OP Resident Shares Experience with CUB Energy Saver Program

Submitted by Rachel Benoit I began using CUB Energy Saver from Citizens Utility Board in June, 2010 after reading about it in an email from Recyclebank. First I entered the square footage of our home, the type of heating and cooling we used, and the age of a few key appliances like our refrigerator. Then I linked my ComEd account so CUB could track my household electricity usage in dollars and kilowatt hours.

CUB Energy Saver recommended small changes I could make and gave me an estimated energy savings, so I could tell right away what changes would have the biggest impact on our bill. One of the first changes I made was to use dryer balls in our clothes dryer. By tumbling the clothes the dryer ball shortens the time required in the drying cycle and saved minutes off each load. Our estimated savings for using dryer balls was just $7 a year, but it was a very easy change to implement.

We also knew that our washing machine that came with our home purchase in 2009 was on its last leg. But it wasn’t until CUB indicated that an energy-efficient washing machine could save our household an estimated $28 a year that we decided to make the switch sooner rather than later.

Soon I was receiving monthly updates from CUB Energy Saver detailing our savings – by November my report said I’d saved 171 kWh and $24.96 on my bill that month when compared to similarly sized homes in my area. In addition to the report, I also received reward points on energy saver. I’ve cashed in rewards for several free CFL bulbs, a $5 coupon for local business Green Home Experts, and for an online coupon for smart power strips that stop idle current use.

Two years into my experience with CUB Energy Saver, I continue to be inspired to make small changes to save money and energy. In all, CUB Energy Saver estimates I have saved 1,742 kWh and $194 dollars since I joined – it’s absolutely worthwhile!

Save the date for the "Green Living & Learning Tour" - September 29th

You are invited to the 2nd Annual Green Living & Learning Tour! Be inspired by your neighbors and learn new skills!

Join us in a day of discovering the thriving, resilient, sustainable community we have in Oak Park and River Forest!!  Seize this opportunity to learn about sustainable living right in your community by touring green sites, asking questions and participating in workshops that will give you the skills to do it yourself!  Bring your whole family and end the day at the community pot-luck filled with music, games, more fun learning opportunities and camaraderie.  Click here for more details.

The ' Green Living & Learning Tour is a great opportunity to:

• Listen to the stories of your neighbors as they describe their green initiatives, their implementation experiences, and the results of their work.
• Learn about practical, everyday ways to apply ecological principles
• Speak with knowledgeable volunteers and homeowners
• Meet like-minded neighbors

The Green Living & Learning Tour will be focused on 4 priority topic areas of OP/RF’s Sustainability Plan (PlanItGreen) which are highlighted in the tour visits and in “how to” skill-building opportunities:  (Topic area samples appear below.  Details and registration will be available on at www.greencommunityconnections.org by Aug 27th.)

Energy:  We are moving toward renewable sources of energy for heating, cooling and transportation, and we use energy efficiently in our homes and buildings!

• Tour visit:  Historic Oak Park house with geothermal heating and cooling, a tankless water heater and other sustainability features
• “How To”:  See a energy assessment demonstration, receive information on making your home 15-30% more energy efficient and learn about the rebates available to assist you in this initiative.

Waste Reduction:  In nature there is no waste and there is no "away"  -- so we reduce, reuse, and recycle everything!  We are moving towards "zero waste!"

• Tour visit:  “Green Block Party” – features a composting demo and info on making your next block party or other gathering a zero waste event.
• “How To”:  Learn how to start your own vermiculture system (composting using worms) to help reduce the organic matter that you send to the landfill.  Plus you will leave with contact info for a mentor to call when questions arise!

Water:  We value our water as an essential resource that supports life, so we conserve it, we support the natural water cycle and we keep toxic substances out of our water supply.

• Tour stop:  See the first house in Oak Park to install a grey water system which will take water from washing (showers, tubs, laundry) and recycle it for use in flushing toilets.  The system is anticipated to reduce water usage by 27%, or approximately 14,000 gallons per year.
• “How To”:  See a demonstration of how to disconnect your downspout and redirect the water appropriately into a rain barrel, rain garden, bioswale or other options.

Food:  We are transitioning to a food system in which our food is produced locally & ethically; and we work to provide and promote local, healthy food available year round.

• Tour stop:  We’ll have a bee keeper this year – another first in Oak Park!  Visit the hive and hear fascinating facts about bees.  While there you are also invited to enjoy a honey tasting!
• “How To”:  The Sugar Beet team, our hosts for the food-related tours and demos, will demonstrate “how to” get your garden going with planting garlic starts to be harvested next spring.  They'll also show you how to preserve the harvest with a canning demonstration.

