Posts Tagged ‘Energy’
What Makes a Home a Green Home?
May 14, 2012 | 
Author What Makes a Home a Green House?
One of the hottest topics today is about being environmentally friendly. There are many ways to become environmentally friendly about the home including water preservation and energy reduction. This not only helps with a positive action by reducing your impact on the environment, but will also save you money!
Lets take a look at what makes a home environmentally friendly.
Reduced Energy Use
Energy comes in many forms such as electricity, natural gas, oil, etc. The creation or use of this energy results in greenhouse gas emissions that affect our planet in a negative way.
Methods of Reducing Energy Usage
Insulation, One of the best things that you can do to make a green house is to ensure that the walls, windows, attic, and floors are all well insulated and draft free. The majority of the energy used in a home goes towards heating the house. Insulation will prevent the air temperature from escaping the home and save you money on your utilities.
Energy Star Appliances When one of your appliances has reached it’s end of life, or when you areconstructing a new home, consider installing an appliance that meets energy star requirements. This will ensure that it will use over 30 percent less electricity or fuel than a typical appliance of that type.
Other options include advanced mechanical Systems On demand tankless water heaters, geothermal HVAC equipment, and even solar power is a great way to reduce the amount of energy that is wasted to run the plumbing, heat and air, and electrical systems in the home. While they can have a higher upfront cost than a typical unit of its kind, tax incentives from the government can offset a good deal of the extra cost and allow you to make the money back within a few years time.
Reduced Water Use
Water is another essential resource that can be preserved in our day to day use around the house.
Low Flow Fixtures Many low flow shower heads and toilets developed a bad reputation in the past because they could not live up to their less efficient counterparts. Fortunately, todays better engineered models and aerators allow you to experience the luxury and ease of use that you prefer, while additionally using a significantly lower amount of water.
Efficient Clothes Washers Many of the newer front loading clothes washers use as little as half of the water of a typical top loading washer. For families who are constantly putting in a new load of dirty clothes, this can lead to a significant savings in cost and water usage over time.
Use Rain Water For Irrigation For those who want to really cut down on water usage, storage tanks that collect rain water during a storm for latter use to water the garden and lawn can save thousands of gallons over the span of a summer.
These are just a few of the many ideas out there that will help ensure that your home is green. Environmentally friendly decisions in the home can lead to wallet friendly results over time and allow for the satisfaction of knowing you are reducing your negative impact on the planet.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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Renewable Energy – Practical Home Options
As a homeowner, you may be using renewable energy sources. Let’s look at a few of these important, powerful sources.
If you use solar powered lights to brighten your walkway, a solar cover on your swimming pool or hang your clothes out to dry, you are already making use of the sun’s renewable energy. There are many other renewable energy home options you can take advantage of, and by doing so, help preserve our environment.
The most practical of renewable energy options for the home consist of space heating and domestic hot water. This is over 50% of a household’s energy usage. In using renewable energy we can experience cost saving benefits.
Perhaps the best way to take advantage of renewable energy home options is when designing a new house. A southern wall taking advantage of an appropriate amount of windows can take full use of the low sun in the winter. Adding a roof overhang over these windows allow the higher summer sun to be blocked. Also, on a cool day you can open your windows to let a breeze cool off the house and make use of wind energy. You have achieved adding heat in the winter and coolness in the summer, thereby lowering your heating and cooling costs naturally. This is called passive solar heating since it is integrated with no extra costs. You can also do day lighting by taking full advantage of the sunlight during the day to take care of your daytime lighting needs.
Wood stoves can also be advantageous, if using only dead wood, diseased wood or small pellets made from wood chips, crop waste and other organic material for burning. This is a renewable source of heat through the use of space heating. Modern wood burning stoves are highly efficient, making it a more practical option.
A homeowner can also utilize active solar heating. A solar water heater can use renewable solar energy to heat water for a house. This would use solar collector panels placed on a roof. Water runs through pipes under these panels and is heated by the sun. The water travels to a water tank in your home for your use. Electricity can also be produced for a home using the photovoltaic technology. This runs on the same idea as a solar calculator. Solar electricity is ideal for rural homes where it would be difficult to run an electric line to.
