The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsors the annual five-day blitz to promote repair of leaks and replacing appliances with those that have WaterSense labels, the EPA’s designation for low water use products. Did you even know that some faucets are engineering to use less water without a reduction in flow. That’s how they get the WaterSense label, and you can find qualified models at the WaterSense website.

An average American home can waste 10,000 gallons of water a year from running toilets, dripping faucets, and other leaks. For details see the EPA webpage on Fix a Leak Week.

Image: Addison Arbor Foundation

You may have picked up valuable information at Addison Arbor Foundation’s February seminar on Square Foot Gardening, but now you can have that kind of knowledge certified. By signing up for Addison Arbor University, residents can earn a “degree” from the university-style program while learning more about gardening and protecting their environment.

Classes are held quarterly. (Next up: Irrigation Alternatives for Conserving Water, April 24.)

To be an Addison Arbor University graduate, participants must do the following:

• Take enough classes to earn eight credits.
• Complete these classes within a three-year period.

Four of the eight classes are mandatory:

• Composting
• Effective use of irrigation
• Recycling
• Addison’s plans for the “urban environment”: Overview of the parks department and current and future projects.

Elective credit will be given for attending any quarterly Arbor Foundation education session, not including mandatory classes.

A student’s start date will be the first class taken after enrollment. The Arbor Foundation will keep track of attendance but advises residents to keep records, too.

Upon completion of the program, students will receive a certificate and acknowledgement on the Addison Arbor Foundation Web site.

For more information, visit the Addison Arbor Foundation.

By Bill Sullivan

The Addison Arbor Foundation enjoyed its biggest turnout for a program ever as Dallas County Master Gardener Billy Clark gave a talk on Square Foot Gardening on Saturday, Feb. 20. About 100 people registered at the Addison Athletic Club to hear Clark offer tips about making the most of your efforts, even when space is a limitation.

Billy Clark, Dallas County Master Gardener. (Photo: AddisonGreen.info)

Clark, who has worked for years with the kind of small footprint gardens more common in urban and suburban settings, provided ideas on how to create boxes, prepare soil, match compatible plants, and more. He referenced his own considerable experience while paying homage to Mel Bartholomew, who pioneered the square foot technique about 30 years ago in a Public Broadcasting System series and an accompanying book.

Essentially, square foot gardening is a system of laying out an attractive and productive garden based on a grid of squares, with single seeds or plants arranged in carefully managed spacings. The system helps conserve water and labor required to produce a maximum crop. A square foot garden takes up about 20 percent of the space and requires about 20 percent of  the work of a conventional single-row garden.

The event kicked off the Foundation’s 2010 quarterly series of horticultural seminars, which will correspond with the seasonal calendar. For more information, visit the Foundation’s Web site.

U-Haul's Addison location has added a re-use center. (Photo: U-Haul International)

U-Haul today announced the addition of a self-storage re-use center for customers at the Addison U-Haul Center, 2735 Beltline Rd. The U-Haul Re-use Program, one of the company’s sustainability initiatives, was developed to provide a redistribution network for unwanted, gently used household goods, furniture, sporting equipment, bikes and clothing that formerly were destined for landfills.

“At U-Haul, we are committed to sustainable development through environmental protection, social responsibility and economic efficiency,” said Melanie Ray, general manager of Addison UHaul Center. “This program gives U-Haul another opportunity to provide a service which will enhance the self-storage industry by improving the environment for generations to come.”

Items placed in the area are available for re-use, not resale, by the U-Haul community, including U-Haul Team members. U-Haul also continues to support humanitarian, community-based organizations such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill and similar organizations by placing clothing-donation bins in close proximity to the designated re-use area so that customers may donate directly to these groups.

Restaurant organizations of all sizes are hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, the survey found.

Sustainability practices that minimize the impact of restaurant operations on the environment appear to be gaining momentum as the foodservice industry finds ways to measure the return on its investment in green systems and technologies, according the results of a new benchmark survey from RSR Research.