Share your ideas, volunteer, participate!

Planning is underway now, and passionate, talented volunteers are needed for the planning committee and on the actual day of the event. You may also know someone that is doing great things in your neighborhood that you think others would like to see.  Please let us know by emailing sallystovall@gmail.com.

Oak Park Township Shares News of Green Features in its New Senior Center

Based on information from Gavin Morgan, OP Township Manager News of the many green features of the new OP Township Senior Center opening this week was shared, along with several other success stories, at the PlanItGreen Institutional Stakeholders meeting held on July 10th.   The building is located at 130 S. Oak Park Avenue, across from the township main offices.  An opening ceremony for the new facility will be held on Saturday, August 11th at 10am with a public open house from 10am-1pm.

One major sustainability feature is that the existing building itself, which was in poor condition, was entirely reused and upgraded, thereby saving its “embodied energy”.  Bricks, mortar, lumber, glass, etc. stayed out of the land fill, did not have to be transported via fossil-fuel powered vehicles, and did not have to be replaced with newly manufactured materials.

Hats off to the OP Township leadership and contractors involved in this project!  It's a great example of "putting on" an ecological / sustainability lens as we look at the many choices we make!  Continue reading for many more great examples of choices that reflect a commitment to sustainability!

Other features that are great examples of sustainable building practices include:

• Added substantial exterior envelope insulation
• Installed a white roof, to reduce urban heat island effect
• Brick for the renovation project was locally sourced from Marseilles, IL
• New high efficiency furnaces & air conditioning with programmable thermostats were installed
• New high efficiency hot water heater was installed
• Increased natural ventilation through new windows on first floor
• Increased natural light
• Zoned lighting controls in Meeting Room
• Occupancy sensors to control lighting
• Large capacity for parking bicycles
• Existing tree in rear of the building saved rather than removed for additional parking
• The facility encourages non-motorized transportation through availability of bicycle racks and location in a walkable neighborhood
• Very low flow toilets, urinals and lavatories were installed
• Carpeting used is made from recycled materials
• Wheel stops in the parking lot are made from recycled materials

Finally, building materials previously stored on premises were donated to the non-profit ReBuilding Exchange (http://rebuildingexchange.org), thus diverting more materials from the landfill for reuse and helping to provide training opportunities for “green collar” jobs.

For more information about the Oak Park Township Senior Center project, contact Gavin W. Morgan, Oak Park Township Manager, 708-383-8005, gmorgan@oakparktownship.org.

Citizens Climate Lobby Launches Local Chapter

By Kenneth O’Hare, Green Community Connections On a sweltering Saturday morning in July, eleven citizens gathered in the basement of the Maze Branch Library in Oak Park to launch a new local chapter of an international movement to combat climate change.  Some of those present were old friends and neighbors, with roots in the environmental and civil rights movements. Most had attended a presentation on the science of climate change the week before at Oak Park Public Library. They were in the basement at Maze now to take the first steps in organizing locally to become the newest chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL).  www.citizensclimatelobby.org

Meeting organizers Rick Knight of Brookfield and Ken O’Hare of Oak Park sketched the origins, purpose and strategy of the Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) and invited the group to join in forming the newest chapter, the second in the Chicago area,  which encompasses Chicago’s West Side neighborhoods and the near western suburbs. An international movement that now has 63 chapters in the U.S. and Canada, CCL is dedicated to creating “political will for a livable world.”

The current primary strategy of CCL is to build support for a national fee (tax) on fossil carbon, with the proceeds of the tax to be rebated to the citizenry. An article on the fee and rebate concept is available on the Green Community Connections web site, under the title “The Case for a Carbon Tax.”  See also the links below for more detailed information on the fee (tax) and rebate concept.

CCL chapters around the country have been active in educating the public on climate change, and education on the growing crisis is a core activity of the new, local chapter here. Rick Knight, a chemical engineer, has presented his talk and slide show titled “The Science of Climate Change” to highly receptive audiences around the Chicago area. The presentation is available to local groups upon request (see contact information below).

Citizens Climate Lobby chapters seek to create a close relationship with their local U.S. Congressional delegation, positioning CCL as a knowledgeable resource on climate change. Here in the Chicago area it means getting to know and working with two U.S. Senators and ten or more U.S. Representatives.  Creating that relationship is a gradual process of meeting with the officials, soliciting their views on the subject, pointing out how climate change intersects with the officials’ other interests, providing resource materials, and promoting effective legislative solutions such as a carbon fee and rebate law.