Geothermal heat pumps use the heat from the Earth to move heat from one area to another. This system uses a series of underground pipes to move a heat exchange fluid. The heat pump moves this fluid, heated from the earth and transfers it to buildings for use. Initial installation costs are much the same as traditional heating systems, but operational costs are lower.
If you live in a windy part of the country and have quite a bit of land, wind can power a wind turbine to produce electricity for your household. But your location must be ideal to catch wind and you must be able to capture a certain amount for this to work.
These are some home options for renewable energy sources. By trying to utilize some of them we are preparing for our future by using clean energy that does not affect air quality or harm the environment.
Iso 50001 As The New Energy Management Standard
According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) there is a pressing need for an international energy management standard. ISO 50001 is intended to establish an international framework for industrial plants and companies to manage all aspects of energy.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recognizes the high need for an international energy management standard by introducing ISO 50001 which can be very helpful in commercial energy management.
The need to promote energy efficiency, the adamant need to reduce carbon emissions, the higher prices of fossil fuels due to reduced supply, and the need to use renewable energy sources give enough reason for this new energy management standard to be developed which was based on advanced best practices and existing regional and national standards.” – Alan Brydon, ISO Secretary-General
It is estimated that 60% of carbon emissions are from energy production. Due to the threats and implications of global warming and climate change, now is the right time to maximize efficiency in energy use and to manage energy resources.
ISO 50001 will be complementary with ISO 14000 (environmental management standards series) and ISO 9000 (quality management standards series). The new energy management standards will help improve efficiency of enterprise energy management.
ISO 50001 has a set if goals which might be introduced by the end of the year 2010, as follows: * assist organizations in making better use of energy consuming assets * provide benchmarking, measuring, documenting and reporting guidance * facilitate communication and create transparency regarding the management of energy sources * promote best practices and reinforce good energy management behavior * assist in evaluation and prioritization of new technologies * help to promote energy efficiency through the supply chain
This new energy management standard will implement a framework which will help organizations give attention to energy efficiency to overall operation and further define management practices and attention. This new standard has been long awaited and introduction of such is already widely anticipated. One of the best ways to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions is energy efficiency and reduction on usage of fossil fuels.
To help companies reach targets in energy use reduction and carbon emissions, ISO 50001 can be used by corporations, supply-chain partnerships, and energy service utility companies. The new energy management standard could be used in the supply chain to be able to compare efficiency when it is implemented.
Being an international standard, the ISO 50001 will enable multinational organizations to have a consistent methodology in identifying and implementing energy efficient improvements.
Saving Money, Conserving Energy and Lowering Your Carbon Footprint Too
5 ways to reduce your energy bills
Cover your hot water heater with a blanket. It helps to keep your water hotter. This really does help to keep the heat in the system. To save more energy lower the temperature on the hot water heater to 120 degrees before you cover it.
Wrap your hot water pipes. This also helps to keep the heat in your system and not escaping into the air. If you live where it gets consistently below freezing during the winter you should be wrapping your cold water pipes too.
Buy a programmable thermostat. I find myself not touching the thermostat anymore now that it’s programmable. It used to be too easy to turn up the heat before. So much so that I would hardly realize I was doing it. I would turn it up, get sidetracked and forget that I did it until I wondered why I was getting so warm. That was all wasted energy.
Lower your thermostat at night. The house does not have to be toasty warm when you are sleeping. As long as it’s comfortable when you’re falling asleep it doesn’t matter if the temperature drops a little while your sleeping. You can always throw on another blanket if you get cold during the night.
Now to address the fact that the windows are cold even if you have curtains. The cold windows do lower your room temperature. For those of you that have nice thick thermal curtains you are one step ahead of the game. I do not like to shrink wrap my windows even if it will help me to retain heat. I want to be able to open my windows on the nicer fall and winter days to let fresh air in. My answer to that was bubble wrap.
In the course of my research, I came across a few different sources that mentioned bubble wrap. I thought I would give it a try. You just cut it to the exact measurements of the glass. You lightly spritz the flat side of the wrap with water and place it on the glass. No caulk, no glue. no mess.
The heat in your room is not being canceled out by the cold air coming off of the windows.
