Local Store To Save $7K A Year With Lighting Upgrade

Just got to do my first energy audit this weekend at Spandex House in the Garment District. After wondering around the absolutely fabulous 3-story shop with my little toolbox containing  things called Ballast-Checkers, Kill-A-Watt, Sonic Laser Tape, and a Pocket Infrared Thermometer, I realized 2 things about small businesses:

•  Lighting their facilities is costing them a LOT of money if it’s inefficient
•  Nobody knows that ConEdison will literally pay them to upgrade their lighting and save money

Lighting retrofit to be completed at Spandex House

The owner actually spent hundreds of dollars on new lights for a part of the store a while ago not knowing that he could get them at 70% off (and some for FREE) through ConEdison’s SBDI Program!

Swapping bulbs to increase energy efficiency

See, the great thing about cutting down on bills through lighting is that you don’t need to buy yet another expensive brand-spanking new supposedly super efficient piece of equipment destined to take up valuable floor space.  

Upgrading your lighting, on the other hand, costs pennies, compared to equipment, and you can actually “see” the benefits, no pun intended!

Yes, you’ll actually have BETTER LIGHT in your space.

1.     CFL’s higher light temperature is closer in color to daylight
2.     The bulb’s life is 10,000 hrs vs. the 750 hours of your old friend incandescent
3.   … and they are 3.9 times more efficient,

Which brings me to my last point: YOU CAN GO ON VACATION with all the money you’ll save converting your lights!

As a rough estimate, this place could save up to $7K per year on their lighting bills with the payback of approximately 4 months with ConEd footing 70% of the bill.

All I need to do now is spend a few hours with my good friend Excel to put all the numbers together. I will keep updating on how my report turns out and the progress of the retrofit.

I get to help small businesses reduce their carbon footprint and energy bills as a part of my internship with Envirolution’s Win-Win Campaign. 

Envirolution is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating green economic development and empowering the next generation of sustainability leaders. 

Palm Trees and Solar Water Heaters in Barbados

Driving across Barbados, windows down, breathing in the warm moist air of the Caribbean, admiring all the glorious flora and colorful houses, I noticed something new: a solar water heater on almost every roof. They weren’t here 2 years ago, I thought, so with the first opportunity to use wifi, I decided to investigate.

Solar Water Heater in Barbados

As I found out, Barbados has a long history of using renewables, going all the way back to the colonial times when bagasse was used to power sugar cane refinement.

More recently, Barbados received a $45 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank aimed to boost the renewable energy industry on the island. The aim is to derive 29 percent of the island’s energy mix from renewable sources including solar PV, solar water heating, wind, biomass, and waste-to-energy systems.

Much of the credit for pushing the renewable agenda goes to William Hinds, a visionary engineer and Senior Technical Officer, Ministry of Finance, Investment, Telecommunications and Energy, who has been a preacher, inventor, and implementor of renewable energy in the Caribbean for last 20 years and has, with the help of his staff, built a prototype Solar House in a public park in Bridgetown.

I know, I need to stay focused on my promised goal of helping urban dwellers become energy efficient, and some of these techniques won’t work in a city apartment (unless you want to drill a hole through your ceiling up to the roof for a Sunlight Pipe, but if you do, you didn’t learn it from me!)

But just hear me out, because if anything, these are great food for thought AND bargaining points with a developer or your real estate agent when you’re shopping for a place (that I wish I had when buying my condo. No, not bitter at ALL)

The Solar House showcases a truly holistic approach to energy efficient building.

Solar Photovoltaic panels on the rooftop

The Solar PV panels are arranged in five sets of four photovoltaic panel arrays comprising 2 kilowatts (KW). These are used to maintain the charge in 12 deep cycle batteries, which will actually power the house

Energy Charge Controller

Charge Controller controls the energy being sent to the batteries from the solar panels. When the batteries are full, the solar panels are disconnected to prevent overcharging or damage. The device works with solar power coming in at 48V and measures/displays the energy going into the batteries on a continuous basis

Appliance Energy Meter

Appliance Energy Meter is a great tool to track the energy usage of each appliance and the house as a whole. Getting one installed helps in becoming aware of how much energy your home actually consumes and makes it easy to be in control.

Foam Insulation

Foam insulation is used on the roof and on the west wall to create a barrier from the late afternoon heat.

Radiant Barriers and Window Tint

Radiant Barriers reduce the amount of heat entering a building. They consist of a thin sheet of highly reflective material, which deflects the heat away from the surface.

Whole House Fan

Whole House Fan is used to suck the hot air out of the house and ceiling fans are used throughout the house to circulate air

Sunlight pipe

Sunlight Pipe is not as wide-spread as PV panels or even smart grid, but in the right house, can deliver a fantastic passive solar solution and savings on the electric bill

Ceramic Paint used on the ceiling has tiny ceramic particles suspended in it. When dried, this surface acts as insulation and prevents heat from easily passing

Even the exterior paint colors play a role in keeping the heat out. Light pastel colors reflect the heat from the sun and keep the house cool. It’s ideal to have the roof painted a light color as well.