Dedicated to creating the political will for stabilizing the climate, the Citizens Climate Lobby works by engaging individuals in a wide variety of life situations to exercise their personal and political power. The underlying belief is that ordinary citizens, with education and support, can become highly effective advocates on behalf of the climate.

If you are interested in a public education and legislative approach to combating climate change, the Citizens Climate Lobby may be a movement for you to consider. To learn more, first look over the CCL website  http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org, then contact Ken O’Hare (kohare@consultmillennia.com) or Rick Knight (Citizen99@comcast.net) to get more details. The next meeting of the local chapter, dubbed the Chicagoland Citizens Climate Lobby—West, is scheduled for August 4, 2012, at 11:00 a.m., at Maze Branch Library, 845 Gunderson Avenue, Oak Park. The meeting will include participation in a national conference call with other CCL members around the country, and will include a report on CCL’s recent Lobby Day in Washington, D.C., in which several local chapter members participated.

For more detailed information on the fee(tax) and rebate concept from Citizens Climate Lobby:

• See an interview with CCL Executive Director, Mark Reynold on the need for a tax on fossil carbon http://citizensclimatelobby.org/MilwaukeeVideo1211.
• For a synopsis of federal tax and rebate legislation proposed by the Citizens Climate Lobby, go to http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org/files/images/FeeAndDividendLegProposal081811.pdf

Other related articles:

• Bill McKibben's article in the current issue of Rolling Stones Magazine:  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719

Smart Grid Technology will Facilitate Local Renewable Energy

Interview with K.C. Poulos conducted by Cassandra West

Oak Park officials in early June signed a letter of intent with the Korea Smart Grid Institute (KSGI), one more step toward testing smart-grid technologies through the village. KSGI is seeking to invest in international areas to test and study new technologies. Oak Park is one of two cities in the U.S. selected by the Institute to participate in such an initiative. GCC spoke with K.C. Poulos, Sustainability Manager for the Village of Oak Park, about the signing and what it means.

What does this letter of intent do? The letter of intent is a renewal of one signed in 2010 between the Korea Smart Grid Institute, the Village of Oak Park and the Illinois Smart Communities Coalition. These three entities are working together to bring projects to Oak Pak that would demonstrate how a smart grid works, both from inside the home, to the lines, and to the back-office technology that ComEd uses. It’s really about facilitating demonstration projects. That’s what Oak Park’s role is.  The Korea Smart Grid Institute is looking at two sites in U.S. to demonstrate its technology. One is in Stony Brook, Long Island [N.Y], and one is here in Oak park. They’re interested in showing their technology in a village setting and they’ve really taken to Oak Park and they’re excited about putting a couple of demonstrations here.

Can you clarify what you mean by a demonstration? KSGI is looking at residential and commercial demonstrations in which they would put solar panels on single-family homes, provide a battery storage system and then connect the battery to the grid. The homeowners would collect solar power during the day and store energy in a battery, then in the evening, the house would use that battery for any energy uses that it needs. So, it’s off the grid at night.

How does a smart grid help facilitate sustainability? (excerpt from Wikepedia.en) The improved flexibility of the smart grid permits greater penetration of highly variable renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, even without the addition of energy storage. Current network infrastructure is not built to allow for many distributed feed-in points, and typically even if some feed-in is allowed at the local (distribution) level, the transmission-level infrastructure cannot accommodate it. Rapid fluctuations in distributed generation, such as due to cloudy or gusty weather, present significant challenges to power engineers who need to ensure stable power levels through varying the output of the more controllable generators such as gas turbines and hydroelectric generators. Smart grid technology is a necessary condition for very large amounts of renewable electricity on the grid for this reason.

How do the smart meters in Oak Park play into this project? The only way a house becomes a smart house is if it can provide its usage information back to ComEd and also receives real-time usage information from ComEd, so there’s a two-way communication system that’s built into the meters.

Do we really have a smart grid or just a step toward having a smart grid? We’re just in the beginning staging of deploying a smart grid. The smart meters are in place in Oak Park. One of the next steps is to upgrade the transformers and the substations that are in our area so they have the solid-state communications devices and can read the data points that are out there. ...There’s a lot of self-healing and redundancy that’s built into a smart system so that it takes a problem and reroutes energy to customers through another line without having to send a truck out.

How might this project with the Korea group involve conserving energy or reducing use? By providing a renewal energy source on a person’s home, they’re able to supplement their usage with renewal energy right there at the house, so they’re pulling less energy from the grid and that saves money on their bill.