These changes helped to make my home heating system more energy efficient because the heat was not escaping into thin air. It was helping to keep my hot water warmer and and to keep the heat available to my baseboard heating system. You don’t have to replace your old system to have your home be more energy efficient.
You don’t have to buy solar panels or a solar hot water system in order to make your home more energy efficient. There are a lot of things you can do to make the home heating system you currently have more energy efficient.
It’s a win win situation. You are saving money by conserving energy and lowering your carbon footprint at the same time. That’s good for you and good for the environment.
There are many things that you can do yourself. The most expensive part of this was the programmable thermostat. I bought all of my supplies a little bit at a time. Believe me, you’ll enjoy seeing those home heating costs going down with each and every delivery.
Posted in Carbon accounting | Tags: Carbon Accounting, Conserving, Energy, Footprint, Lowering, Money, Saving | No Comments »
WEEE Recycling: Data Destruction is Essential
Your organissations data may no longer be of value to you once you have done what you need to do with it, but it is gold dust to your competitors. That is why any media, from paper to Flash memory cards, that contains business data must be thoroughly destroyed before disposal.
The risks of disposal of disks containing data that you may believe has been destroyed but has really just been lightly erased include putting yourself or your customers at risk for identity theft as well as making data available to unscrupulous individuals. Even recycling a computer to comply with WEEE recycling regulations does not include proper data destruction techniques.
These techniques include degaussing, in which magnetic patterns that conform to actual data are realigned so that the data is unreadable and unrecoverable, shredding, which entails shredding media into very fine bits that cannot be reassembled, and software wiping, in which all HEX values on the entire volume of a disk are overwritten using special software. In the United kingdom, such software must meet Data protection Act standards to be considered effective for data destruction.
Laptops, including internal hard disk drives and other internal media storage devices, must be recycled according to WEEE regulations (EU). However, if data remains available on any part of the device before, during or after WEEE recycling procedures, it still poses a threat to your organisations security. Therefore, devices that hold data and are subject to WEEE recycling regulations must undergo a thorough process of data destruction before recycling should take place.
Hard drive destruction is absolutely imperative before WEEE recycling can start. This is because even when a disk drive is seemingly erased, the information on it can be recovered and made available without your knowledge. Ensuring that an expert with security cleared personnel destroys the hard drive by methods such as degaussing and shredding is the only way you can be sure that any data that was ever available on a drive that is slated for disposal can never be accessed again. Software wiping is recommended only for hard disk drives that will be reused after the data stored on them is fully destroyed.
Media tape drives are also easily accessible if they are not fully and professionally destroyed prior to disposal. Degaussing and shredding are the most recommended techniques for destruction of media tape drives.
Even CD’s and DVD’s which contain sensitive and confidential data should never be disposed of without making the data completely inaccessible. Complete physical destruction of the media through precision shredding that is offered by professional media disposal firms is the only way to ensure that data on a CD or DVD is fully inaccessible.
Flash memory cards, external memory sticks, and similar devices must also be subject to data destruction measures if they have ever held sensitive data. A specialist firm which handles data destruction should be consulted regarding such memory devices as their small size makes it very easy for them to end up in the wrong hands.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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The Importance of Renewable Energy Resources
The modern lifestyle depends tremendously on the use and existence of fossil fuels. With levels of these fuels constantly decreasing, we should act now to become less dependant on fossil fuels and more dependent on renewable energy sources.
The decreasing levels of fossil fuels isn’t the only reason why we should begin to use renewable energy. Pollution is becoming a huge problem in many countries around the world, especially the developing world. With carbon emissions at an all time high, air quality can be very low in some areas, this can lead to respiratory diseases and cancer.
The main reason to switch to cleaner energy production methods is the global warming aspect. The more carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere, the greater the effect becomes. We can’t just stop using fossil fuels thinking that global warming will go away, but we can slow down and dilute the effects of global warming through the wide spread use of renewable energy resources.
There are many natural energy sources out there, but you have to decide which method is best for you, as all of these sources depend on your current environment.
The installation of a solar panel or a wind turbine to boost every homes power supply would be an amazing step forward. Some governments are in the process of supplying solar panels to hundreds of households to test this method of energy saving.
