the La Plata Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP).

Elsa has recently returned from Sweden where she studied her Master's in Sustainable Development and researched Sustainable Community Renewable Energy for her thesis with two other classmates, where they toured Sweden, Denmark, and Germany and from their research designed The SCRE Tool.