The study, “The Better-Run Restaurant: Environmental Sustainability in Restaurant Retail 2010,” finds restaurant organizations of all sizes hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, particularly those solutions which cut energy costs, reduce wasteful packaging, and can be leveraged to “tell a green story” to diners. While the industry is still struggling to correlate top line revenue with green investments, it does recognize the bottom line benefits of cost savings from energy and waste management.

Notably, 58 percent of respondents said sustainability is a strategic initiative in multiple departments of their companies, and 54 percent said they expect a return on their investments in sustainable technologies or practices within three years.

The findings are based on a survey of 124 restaurant retailers conducted in late 2009. The report was produced in partnership with Nation’s Restaurant News, the foodservice business network.

“There are three reasons for restaurants to enact environmentally sustainable practices, according to our report: to save cost, to reduce waste, and to build a greener brand,” Steve Rowen, managing partner at RSR and co-author of the report, said in a statement. “In fact, the best performing restaurateurs believe green-minded consumers care enough about a brand’s environmental positioning to factor it into ‘where to dine’ decisions. As momentum builds, this creates a genuine opportunity to gain new business.”

Among the report’s more significant findings: a majority of respondents said they have either already incorporated green initiatives and technologies at their business or have them budgeted for 2010. These sustainable practices for 2010 include:

• 79% recycle raw materials
• 68% regulate energy use in their stores or facilities
• 67% promote eco-friendly items or ingredients in-store
• 65% reduce take-out/send-home waste
• 64% feature green processes such as ethically sourced products
• 60% incorporate green construction practices into new facilities and stores

When asked where they thought their biggest cost-cutting opportunities lay, respondents cited the kitchen, food preparation and packaging as offering the best-case scenarios. In fact, the larger the operation, the greater the cost-cutting opportunity perceived. Approximately 50 percent of those operating 100 restaurants or more cited this area as having the most potential, versus about one-third of smaller operators. Among those operating three to 10 restaurants, the opportunity to reduce transportation and delivery costs was ranked as most important.

Lately, it seems, just about everyone is taking an interest in helping you manage your home energy consumption.

Hohm is Microsoft's attempt to get into home energy management. (Image: microsoft.com)

Microsoft weighed in with its Hohm offering last summer. Google touts its PowerMeter service. Apple is patenting a system to optimize the powering of your network of iPods, laptops, and electronic gadgets. Intel has added an energy component to its Home Dashboard Concept.

Small wonder. According to a December, 2009, report from Pike Research, the market for home energy management systems and energy information displays (EIDs) will include 28.1 million users worldwide by 2015.

“Energy information displays are the face of the smart grid,” managing director Clint Wheelock said. “These systems will provide consumers with an unprecedented level of visibility into, and control over, the consumption of electricity within their homes, providing a significant opportunity for efficiency improvements and cost savings.”

Pike forecasts that in-home display devices will be the largest EID category, with 14.4 million units shipped by 2015. Web-based dashboards also will be a major component with 11.1 million users, followed by mobile phone energy applications with 2.6 million.

Image: Pike Research

With that kind of interest, Pike notes, the vendor landscape is crowded and competitive. In addition to the aforementioned heavy hitters, Pike cites Control4, eMeter, Energate, Energy Inc., Green Energy Options, GridPoint, Onzo, OpenPeak, Silver Spring Networks, and Tendril Networks as potential major players.

Obviously, plenty of folks have come to believe there is money to be made in helping you save some green of your own. For the moment, however, there seems to be less than universal agreement on just how to go about all that.

Here’s a look at some of the contenders and their current approach:

Microsoft Hohm: We start here simply because Hohm is one of the more accessible of the new tools. It’s also free, and your home doesn’t have to be equipped with one of the new Advanced Metering Systems to use it (although this last point seems to be a decidedly mixed bag).

Hohm allows you to answer up to 200 questions, describing your residence and appliances in detail. If your local utility is on board (and very few are at the moment), you can have your consumption fed directly into Hohm. If not, you can enter the numbers yourself. If you are really lazy, you can do as little as punch in your zip code to get information of average costs where you live.