A technology set to be very important in the future is geothermal energy. With geothermal energy, you are able to extract heat from within the earth and transform it either into a hot water system, or if there is plenty of this energy, a geothermal power plant. Huge amounts of money have been flowed into research of this method, especially in recent years, in order to make the current technology more effective.
So there we have the reasons why we should turn to renewable energy resources which are more than likely to play a very vital and important role in our future society.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme – A Review
We are now well on the road to the end of the first year of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.
We’ve had the scare stories, the organisations not registering, or less organisations registering than were first thought. First estimates from the Government suggested 5000 plus organisations would be full participants with a further 20,000 as information disclosures.
We’ve had just over 3,700 full participants register, what does this tell us?
For me, based on my research, it tells me that a lot of organisations didn’t understand what they needed to do. For example, a car dealership, an example DEFRA used in their literature, if that dealership was a single franchise, SEAT for example, then if a single SEAT dealer anywhere else in the UK had a half hour meter then ALL SEAT dealerships and SEAT companies were in, under the banner of SEAT, who had the responsibility of collating this information. That’s nice and simple, until you then look at if that same dealership had say SEAT and VW at the same premises, they’re out? Add to that the ability to register independently so the SEAT brand did not have to account for everything that traded under its name . . . confused . . . therein lies the problem!
At least the Con/Dem co-alition government has pushed back the full implementation of phase 1 of the CRC by 12 months, the same for Phase 2.They are also looking at making the scheme simpler, firstly by making it a Tax, no payments from the pot for those that reduce emissions the most, Good or Bad?
For me it’s a bit of good and bad, organisations no longer being rewarded for reducing emissions will need to find some other motivation to reduce emissions! The good side is that it is giving these organisation more time to get to grips with the scheme, however, as experience has shown, a lot of organisation left it to the last minute before registering for the CRC, will they do the same again?
Initially Phase 1 reporting is primarily about Scope 1 & 2 emissions, Scope 1 being based on energy you produce, for example if you had a wind turbine and selling electricity back to the grid, Scope 2 is for energy you purchase.
However Phase 2 of the CRC is interesting, as it suggests that Scope 3 emissions will be included in a company’s declaration, a good way of introducing mandatory emissions reporting for all via the back door. Scope 3 covers everything from Travel to Suppliers.
If we look at suppliers for a large organisation, this could easily be in the thousands, a local authority I recently met with, have in excess of 5000 suppliers, under phase 2 they will need to liaise with all 5000, collate the emissions data for those 5000 and submit under the local authorities umbrella.
This will be an administrative nightmare for the unprepared, both the supplier and the large organisation. This will mean that for those who tender for work from larger organisations it will no longer be just a tick box exercise for environmental policy, such as ISO14001, it will be a detailed report on emissions and those not able to submit such a report, will ultimately, not win any business.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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The Differences Between Clean Energy, Renewable Energy, and Alternative Energy
To many people, the differences between “alternative energy,” “renewable energy,” and “clean energy,” might not be obvious. But each term is unique and has its own individual definition. These three terms are not all exactly the same.
Alternative Energy
When we speak of alternative energy, we refer to sources of usable energy that can replace conventional energy sources (usually, without undesirable side effects). The term “alternative energy” is typically used to refer to sources of energy other than nuclear energy or fossil fuels.
Throughout the course of history, “alternative energy” has referred to different things. There was a time when nuclear energy was considered an alternative to conventional energy, and was therefore called “alternative energy.” But times have changed.
These days, a form of “alternative energy” might also be renewable energy, or clean energy, or both. The terms are often interchangeable, but definitely not the same.
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is any type of energy which comes from renewable natural resources, such as wind, rain, sunlight, geothermal heat, and tides. It is referred to as “renewable” because it doesn’t run out. You can always get more of it.
People have begun to turn to this type of energy due to the rising oil prices, and the prospect that we might one day deplete available sources of fossil fuels, as well as due to concerns about the adverse effects that our conventional energy sources have on the environment.
Of all the different types of renewable energy, wind power is one which is growing in its use. The number of users who have some form of wind power installed has increased, with the current worldwide capacity being about 100 GW.
Clean Energy
“Clean energy” is simply any form of energy which is created with clean, harmless, and non-polluting methods.
