Saving Energy without derision (or divorce) and having fun doing it A Neighborhood Effort Al Zelicoff, MD

Outline Embarrassing questions The energy picture and the energy problem What you control (almost everything) and what you don’t Watt to do? The simple things first The extravagant things last Does it work? A brief, but not unpleasant diversion into photovoltaics Summary: your homework

Embarrassing Questions 1.How many kw-hrs of electricity does your household use? 2.How many therms of natural gas does your household use? 3.What’s your utility bill? 4.Do you have a clothes line? 5.How many pounds of CO2 are dumped into the air for each kw-hr or therm that you consume?

Your toni little neighboorhood

20.25 by 16 yards = 75 by 48 feet = 3600 sq. ft.

How much energy do we use in the US? 102 Quadrillion BTU in 2007 About 33% residential About 38% commercial About 28% industrial/manufacturing But all of it is due to YOU!

Direct Energy Use in your home

“ Embodied Energy” in your stuff

Your share of government infrastructure

Summary of your household’s energy use We’ve accounted for 2/3 of the nation’s energy use. The rest is in services.

Watt to do?

Watt we do in our house

The Top 10 list: start with the simple stuff

Avoidable energy waste

Think it doesn’t work?

Going to Extremes

PV Economics Net metering REC Credit (13 cents per kw-hr generated Federal tax credits (up to $2,000) State tax credits (up to $7,000) Estimated annual post-tax return of about 7%

Summary Think globally, act locally Start simple –Vampire load reduction –Electricity and gas conservation measures –Insulation before generation - “nega-watts” Don’t do stupid things –Solar hot water heating makes zero cents Consider PV (but do it fast) –Approximately 9.5% pre-tax ROI –Inflation protected!