The more data you enter, the more relevant your feedback will be. Hohm (the names stems from “ohm,” a unit of electrical resistance) will produce a pie chart of average consumption in different categories (heating, cooling, lighting, etc.) It also offers a look at where you stand on a spectrum of efficient and inefficient homes in your area, based on monthly energy costs. Your zip code allows the program to use analytics to factor in weather patterns, etc.

Once a profile is established, Hohm offers a set of recommendations to help you trim consumption, anything from replacing your hot water heater to changing out windows, doors, or insulation. By using Microsoft’s Bing search engine, you also can access information on contractors in your area who can help you with those improvements or repairs.

One problem: Without the “smart” meter, Hohm is only as good as the information you plug into it. When I entered my usage for the period between Dec. 21 and Jan. 21, for instance, the program distributed it evenly over those days. I’m pretty sure more of that usage came between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1, when Christmas tree lights were burning and people were coming and going.

Microsoft emphasizes that Hohm will get better as more people use it and the analytics become more refined. At the moment, Hohm has some good information and fun bells and whistles, but news you can use — “What time of day is my peak usage? How do things change when the kids are home?” – still requires more on the hardware end.

Google's Powermeter is designed to work with "smart" meters. Photo: Green Right Now

Google PowerMeter: This is a Web application for monitoring home energy use that requires an advanced or “smart” meter. The company has partnered with utilities and smart meter manufacturers to offer an energy-tracking dashboard through the meter.

Another option: The Energy Detective, a home-monitoring device from Energy, Inc. Eventually, Google plans to add features, including providing consumers with information to help ratchet down power use during peak times to get cheaper rates.

Currently, PowerMeter delivers more detailed and specific information than Hohm. The downside: You either need a smart meter, or you’ll need to spend some cash on The Energy Detective (TED) to make that connection.

A bit later to the game,  Apple has applied for a pair of patents to monitor how power is supplied to electronics such as computers and iPods.

One is called “Intelligent Power Monitoring” and describes a system that would allow consumers to reduce energy use by providing better tools to control how connected devices are powered. For instance, users could learn when to schedule charging to take advantage of off-peak rates or how to put devices in hibernate mode.

The other patent application – “Intelligent Power-enabled Communications Port” – suggests a system that could distribute an efficient amount of power to a range of electronics. The idea calls for using the wiring of buildings to run direct current devices without using AC to DC adapters. The port also would be able to deliver and store data over home wires.

Intel, meanwhile, has launched a Web site supporting its Intelligent Home Energy Management Proof of Concept. A touch screen device allows people to record video messages or (through third-party applications) track packages or access online yellow pages. The energy component will help families control and reduce energy use.

As the Pike report suggests, the list of contenders expands regularly. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, General Electric and Whirlpool unveiled plans to work with display maker OpenPeak to monitor energy cost and control over appliances.

How will all this information be gathered? That, too, is an issue with more than one potential solution. Many companies anticipate using wireless home networks to allow appliances, a central console, and smart meters to communicate. Another alternative is to use smart plugs, electrical outlets that will allow for energy management without the presence of a smart meter.

Bottom line: Interest is growing, big players are charging in, and there are plenty of strategies for cornering the home energy management market. For consumers looking to save money and be a little more green, competition figures to be a good thing.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

Photo: NOAA.gov

A proposed new service from the federal government is designed to help businesses adapt to global warming and to encourage development of new technologies to cope with it.

“Even with our best efforts, we know that some degree of climate change is inevitable and American citizens and businesses, and American governments … must be able to rise to environmental and economic challenges that lie ahead,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says.

NOAA Climate Services requires a reorganization at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the Commerce Department and includes the National Weather Service. Locke said new private second industries could develop from information generated by the service, just as industries based on data from the National Weather Service and U.S. Census Bureau have done.

“In the process, we’ll discover new technologies, build new businesses and create new jobs.”

Concentrating NOAA’s expertise and information on climate change in one place would help these industries and others, including renewable energy like wind power, infrastructure and architecture planning and disease prevention and control. The service would help plan for sea level rise, coastal erosion, longer growing seasons, increases in heavy downpours and other severe weather events.

Congress must approve the transfer of funds to the new service. Locke said he hoped it would be operating by the start of the 2011 fiscal year.

Copyright © 2010 | Distributed by GRN Network

By Bill Sullivan

A sudden cold snap created a spike in consumption. Christmas lights were fun at the time, but they, too, kept that meter running. Kids leave electronics on, even when they’re not in the room.

Advanced Metering System

Sure, you try to do all those little things that, in a perfect world, can help keep cost and environmental impact down. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and a big number on that electric bill each month can come as a shock to both the system and the budget.

But what if your world was just a little more perfect?  What if you could log on to your computer and check consumption down to, say, a 15-minute period? What if you could figure out that your teenager is running the TV, stereo, a game player (or two) and every light in his room — all despite the fact that he’s spending the night at a friend’s house?

That’s the future of the Advanced Metering System (AMS), and that future is closer than you may think.

Oncor already has installed more than 700,000 of the new meters as part of its Smart Texas program, and the company plans to roll out a total of about three million by 2012.  (Addison meters will be installed sometime in late summer or early fall 2010.)

The technology feeds information directly to your electricity service provider, eliminating the need for anyone to come read the meter. Once a new Web site is launched in the next few months, users will be able to access reports broken down into 15-minute intervals, allowing them to chart how much energy is being consumed in their home or business.

It may not make your teen any more energy-efficient, but at least you’ll have a little more information in the fight against high bills and increased carbon footprint.

“The great thing about these meters is that they allow consumers to have, in their hands, real-time information so they can make better decisions about how they can use their electricity,” said Megan Wright, an Oncor spokesperson.

“You can see, at 3 p.m, my energy use is spiking. That’s when my kids are getting home from school. I need to talk to them about shutting the doors and not leaving the TV on while they’re doing things in their room. It allows you to have control over your electric consumption.”

Most of the meters currently in use have been installed in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Killeen, and Terrell, but everyone in the Oncor service area is scheduled to be switched over to the new system by 2012. If you haven’t been converted yet, visit the Smart Texas Web site to see the proposed deployment schedule.

How is all this being funded? Even if you haven’t received your new meter, you’ll probably find a surcharge for it on your monthly electric bill. According to an agreement with the Public Utility Commission, consumers will be levied $2.21 per month for the next 11 years to pay for equipment and installation.

(What about all the money saved by eliminating the meter readers?  According to Oncor, the reduced personnel savings were built into the surcharge.)

The AMS will be able to communicate with in-home devices (display monitors, smart thermostats) to provide access to your usage information. Oncor currently is creating a Web portal where users will be able to view their information on a “day after” basis.

“It’s like a speedometer,” said Oncor’s Wright. “It’s letting you know your electric consumption as it is happening.”

In addition to the Web portal, customers will be able to employ an in-home display monitor, a wireless device that communicates with the AMS. The monitor also can convert that usage to a dollar amount to allow you to see how much you are spending at a given time. (The in-home monitor can be purchased through your retail electric provider or a retail specialty store.)

The AMS also should allow Oncor to know almost immediately if an outage has occurred at a home or business, speeding response time. The technology may even help the company recognize issues before they turn into outages.

Oncor Smart Texas Program

As part of the educational process, Oncor  has created the Smart Texas Mobile Experience Center, a  53-foot trailer filled with interactive videos and live demonstrations. The trailer will visit local fairs, festivals and the like, in addition to making stops at Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe’s parking lots.

“We’ve had a lot of people react very favorably about it,” Wright said. “They come, they ask questions, they really want to know what they can do to use these meters to the best of their ability.”

“Right now, you’re constantly hearing about the ‘green’ movement.  People are really concerned and wanting to be a part of it.”

Coming soon: Another, smarter tool to help them do just that.