What’s the best way for residents to learn more about Oak Park’s sustainablity initiatives? They can visit our website, www.oak-park.us/sustainability.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

For more information see the related article from the June 8, 2012, OakPark.com, and the June 13, 2012, Wednesday Journal.

.

Save Energy, Save Money, Save the Planet: Energy Impact Illinois and Interfaith Green Network Promote Home Energy Retrofits

Submitted by James Babcock

Affordable and Accessible Home Energy Efficiency Program

The Interfaith Green Network is continuing to ramp up efforts to implement the goals of the PlanItGreen sustainability plan for OP/RF by bringing actionable strategies to local congregations and households.

To that end, four Interfaith Green Network members, representing Oak Park congregations, along with 15 other Chicagoland residents recently met at the offices of Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) for an in-depth briefing and training session about the energy efficiency program, Energy Impact Illinois (EI-2). The goal of the initiative is to bring the program directly to community residents so that homeowners are informed about this affordable and very accessible way to reduce their carbon footprint, make their homes more comfortable and more valuable, and save money at the same time!

 Essential Components:

As explained by Anna Markowski of CNT, Energy Impact Illinois is for single-family residences, condo’s, and buildings with four or less units. The essential components of the program are as follows:

Accredited Work Force: All participating contractors are certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI). In addition, CNT has vetted each contractor by observing at least five of their work sites to see that they meet construction standards. CNT will continue to inspect a percentage of the work sites as the program grows.

Incentives: Energy auditors are currently offering an initial energy assessment for only $99. This assessment includes a blower-door test, thermal imaging, and a combustion safety test of your furnace/boiler equipment. Typically, the cost for such an assessment is $350-$800 depending on the size of your house. The assessment report will include a recommended retrofit plan, including associated costs and the estimated energy savings.  The homeowner can choose from these recommendations the strategies that they wish to implement at this time.

Financing: Unsecured loans from participating local lenders are available to applicants who wish to avoid the upfront cost of energy efficiency retrofits. For the first building in Oak Park to participate in the program, the owners found that the loan cost was less than the monthly energy savings after construction was completed. (Nationally, investments in the energy efficiency of buildings have realized, over the last 20 years, some of the best rates-of-return available anywhere!)

Great return on investment plus increased home value

The bulk of home energy efficiency can be accomplished by air sealing (plugging leaks in the “building envelope”) and by adding insulation to attics and walls. To qualify for the program, homeowners must agree to retrofits that accomplish a minimum of 15% increased efficiency. According to Markowski, because of the nature of the housing stock in the Chicago area, 98-99% of our houses can attain this added efficiency fairly easily—even new construction! Homeowners who want to replace old furnaces or boilers with high efficiency units, automatically qualify for Energy Impact Illinois.

Homeowners who look forward to selling their homes in the future should know that the local Multiple Listings Service now officially recognizes green homes.  This is a recent development.  Bonnie Marx of Green Energy Improvements reports that in other locales, homes with such listings have been appraising about $20 higher for every dollar in annual energy cost savings.  So a house with $2500 in annual energy bills (gas and electric) with a not unusual 30% reduction could see $750 in annual savings, and appraise for $15,000 more.

Increasing Home Energy Efficiency is Effective Strategy to Mitigate Climate Change

The goals outlined in the PlanItGreen sustainability plan for Oak Park and River Forest call for an overall increase in energy efficiency of 30% and a reduction in climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions of 30%, both over the next ten years. CNT data for Oak Park indicates that private residences, through their use of electricity and natural gas, currently account for almost 30% of the village’s total emissions. This, plus the fact that energy efficiency retrofits lead to cost savings, makes Energy Impact Illinois one of the most effective strategies that any one person can employ to help mitigate dangerous climate change.

Hold a House Party for 5-10 Friends and Neighbors and get a FREE Energy Assessment

If you would like to schedule an energy assessment, call Anna Markowski, CNT Outreach Coordinator, at 773-328-7045. An added incentive of a free assessment is being offered to homeowners who host a “house party” of 5-10 friends and neighbors to see first-hand how the energy assessment is performed, and to learn more about Energy Impact Illinois.

Interfaith Green Network volunteers have begun to promote Energy Impact Illinois by recruiting “hosts”, and planning larger meetings for interested congregations and other community organizations. If your group is interested in reducing your carbon footprint in a most significant way, and would like more information about EI-2, you can contact volunteers Dick Alton (Richard.alton@gmail.com) or Jim Babcock (jlbabck@sbcglobal.net). Further information also at www.energyimpactillinois.org.

Solar Array on Avenue Garage Produces Clean, Renewable Energy!!