Most renewable energy sources are also clean energy sources. But not all.
One such example is geothermal power. It may be a renewable energy source, but some geothermal energy processes can be harmful to the environment. Therefore, this is not always a clean energy. However there are also other forms of geothermal energy which are harmless and clean.
Clean energy makes the less impact on the environment than our current conventional energy sources do. It creates an insignificant amount of carbon dioxide, and its use can reduce the speed of global warming – or global pollution.
As you can see, alternative energy, renewable energy, and clean energy are very similar. But it is important to know that there are differences.
There are many actions which can be taken, to help reduce the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Some of these steps can be taken in your own home. Many clean energy solutions can can be easily installed, and some kits are quite affordable.
Carbon emissions and other forms of pollution are not only created by heavy industrial factories. They are created in the common household as well. Energy efficiency has become an important aspect of our lives.
It’s important to start making changes now; if we want to save our planet for our children, for the flora and fauna of the Earth, and for the future of mankind. Clean energy, to be exact, can make a big difference.
Posted in Energy | Tags: Alternative, Between, Clean, Differences, Energy, Renewable | No Comments »
How You Can Convert Your Home Into a Complete Source of Renewable Energy
A few years ago renewable energy such as solar power and wind power was an impossible dream for the average person. Why? It was very very expensive to turn your own home into a solar power generator. In fact you were unlikely to ever make your money back with the energy savings. But recently all of that has changed.
Both solar power and wind power have become genuine alternative energy sources in the last few years. And the best thing is, you can create working generators and plates/turbines yourself, for very little cost. This means you will be saving thousands of dollars making them, and then thousands more when they are up and running.
Has there ever been a better time to get green? Not only is electricity the most expensive it has EVER been right now, but the planet is also in the worst shape it has ever been. What do these two things mean for you? They mean you should try and generate some of your power (even if you only decide to make 20% of your own power).
It is not hard to get the materials, and as long as you have a good manual to follow you should easily be able to implement your own system and start saving money on your bills. Solar power is ideal for just about any home in America (amongst other countries). Wind power is ideal for higher up (hilly terrain) locations or large flat locations. On top of saving a lot of money or your bills you will find yourself having fun with a great family project.
UK Must cut Emissions By 60%
The Committee on Climate Change has called on the UK to reduce its emissions by 60% compared to 1990 levels over the next twenty years.
In its report ‘The Fourth Carbon Budget – Reducing emissions through the 2020s’ the committee puts the case for creating a new marker in the battle to cut emissions.
Currently most targets are aimed at cuts on 1990 emissions levels before 2050. however to drive the fight against climate change the committee suggests a plan as part of a carbon budget for 2023 to 2027 and a target for emissions reductions in 2030, which would be halfway between now and 2050.
The recommended target for 2030 is to cut emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels, or 46% relative to current levels, which needs a 62% emissions reduction from 2030 to meet the 2050 target in Britain’s Climate Change Act.
The committee estimates the recommended target can be achieved at a cost of less than 1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or as it states in the report ‘a fraction of one year’s growth’ over the next two decades.
It also backs that new carbon budgets should be legislated by summer 2011, as required under the Climate Change Act.
Committee on Climate Change chair said: “We are recommending a stretching but realistic fourth carbon budget and 2030 target, achievable at a cost of less than 1% of GDP. “Any less ambition would not be compatible with the 2050 target in the Climate Change Act. “We therefore urge the Government to legislate the budget we have recommended, and to develop the policies required to cut emissions over the next two decades. “The case for action on climate change is as strong as ever: climate science remains robust and suggests that there are very significant risks if we do not cut emissions. And countries acting now will gain economic benefits in an increasingly carbon constrained world.”
The CBI’s director of business environment, backed the new 2030 target. He said: “We support the UK’s existing climate change targets for 2020 and 2050 and businesses are already taking steps to measure and reduce their emissions. “The Committee’s proposal for an extra staging post at 2030 could provide additional clarity for investors, but the feasibility of the proposed target would need to be examined in detail. “Investors will only commit to low-carbon projects if they are confident about the policy framework in the long-term. “The Government’s forthcoming announcements on reform of the electricity market and work to simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be crucial tests.”
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
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