Lunch and Learn Energy Efficiency Workshop Sept 2

Join MACED’s Energy Efficient Enterprises Team for a “Lunch and Learn” workshop, focusing on efficiency opportunities in the water heating and space heating sectors. The workshop will be held Thursday September 2, from 10:30am to 2:30pm (including lunch) at the Kentucky Highlands Entrepreneur Center (120 Scott Perry Drive in Paintsville, KY) Experts will focus on heat pump technology geo-exchange waste heat recovery gas condensing technology tankless water heating systems — for water and hydronic space heating solar water heating systems Industry experts will lead conversations about these technologies, as well as opportunities for contractors to take advantage of developments in the region. Featured speakers include: Angela Nagler (GE), Bob Peck (Water Furnace), Gary Bryant (Dealers LP), David Hall (Rinnai) and Josh Bills (MACED). For more info, contact egraves at maced dot org. About Kristin TraczKristin Tracz served MACED’s Research and Policy team from 2009-2012 working on clean energy policy, energy efficiency programs and the Appalachian Transition Initiative. She joined MACED after finishing her Master of Environmental Management degree at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She now lives and works in Washington,...

The South Has Renewable Energy Too!

In attempt to counter the increasingly common myth that renewable energy is not practical in the Southern United States, researchers at the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy recently released a paper entitled “Renewable Energy in the South: A Policy Brief”. The paper’s abstract reveals the technical approach researchers took, and highlights the conclusion: “Cost-effective customer-owned renewables could also contribute significantly to electricity generation by 2030 in the South, under supportive policies” (emphasis mine). Some groups are pushing a last minute Renewable Electricity Standard – which would set federally-mandated minimum targets for utilities of electricity from renewable electricity sources – through a floor amendment (since it was not included in the original bill) in the Senate. Many of these groups are especially targeting lawmakers in the South, who believe that their states do not have sufficient renewable capacity and thus would be hurt by requirements to increase renewable generation capacity. Papers like the Georgia Tech brief, as well as other information and graphs (see David Roberts’ article “The South has Renewable Energy Too” here), are seeking to correct that misconception showing the significant potential for renewable energy – especially sustainably harvested biomass, wind and hydroelectric power—throughout the Southern states. Groups closer to the ground here in Kentucky are also working on raising awareness about the potential for renewable and efficiency technologies and pass these required supportive policies here in the region. The Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA) “works to promote clean, sustainable and affordable energy solutions for Kentucky. Our...

Appalachian Community on the Road to Energy Independence

First posted on NorthcentralPA.com: Barriers exist throughout the Appalachian region which prevent the ability of small communities, including the community of New Berlin, to undertake energy conservation measures which can result in significant energy and cost savings: a lack of understanding of how and how much energy is currently being used; lack of awareness of opportunities and cost benefits offered through various energy conservation measures; a lack of knowledge about and connection with the technical expertise available to assist in the implementation of energy conservation measures; and a lack of financial resources to invest in these energy conservation measures. New Berlin seeks to address these barriers through a groundbreaking, community-wide initiative known as the New Berlin Energy Independence (NBEI) Project. In additional to SEDA-COG, the Appalachian Regional Commission and PPL Electric Utilities are financial partners to the project. The community of New Berlin, located in Union County, is working with SEDA-COG’s Energy Resource Center to implement, document and widely share a community-wide energy reduction model replicable for other communities within the Appalachian region for their use in achieving community-wide energy independence results. This community-scale project is being implemented in a manner that will provide a replicable blueprint for other Appalachian communities to reduce their dependence on costly fossil fuels, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, attain greater energy security, retain wealth within the region and create new businesses and living wage jobs to provide products and services focused on energy independence. New Berlin is home to 848 residents and is representative...

Lewis County Affordable Housing Turns Green!

From Nancy Reinhart and KySEA: People's Self Help Housing in Vanceburg, KY, is paving a green path for affordable housing in Kentucky. A highly energy efficient home that PSHH recently built and sold has been LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is only the third house in all of Kentucky to receive the certification. Melissa Evans paid $90,000 for the home and, given that low utility and maintenance costs in the future are a guarantee, it will remain affordable for years to come. The LEED-certified home cost about $115,000 to build and the purchase cost was lower due to grant support for the efforts from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.The home will use about 1/3 less energy than a standard house of it size. A couple of years ago, on People's 25th anniversary, the board of directors decided that new houses had to be more energy efficient to offset rapidly increasing utility rates. Further, the organization believes that providing local jobs, further benefiting the local community, is the best way to do this work. Moving into green housing is a way to accomplish both of these objectives. As Dave Kreher, PSHH executive director says, “we can provide jobs that will help people have affordable utility bills – the two can come together. Why have someone from Indiana come in and do this for us? We have a 28 year history of doing the work with local crews and these guys are as good...

Energy Efficiency Program Design and Implementation Webinar: July 1...

From West Virginia GreenWorks: Energy Efficiency Program Design and Implementation Training (Webinar): July 1 THE REGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT Register Now for July 1 Webinar (1-4 p.m. EDT) Energy Efficiency Program Design and Implementation Training 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: Please send your RSVP to Please feel free to forward this announcement and registration information to others in your organization....

Residential Energy Efficiency Training Course in WV

According to our friends at West Virginia Greenworks: RESNET Home Energy Rater $1500 $1250 for multiple students from same organization 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...

Bid Opportunity for Energy Efficiency Work in Kentucky

Community Action Kentucky has released a Request for Qualification (“RFQ”) to allow businesses and contractors interested in receiving some of this work to see if they are qualified for the contracts. This is an opportunity to help customers save money on their utility bills, reduce our energy consumption, and create energy jobs. There will be an information session regarding this RFQ on Monday, June 21, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in Room 171 of the Capitol Annex in Frankfort, KY. All businesses and contractors with the ability to perform the services listed in the RFQ are encouraged to attend and bring their colleagues. Visit the RFQ website for more information and to see qualification guidelines. If you have any questions, please contact: Roger McCann at CAK via telephone at or by email. About Kristin TraczKristin Tracz served MACED’s Research and Policy team from 2009-2012 working on clean energy policy, energy efficiency programs and the Appalachian Transition Initiative. She joined MACED after finishing her Master of Environmental Management degree at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She now lives and works in Washington,...

Four Appalachian States Receive ARRA Funding for Weatherization Training...

Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia are among the 27 states selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding “to develop and expand weatherization training centers across the country.” Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman commented: “A well-trained workforce will be a crucial part of America's clean energy economy in the years ahead. These investments in efficiency training programs will help build a foundation for long-term growth in America. Energy efficiency improves the competitiveness of our economy, benefits the environment, and puts Americans back to work.” The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), created in 1976, is a federally funded, state administered Department of Energy program that seeks to assist low-income families in permanently reducing their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. On average, families whose homes have been weatherized see a savings of about $350 a year, depending on fuel prices. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $5 billion was allocated to support the provision of weatherization services nationally, including trainings and equipment purchases. In Kentucky, the Kentucky Housing Corporation will receive $996,000 to expand the state’s weatherization program and establish a comprehensive training center in Frankfort. Ohio’s Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development received $1 million in support for expanding training facilities throughout the southeastern Ohio in particular. Virginia received two grants for a total of $1, 981,000 to support training programs in Hampton and Christiansburg through the Green Jobs Alliance and the Community Housing Partners Coalition respectively. The...