Double-Glazed Windows and Window Tint are also used to keep the elements away and reduce the amount of heat passing through the window, which reduces the amount of energy required to cool the place

All these can be used in hot or cold climates, some are for houses only, but a few of these measures can be effectively used in your apartment - I actually used the Window Tint purchased from Home Depot last summer which made it possible to survive the New York summer in my top floor apartment without too much sweating or breaking the bank!

e-mail me if you have questions: kateshifman@gmail.com


Many Thanks to Hariette Daisley for her help in getting access to the Solar house

Holidays, Sustainably

Today I get into the holiday spirit. Curled up on the couch, candles lit, tree flickering in low light, Café Del Mar on the ipod. Almost at the finish line, Barbados is visible through the gusts of Brooklyn wind. I’ll decorate a palm tree and gift-wrap some coconuts!
Which got me thinking about gifts and trees. These are inseparable from our experience of the winter holidays (Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Hanukah). The tradition of getting together with family, expectation and receiving of presents, and unwinding after a long year is beautiful, it warms our souls.
But does grandpa really need ANOTHER sweater? The moments when I see his eyes sparkle, are when I come over and just hang out with him and Grandma, ask him to help me with my welding projects, and just give them my attention.
What do you give someone for Christmas?
Do we really need another PSP, handbag, or sweater? Do we want to keep going down the downward spiral of consumption, rewarding unfair labor practices, pollution and depletion of our natural resources with our hard earned cash, all the while making ourselves work more so we could afford more of the same?
My dream of the perfect gift, isn't full of Chanel handbags but of adventure, experiences I’ll enjoy in the moment and remember for years, and of the connection with the people I share these experiences with. I think the most highly valued commodity now is time. Time spent talking to someone, making them a gift that makes them feel special. If we still want to exercise our buying power, why not give a gift that gives to others?
I searched for gifts that represented this – giving experiences, making someone feel special, or gifts with a higher purpose.

Customized Walking Tour
Give a friend from out of town your key to the city. Share those special places to watch the sunset, have the best meal, see new art, and have a few drinks. No packaging or GHGs produced in the process!

Make yours here

If you know someone whose soul longs for tomato vines, check out Farm City - a fantastic resource on urban farming and sustainable agriculture. Sign them up for an Intro To Urban Farming Class or one of their Farm Tours.

My personal favorite sustainability-oriented and an all-around awesome place, Cafe Habana,  sells these great Chicas Habana Calendar 2010 "Girls Gone Green Road Trip" - colorful photos of local ethnically-diverse girls photographed on their bikes and around New York's iconic neighbourhoods.

To order yours, click here

Make them Homemade Organic Tomato Sauce, they'll love it and keep the jar forever!

Find recipe here

Another way to promote sustainability in your neighbourhood is purchasing a gift certificate to a local eco-friendly establishment, such as an organic restaurant. 

Yelp has the answer, naturally!

GIFTS  WITH A PURPOSE
This sterling silver faucet pendant supports the UN’s “Water is a human right” campaign, which funds clean water initiatives in third world countries.

Get yours here

For more gifts that allocate a portion of proceeds to charitable causes, click here

This one is perfect for the man of the house.

Solar-powered Shaver

If you like experimenting and know the person it's for will appreciate the effort, make your own here 

Alternatively, buy one from EnviroGadget

GIFTS OF EXPERIENCES

I also like it when I get a gift that forces me to get out of my work-school-home routine. It's so easy to get sucked in, the year goes by in a blink and I feel like I haven't stopped to enjoy the moment. When we got married, my husband's family got us a gift certificate to a spa somewhere up in the mountains of Northern Spain. Just being there, without a laptop, taking in the snow-capped cliffs from the outdoor jacuzzi, talking, really talking and really seeing each other, felt like time had stopped.

This is one of those things you can enjoy with another person or give to a couple.

Picnic at the Vineyard

Click here to find out more

Nowadays, few have the resources to give to charity, but instead of getting another gift that'll collect dust in your overflowing apartment, I believe many would prefer to receive a Charity Gift Card. You can go directly to the charity of your choice (or theirs if you know it) or purchase from sites like CharityGiftCertificates.com

My last point is about the Christmas tree. Just like with fur, it's ok to fake it! There's nothing sadder than the piles of dead trees lining the sidewalks the days after the holidays. Here's my solution

Peace and Love

Happy Holidays!!

More from Urban Green Expo

This device will monitor your energy use, shut off appliances not in use, remember to turn on your computer/printer/TV BEFORE you come home, based on your habits, and it costs..... $40


Form an orderly queue for the MODLET

We will test the little guy and report back on his performance.

Green Living advice from Whole Foods

What could be better for an aspiring green urbanite like yours truly than picking the brain of a Whole Foods' Green Mission Specialist? 

I cornered Tristam Coffin at the Urban Green Expo in New York and here are some of the points he shared:

• Shop at Whole Foods. OK I saw this one coming, BUT their commitment to locally-grown organic produce has just literally hit home as they partnered with Gotham Greens (http://gothamgreens.com/), New York's first commercial scale greenhouse farm (and it's in Brooklyn!)
• Re-use Re-use Re-use. Whole Foods will even educate you on which products and packaging are truly compostable and which ones aren't
• Throw away those halogens, as they add heat, aren't efficient and are a potential fire hazard. Instead, Tristam suggests using CFLs and LEDs

View full video here:

  

Additionally, Tristam shared Whole Foods' exceptional Green Building initiatives which include a brand new LEED gold-certified building in NYC, PV panels in NJ,  and a Fuel Cell - powered site in Fairfield, CT.

Watch video: