Most people would love the possibility of having a clean, renewable energy system that produces all of their electricity. As utility rates continue to climb, our summer electric bills have gotten our attention and seem to scream for an alternative solution. Many people are discovering that solar electric systems are well suited to accomplish this…
I’m sure most people can’t relate to this, but I actually look forward to getting our utility bills. We’ve made a number of investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, along with some behavioral changes to be more conservative in our energy use. We got our electric bill today for the period 7/30-8/28. During this…
Legislators have long used a variety of incentives and disincentives to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Subsidies, like tax credits and loan guarantees, help jumpstart and grow new businesses. Taxes, penalties and outright bans make it uncomfortable or illegal to continue doing what we’ve done in the past. So when the federal government banned the…
For those of you who’ve been following my blog or Going Green column for a while, you may recall the success story on home energy efficiency I wrote about late last year. Since our first energy audit in 2007, we’ve made a number of improvements to our home to reduce the amount of energy we…
The past few months we’ve been exploring different opportunities to embrace sustainability. We examined a number of trendsetting advances in Germany that can be applauded and built upon, including an energy independent community and an ultra-efficient home that produces enough energy to also charge an electric vehicle. One thing that many Americans have come to…
Sustainability is generally defined as “meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Our abundant fossil fuel resources have been an enormous energy reserve that we’ve been able to use to build and grow with, and yet we have to recognize the finite nature of those fuels. Debates may…
Germany is once again leading the world toward a more sustainable future, introducing an ultra-efficient home capable of producing twice as much energy as it consumes. The surplus energy can be used to charge an electric vehicle, or be exported to the grid. The house was designed by a team lead by Professor Werner Sobek…
The Energize Missouri Homes program, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, was introduced last year to offer significant financial incentives to improve your home’s energy efficiency. This included energy audits, insulation and air sealing, and heating and cooling upgrades. These improvements save you money on…
Imagine the days when, if you needed hot water, you put a kettle or pot (or several of each) on the stove and heated as much water as you needed. Of course, you may also have needed to add some fuel to the fire, assuming it was already going. I suspect this was a strong…
With evidence of climate change becoming more prevalent, there is a growing awareness and desire to reduce our “carbon footprint.” While there continues to be debate in the mainstream about the cause and effects of climate change, the scientific community is overwhelmingly undivided on the subject. In America, buildings are responsible for about 39% of…
