Clean Energy Economy News | Online edition

December 1, 2008 | Vol. 1, No. 13

In this issue

• Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative leaders recommend
  county advisory board to govern grant
• Plug-in electric cars offered by two auto dealerships
• KSE fourth graders rule on International Walk to School competition
• Tri-county waste diversion group focuses efforts on immediate projects
• Aspen city government exceeds greenhouse gas reduction goals
• EPA grant funds Garfield public health assessment and outreach
• High-speed rail study underway on I-70 and I-25 corridors
• Obama says clean energy development is key to economic recovery
• Bank bailout bill puts millions into tax credits and grants for clean energy

Training

• Free building diagnostics courses offered Dec. 4 & 9

back to top

Greetings,

President-elect Obama is delivering a strong message to the country about using clean energy to re-power our nation’s industries, businesses and economy. At CLEER we are putting that concept into action. With the governor’s New Energy Communities Initiative grant and a strong package of incentives from the Governor’s Energy Office (see next story), we hope to accomplish the same type of economic benefits and energy security for our region that Barack Obama envisions for the whole country.

In this issue, you’ll find news about plug-in cars, results of a New Castle walk-to-school competition, an update on the three-county waste diversion effort, Aspen’s emission reduction accomplishments, a Garfield County public health project, and the Colorado high-speed rail study. There’s also a quick summary of president-elect Obama’s clean energy plan and a list of the clean energy incentives and grants included in the bank bailout legislation passed by Congress. Builders and HVAC companies should check out the free building diagnostics courses. We end, as always, with Clean Energy Bits ‘n Bobs. Readers are welcome to submit items for this section.

As always, feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. Archives of full-length stories for this and all past editions are on the CLEER website.

Heather McGregor, Editor
Clean Energy Economy News

back to top

Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative leaders recommend county advisory board to govern grant

Community and county leaders from Parachute to Carbondale met with state officials Nov. 19 to discuss ways to govern the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative (G-NECI) grant implementation, and recommended that the county form an advisory board of representatives from the nine entities that pledged local matching funds.

The meeting was another step in moving forward on the $1.6 million grant awarded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs in October to the Garfield County New Energy Communities, a collaborative proposal involving the county, its six municipalities, the library district, school districts, RFTA and other partners.

The grant, coupled with local match, a clean energy investment fund, and Governor’s Energy Office programs, will fund various aspects of 11 programs and services for Garfield County households, businesses and governments over the next two years. Many of the programs and services will be launched in early 2009.

At the Nov. 19 meeting in Rifle, elected officials and top-level local government staff
agreed on a proposed governance structure for the G-NECI programs. They chose the advisory board model as the best way to ensure representation from the entities pledging local match funds while recognizing the added responsibilities carried by Garfield County, which is serving as the fiscal agent and will enter into a contract with the state to receive the grant.

The advisory board will make recommendations on policy, work plans and spending to the Garfield County commissioners. The commissioners will review these recommendations as part of the consent agenda at their weekly meetings.

The nine local match entities are to name advisory board members and alternates this week, and the Garfield County Commissioners are expected to officially create the advisory board and appoint its members on Dec. 8.

At the same time, community leaders from throughout the county want to form a continuing organization to pursue a larger clean energy agenda that will last beyond the two-year G-NECI grant.

“This grant isn’t the be-all, end-all of a clean energy economy in this county. We need to establish a vision well beyond the scope of the available dollars,” said Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert. “The grant is the catalyst, the dynamic, for us to move forward and take greater steps.”

“I envision our effort becoming a leader, a pioneer in terms of a county-wide renewable energy future,” said Greg Russi, New Castle councilman.

back to top

Plug-in electric cars offered by two auto dealerships

Aspen Electric Cars expands into downvalley market

Two auto dealerships in the Roaring Fork Valley are offering plug-in, low-speed electric cars for tooling around town and on frontage roads. Aspen Electric Cars is offering sales and service of Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) and Zero Air Pollution (ZAP) electric cars, and Berthod Motors in Glenwood Springs is selling the Miles brand.

Classified as Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, or NEVs, these plug-in electrics have top speeds of 25 mph or 40 mph, depending on the model, and are suitable for around-town transportation.

Even with the recent drop in gas prices, a plug-in electric is much cheaper to operate than a gas-burning vehicle. The NEVs use about 2 cents of electricity per mile, half the cost of driving a Toyota Prius that’s burning $2 a gallon gas. (And who knows how long that price will last!)

The NEVs come as passenger vehicles seating, two, four or six people, and as cargo trucks. GEM and ZAP pickup trucks can carry up to 1,500 pounds of cargo, while the more beefy Miles pickup can carry up to 3,000 pounds.

Aspen Electric Cars, owned by Shae Singer and James Bond, has been selling the NEVs in Aspen. Now, Mike Ogburn, previously with Rocky Mountain Institute, is launching downvalley sales for the company.

“An extra bonus for mid-valley NEV owners is the ability to travel on medium-speed roads, such as the Highway 82 frontage road or Two Rivers Road, allowing safe travel from Basalt all the way to Carbondale and Aspen Glen,” Ogburn said.

Berthod Motors has the Miles sedan and pickup on display at its south Glenwood lot along with its Pontiac, GMC, Buick and Jeep vehicles. Salesman Ed Foster said Berthod plans to carry the Miles highway speed sedan once it comes on the market next year.

In the meantime, Berthod’s best seller in the plug-in class is the Miles pickup, a sturdy utility vehicle perfect for municipal parks departments. The pickup has the added advantage of regenerative braking, common on gas-electric hybrids, which gives the battery a free boost.

Prices for these various plug-in electrics range from $7,400 for GEM’s two-seater and $11,700 for ZAP’s three-wheel sedan to $11,500 or $12,500 for the GEM and ZAP truck models. The MSRP for the Miles sedan and truck models is $18,400.

These models are just the beginning of what promises to be a highly competitive electric car market, with more than a dozen manufacturers selling or developing low-speed or highway-speed electric vehicles. For a complete review of electric cars on the market, in development and no longer in production, visit the electric cars page of HybridCars.com.

Information:
Aspen Electric Cars, Mike Ogburn: (720) 891-3463, mikeogburn@gmail.com.
Berthod Motors: (970) 945-7466, mail@berthod.com

back to top

KSE fourth graders rule on Walk to School competition

Alli Rickert’s fourth grade class at Kathryn Senor Elementary School in New Castle took the International Walk to School challenger seriously, logging 567 trips to and from school on foot, by bicycle, in a carpool or by school bus.

The idea of the competition was to avoid parents carrying their kids to and from school in the family car, and to helps kid learn about the health and environmental benefits of walking and biking and about the clean air benefits of carpooling.

Placing second in the school-wide competition was Victoria Miller’s second grade class. The students logged 448 trips for the competition during the last 14 days of school in October. The two winning classes earned a celebration with ice cream cones, certificates and prizes.

The competition, hosted by the KSE Green Team, was stiff. Another eight classes, including the preschool class and all four first grade classes, kept track of their qualifying trips. Most kids reported that they simply walked to school or rode their bikes.

The KSE Green Team got help with the competition from Glenwood Springs transportation manager Sabrina Harris, Paul Nelson of McDonald’s in Glenwood Springs and the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program.

KSE students are encouraged to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus all year whenever possible, and another promotional event is planned for spring.

back to top

Tri-county waste diversion group
focuses efforts on immediate projects

Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties to seek $100,000 federal grant

The ongoing effort by solid waste officials in Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties has turned toward work on projects to meet immediate needs, while delaying the goal of creating a formal partnership of counties and municipalities.

The Regional Waste Diversion Partnership is loosely organized, but is setting ambitious milestones for the coming year, according to a summary prepared by Laurie Batchelder Adams, consultant to Garfield County. Plans include:

Pursuing a two-county agreement for Eagle County to accept recyclables from Pitkin County once Eagle opens its materials recovery facility (MRF) next spring. Point people for this project are Ron Rasnic, director of the Eagle County solid waste department, and Chris Hoofnagle, director of the Pitkin County solid waste department.

Open talks with Garfield County municipalities that contract with private haulers for recycling collection, asking the towns to add a provision to their contracts with haulers requiring recyclables to be hauled to the Eagle County MRF.

Develop a regional recycling education team to share educational resources and develop a consistent message that supports the Eagle County MRF and other diversion programs in the three counties. (A group of 10 people from Garfield County, Pitkin County, City of Aspen, Town of Vail, Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability and Roaring Fork Leadership has already volunteered for this project.)

Apply for a federal grant for a three-county waste diversion study to look at the waste composition in existing landfills; develop plans for problem materials such as construction and demolition debris, textiles, plastics and wastes from the natural gas industry; tour functional composting operations in other communities; map the flow of recyclable materials in the region; continue education efforts; set 10-year waste diversion goals; and continue regular meetings of the partnership. The grant application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is due Dec. 31, and would be awarded in mid-2009.

Further reading
MSW Management magazine, November/December 2008
Toward Efficient MRFs: Economies of scale can ensure quality and quantity alike
By Daniel P. Duffy

back to top

Aspen city government exceeds
greenhouse gas reduction goals

For the third year running, the city of Aspen's government operations have exceeded greenhouse gas reduction goals. 

The city reduced its overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the pollutants that cause global warming, by 8.8 percent from last year and a dramatic 23.7 percent from the 2004-05 baseline year. The city’s GHG year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

The baseline measured the city government's emissions from transportation, building heating and cooling, and other sources. Comparing the baseline to subsequent audits shows where the city is succeeding or failing at making meaningful CO2 reductions.

“Individual departments within the city of Aspen have all been charged with helping the city meet its goals to reduce emissions by 2 percent from baseline,” said Kim Peterson, director of the city’s Canary Initiative – the city’s program aimed at slowing climate change. “Most of our departments and the city government overall not only met but wildly surpassed our goals.”

Of the 8.8 percent reduction, much credit goes to the two electric utilities that serve Aspen.

“Because Holy Cross Energy and Aspen Electric have ‘greened’ the fuel mix they use to produce electricity, our city impact was lower,” Peterson said. “The other reductions resulted from a combination of city buildings using less natural gas and a significant reduction in employee air travel.”

Some highlights of this year’s success include the new 21 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system at the water plant and energy improvements at the Aspen Recreation Center. Greenhouse gas emissions from the center are down 21 percent from last year.

The city of Aspen continues to raise the bar for emissions reductions in 2009:

• City facilities are undergoing energy audits.
• Putting the Castle Creek hydroelectric plant on line will boost the city’s renewable energy portfolio by 8 percent.
• The Aspen Police Department has ordered more hybrid vehicles for the patrol fleet.
• Another 21 kilowatt solar PV system will be installed at the water plant. 

— Sally Spaulding, City of Aspen

back to top

EPA grant funding Garfield County
environmental health assessment and outreach

Follow-up funding could address targeted public health problems

The Garfield County Public Health Department is using a federal grant to launch a multi-part initiative aimed at public environmental health issues resulting from community and industrial growth.

If you are a Rotary or Kiwanis club member, you’ve probably already heard the presentation by Jim Rada explaining the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The three-part plan is to define environmental health concerns, such as air quality, water quality, solid waste, disease and related green initiatives, develop a detailed report, and then write and widely distribute a comprehensive “Guide to a Healthy Garfield County.”

This effort may lead to a follow-up EPA grant, potentially in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, to directly address some of the key environmental health issues raised in this initial process.

At this stage, Rada and other department staffers are circulating a 10-question survey to service club members, flu clinic patients and anyone else they can snag. The survey asks people to rate their level of concern about a variety of environmental health issues. The survey is available online and takes no more than five minutes, unless you get on a roll with the open-ended questions.

It’s no secret what some of the more obvious health concerns are: air quality, industrial and tailpipe emissions, polluted runoff from industrial sites and city streets, mosquito-born disease. So the Public Health Department is running informational newspaper ads every other week to help people learn about these issues.

A November ad, for example, took aim at idling diesel vehicles. “If you are idling, you may as well be burning dollar bills,” said the ad. “The best way to warm a vehicle is to drive it.”

The Public Health Department is also using the federal grant to organize a core group of people from throughout the county who are interested in helping to develop a plan to address key public environmental health issues.

“The survey results will help shape the direction of our environmental health program over the next few years,” said Carrie Godes, health educator for the department.

Click here to take the Garfield County Environmental Health Concerns Survey.

back to top

High-speed rail study underway
on I-70 and I-25 corridors

Nearly 50 Colorado cities, towns, counties and transit agencies are collaborating to determine whether high-speed passenger rail service is a feasible part of Colorado’s transportation future.

The Rocky Mountain Rail Authority, a governmental body with 46 member entities, recently kicked off a year-long high-speed rail feasibility study of the Interstate 25 corridor from Cheyenne to Trinidad and the I-70 corridor from Grand Junction to Denver. The $1.5 million study, funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation and RMRA member jurisdictions, will determine whether intercity, high-speed rail is technically, financially and economically feasible.

Local agencies participating in the authority include Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties, the cities of Aspen, Glenwood Springs and Vail, and RFTA, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. RFTA’s John Tangen serves as the RMRA’s board treasurer, and Pitkin County Commissioner Dorothea Farris serves on the board’s executive committee.

“This study will definitively answer the question of whether high-speed passenger rail should be considered as part of a comprehensive solution to Colorado’s growing transportation crisis,” said RMRA Chairman Harry Dale, a Clear Creek County commissioner.

The study will consider a range of high-speed rail technologies, various alignments and potential station location to determine whether a feasible project exists on one or both corridors. Rail technologies being considered have top operating speeds ranging from 79 to 250 mph. As part of the analysis, the study will identify projected ridership and revenue levels, potential economic benefits, and the anticipated level of financial support from private, federal, state and local sources.

If the study determines that high-speed rail is technically, financially and economically feasible, the RMRA will work with state leaders to seek official Federal Railroad Administration designation as the nation’s 11th high-speed rail corridor, making it eligible for targeted federal funding. The study would also lead to an implementation plan that identifies the additional studies and other activities needed to make high-speed rail in Colorado a reality.
           
The RMRA is closely collaborating with governmental and transit agencies, the freight railroads and other ongoing planning studies and projects in both corridors, including the I-70 Coalition’s land-use planning study, CDOT’s Railroad Relocation Implementation Study, and RTD’s FasTracks program. 

To learn more about the study, offer comments, or sign up for the RMRA mailing list, visit www.rockymountainrail.org.

Click here for a fact sheet on the RMRA rail corridor study.

back to top

Obama says clean energy development
is key to economic recovery

President-elect Barack Obama and his transition team have laid out an ambitious New Energy for America plan. The triple-win agenda combines aggressive plans for energy savings, economic recovery and cuts in carbon emissions.

The Obama-Biden energy plan would invest $150 billion and help create 5 million clean energy jobs in the coming decade, end the need for oil imports from the Middle East and Venezuela, put 1 million plug-in cars on the road, weatherize 1 million homes per year, expand renewable energy portfolios, set a cap-and-trade program for all sectors of the economy, and make the United States a global leader on confronting climate change.

Of special interest in Garfield County, the plan calls for a “use it or lose it” approach to gas leases and “promote responsible domestic production” of oil and gas.

The Obama Administration is also planning the America Serves program, designed to harness the energy of middle school, high school and college students and the experience of retirees. America Serves will focus on four key areas: Classroom Corps, Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps and Veterans Corps. People who are interested can sign up now.

In the news
New York Times editorial, Nov. 26, 2008

"President-elect Barack Obama is arguing that there is no better time than the present to invest heavily in clean energy technologies. Such investment, he says, would confront the threat of unchecked warming, reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil and help revive the American economy. Call it what you will: a climate policy wrapped inside an energy policy wrapped inside an economic policy."

Read the whole editorial, Save the Economy, and the Planet.

back to top

Bank bailout bill puts millions
into tax credits and grants for clean energy

The nation’s big banks weren’t the only ones to benefit from the $700 billion economic bailout bill that passed Congress last month. HR 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also included Division B, a large section of clean energy measures aimed at stimulating energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Extension of the investment tax credit for solar installations got the most attention, but the bill also bolsters investments in efficiency upgrades, wind, geothermal, biomass and biodiesel. Funding for valuable clean energy programs was also included in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Mim Mirsky, energy and sustainability consultant for the Governor’s Energy Office, read through the two new federal acts. Here is her summary of new and extended clean energy offerings in the federal legislation:

Energy efficiency incentives

• Biomass fuel stove tax credit: up to $300. Expires Dec. 31, 2009
• Tax credit for residential building envelope improvements, primarily insulation: 10 percent
• Tax credit for qualified energy efficient appliances, such as furnaces, boilers, air conditioners, water heaters, and insulation and window upgrades, but with certain maximum limits: 100 percent up to $500 for all improvements combined. 
  Applies to installations in 2009 only. Equipment purchased during 2008 is not eligible.
• New energy efficient home property tax credit: for construction of new homes that reduce heating and cooling energy consumption relative to a comparable dwelling. The credit equals $1,000 for homes meeting a 30 percent efficiency standard, $2,000 for homes meeting a 50 percent standard. Expires Dec. 31, 2009.
• Energy efficient buildings deduction: Owners of new or existing commercial or public buildings can deduct 30 cents to $1.80 per square foot for installation of efficient lighting, building envelope upgrades, or heating, cooling, ventilation or hot water systems that reduce the building’s total energy and power cost by 50 percent or more relative to a comparable building. Expires Dec. 31, 2013.
• Accelerated depreciation: for investments in smart meters, smart grid systems and recycling equipment.
• Manufacturer tax credits: for sales of high-efficiency refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers, and dehumidifiers. Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008; expires Dec. 31, 2010.

Solar energy incentives

• Commercial Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 30 percent of installation costs, including solar energy equipment and labor, with no maximum credit limit. Applies to solar photovoltaic, solar thermal and hot water, and solar process heat. Expires Dec. 31, 2016.
• Residential Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 30 percent of installation costs, including solar energy equipment and labor. Capped at $2,000 for systems installed prior to Dec. 31, 2008; no limit for systems installed after Jan. 1, 2009. Expires Dec. 31, 2016.

Wind energy incentives

• Small Wind Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 30 percent of total installed costs for small wind systems (100kW capacity or less) for home, farm or business use. Residential systems capped at $1,000 per kW capacity up to $4,000. Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008; expires Dec. 31, 2016.
• Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC): 2.1 cents per kWh. Expires Dec. 31, 2009.

Geothermal energy incentives

• Geothermal energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 10 percent of expenditures for geothermal heat pumps and equipment used to produce, distribute or use energy from the ground. For geothermal heat pumps, credit is capped at $2,000.  Retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008; expires Dec. 31, 2016.
  For geothermal power generation, applies to equipment up to, but not including, the electric transmission stage.

Fuel cell, microturbine and combined heat and power incentives

• Commercial fuel cell Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 30 percent of expenditures, capped at $1,500 per 0.5 kW of capacity. Fuel cells must have a minimum nameplate capacity of 0.5 kW and an electricity-only generation efficiency of 30 percent or higher. (This is an increase from $500 for systems installed on or before Oct. 3, 2008.) Expires Dec. 31, 2016.
• Residential fuel cell Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 30 percent of expenditures for fuel cells with a minimum nameplate capacity of 0.5 and an electricity-only generation efficiency of 30 percent or higher, capped at $500 per 0.5 kW. Expires Dec. 31, 2016.
• Microturbine Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 10 percent of expenditures for microturbines up to 2 mW in capacity with electricity-only generation efficiency of 26 percent or higher, capped at $200 per kW of capacity. Expires Dec. 31, 2016.
• Combined heat and power (CHP) Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 10 percent of expenditures for systems up to 50 mW in capacity that exceed 60 percent energy efficiency, subject to certain limitations and reductions for large systems.
  (The efficiency requirement does not apply to CHP systems that use biomass for at least 90 percent of the system's energy source, but the credit may be reduced for less efficient systems.) Applies to systems in service after Oct. 3, 2008.

Federal bond programs

• Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs): new program $800 million to finance facilities that generate electricity from wind, closed-loop or open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, qualified hydropower, landfill gas, marine renewable and trash combustion facilities. Bonds to be equally distributed between public power providers, governments and electric cooperatives. Also extends end date for existing CREBs by one year.
• Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECBs): New program authorizes $800 million for state and local governments for initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
  QECBs can be issued to finance capital projects that cut energy consumption by at least 20 percent, implement green community programs, and promote renewable energy projects in rural areas.

Transportation and local fuels incentives

• Tax credit: $2,500-$7,500. for plug-in electric drive vehicles. Expires in the first quarter after 250,000 qualified vehicles have been sold in the U.S.
• Allowance for limited fringe benefits provided by employers for employees who commute to work by bicycle to offset costs of such commuting, such as storage.
• Alternative refueling stations Property Tax Credit: 30 percent of the property for natural gas or E85 pumps  and for electric vehicle recharging stations. Expires Dec. 31, 2010.
• Alternative fuels Excise Tax Credit for all fuels except hydrogen. Biomass gas versions of liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied or compressed natural gas, and aviation fuels qualify. Expires Dec. 31, 2009.
• Biodiesel Production Tax Credit (PTC): $1 per gallon for biodiesel, 10 cents a gallon for small biodiesel producers, and $1 per gallon for diesel fuel from biomass. Credit applies regardless of the process used, as long as the fuel is usable as home heating oil, as a fuel in vehicles or as aviation jet fuel. Expires Dec. 31, 2009.
• Alternative fuel tax credit: 50 cents a gallon for diesel fuel created by co-processing biomass with other feedstocks (e.g., petroleum).
• Cellulosic ethanol biofuel tax write-off: 50 percent of the cost of production facilities placed in service before Jan. 1, 2013.

2008 Farm Bill, local fuels subsidies, grants and loan guarantees

• Re-powering refineries to produce heat or power from renewable biomass instead of fossil fuels: $80 million for direct payments to refinery operators over the next five years. (section 9004)
• Advanced biofuels: $400 million over five years to provide payments to agricultural producers to expand production of advanced biofuels. (section 9005)
• Community wood energy program: $20 million over four years in grants to state and local governments to develop community wood energy plans and to acquire or upgrade wood energy systems. (section 9013)
• Rural Energy for America program: Renames and expands the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements program; provides $300 million over four years for grants and loan guarantees for energy audits, feasibility studies and project development of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. Adds hydroelectric source technologies and energy audits as eligible costs, and increases loan limits. (section 9007)

Please note: The Governor’s Energy Office compiled this information for summary purposes only. It was not prepared by or in consultation with the advice of a tax professional and should not be interpreted as such. Contact an attorney or financial advisor for guidance on how you might use these tax incentives.

back to top

Training

Free building diagnostics courses offered Dec. 4 & 9

Duct Blaster and Blower Door Testing

Date: Thursday, Dec. 4
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Place: Colorado Mountain College, 1402 Blake Ave., Glenwood Springs

• Learn to administer and interpret duct blaster and blower door test results.
• Enhance building performance by correcting duct and envelope leakage issues.
• Expand your business by offering building diagnostic services.
• Attend this training to qualify for the recommended contractor list offered by local building departments.
• Afternoon field session features hands-on equipment training.

Advanced HVAC Design and Sizing

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 9
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Place: Colorado Mountain College, 1402 Blake Ave., Glenwood Springs

• Expand your understanding of Manual J HVAC and Manual D duct system load and sizing calculations.
• Evaluate methods for hydronic pipe sizing.
• Practice Elite CHVAC peak load sizing software.
• Review and discuss advanced HVAC design and installation issues.
• Attend this training to qualify for the recommended contractor list offered by local building departments.

Reserve your seat today. Contact Lauren Martindale, ENERGY STAR program manager,
(970) 319-3939 or laurenmartindale@gmail.com
For information, visit www.cleanenergyeconomy.net/energystar
or call your local building department.

Sponsored by the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, City of Aspen, Town of Basalt, Town of Carbondale, City of Glenwood Springs, Town of New Castle, City of Rifle, Pitkin County, Energy Star and the Governor’s Energy Office.

back to top

Clean Energy Bits ‘n Bobs

Susy Ellison, on faculty at Yampah Mountain High School in Glenwood Springs, received the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Education Excellence in Teaching award from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. Read about it in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, or read the NREL press release.

The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce gave two green companies its 2008 Business of the Year award. Sunsense Inc., a solar photovoltaic installer, and J.R. Baker Architects, designer of Carbondale’s solar-powered Recreation and Community Center, are the honorees. “I really feel like the green technology sector is going to be one of the saviors of our economy,” Ely told the Glenwood Springs Post Independent after the awards were announced.

back to top