Based on information in the video submitted by K.C. Poulos, Oak Park Sustainability Manager The village of Oak Park recently installed an array of solar panels on the roof of the Avenue Garage. This video tells the story of the solar array and the benefits to the environment.

One of the biggest challenges of installing the solar array was the crane work. Huge cranes were required to lift the equipment for the array up to the roof of the garage. In order to safely operate the cranes a day with very little wind was required. Fortunately we found a Sunday in March with winds less than 10 miles per hour. The crew was able to get the work done in 8-10 hours.

75% of the cost of the project was funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as a result of funding from the American Recovery and Renewal Act. Oak Park was recognized as a community that has the will power to invest in what we believe in.

The array will provide 20-30% of the electricity needed to light the garage, plus 130 Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC's) annually that can be sold on the open market.

The solar array will eliminate the release of 76 tons of CO2 per year, which is roughly equivalent in carbon sequestration to planting 38 acres of trees every year!

More information can be found in the June issue of the OP/FYI or email sustainability@oak-park.us.

Energy Impact Illinois Offers OPRF Residents Opportunities for Big Savings

Adapted from information provided by Gary Cuneen Energy has been named as the number one environmental concern by Oak Park / River Forest residents in two recent surveys conducted by Green Community Connections. Since the majority of Oak Park homes were built in the early 1900’s, it’s not hard to understand why. Bonnie Marx, owner of Green Energy Improvements, says that according to the company’s estimates 25-40% of a home’s electric and gas costs are wasted on heating and cooling air that actually leaks out of the building through cracks and crevices. Marx says this can be fixed.

At least one Oak Park home has taken advantage of the Energy Impact Illinois to make improvements that will save an estimated $2,408 annually on utility bills and reduce their energy usage by 35%. Homeowners, Gary and Erica Cuneen, worked with Green Energy Improvements and to achieve these significant savings, while also making the building more safe, comfortable, and energy efficient. “Getting this work done by participating in Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) was a no brainer for us. The program helped provide up-front financing which we can easily pay back with the monthly savings on our energy bills. The program was efficient and easy, and the third party review of the work done gave us peace of mind that we were getting the value that was promised”.

Erica Cuneen, a certified Eco-Broker and owner of Beyond Properties Realty Group, added, “Not only is our two-flat more comfortable, but having this work done makes it a more valuable property for buyers should we ever decide to sell. I tell my clients all the time that adding energy-efficient upgrades gives them an edge in the real estate market. I love putting my money where my mouth is, especially when I get it right back in comfort and savings!”

GreenChoice Bank provided the loan to the Cuneens to help them get the work done. Jon Levey, Executive Vice President & Chief Lending Officer GreenChoice Bank said: "GreenChoice Bank is excited about our participation as a lender for the Energy Impact Illinois Residential Loan program. The program offers much needed capital to support energy efficient improvements within our communities.

See also related articles for more information:

http://oakpark.patch.com/articles/new-business-promises-savings http://energyimpactillinois.org/cases/the-cuneens-of-oak-park-receive-llinois-home-performance-with-energy-star-s/ PlanItGreen March 2012 Newsletter

EPA designates Oak Park a Green Power Community

Oak Park Ranks First in Percent of Green Electricity Used The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated Oak Park a Green Power Community for the decision to choose renewable energy sources for its community electricity aggregation program. Green Power Communities are cities, towns and villages where the local government, businesses and residents collectively buy green power in amounts that meet or exceed EPA’s purchase requirements as part of the Green Power Partnership. Oak Park is the newest of 32 Green Power Communities nationwide and currently ranks first in terms of highest green power percentage of total electricity use and fifth in amount of green power used. Green power is electricity generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro.

According to the U.S. EPA, Oak Park’s collective green power purchase of 191 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 26,000 passenger vehicles per year, or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of more than 16,000 average American homes annually. For information on the Green Power program, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower.

Reprinted from June, 2012 OP/FYI

Energy Scientist Addresses Climate Change Questions: Mon, June 25, 7pm

Submitted by Ken O'Hare

The Chicago Citizens' Climate Lobby will present "Climate Change - Demanding Action" at the Oak Park Main Library,  Monday June 25^th at 7:00 pm.  We've all heard about climate change, but do we really understand it?  Is it real?  Is it really that bad?  Why is there so much heated disagreement about it?  And what can a concerned citizen do about it?

If you want to know the answers to any of these questions, come to the Oak Park Library on June 25th at 7:00 pm to hear energy scientist Rick Knight give you his perspective from over 35 years of research.

Climate Change - Demanding Action is a three-part, 90-minute presentation and discussion.  It's about our future.