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Four Boulder County homes win $10,000 second-prize Home Energy Makeovers
Oct 30th
Grand Prize winner to be announced later this week
Boulder County, Colo. – Four lucky Boulder County homeowners received a pleasant surprise today when EnergySmart staffers showed up to award them with $10,000 worth of home energy upgrades.
The four homes announced today won equal second-place prizes in EnergySmart’s Home Energy Makeover contest. The prizes include a new energy efficient furnace, home air sealing and insulation upgrades, and $1,500 to use toward a recommended energy upgrade of the homeowner’s choice. Each winning home was randomly selected from all entries of homes needing these upgrades.
Second-Prize Winners
- Cara Owen, Longmont
- The Owens’ master bedroom was scorching in the summer and frigid in the winter. They bought a space heater and didn’t realize until EnergySmart came in that insulation and air sealing could fix the temperature by using less energy instead of more. They want to leave their home in better condition than when they bought it, so someday another family can be happy there.
- Matt and Katie Birkholz, Boulder
- The Birkholz family recently moved into their home to be close to the kids’ school. They bike every day and try to be sustainable, but their home is pretty leaky and uses an old heating system. They’re looking forward to being more environmentally friendly and much cozier after these new upgrades.
- LaToya Braun, Louisville
- When she was shopping for her family house, LaToya loved the neighborhood so much that she didn’t realize how inefficient the house was. The original coal-burning furnace was converted to natural gas, and the original windows add charm, but not much warmth. She’s excited to be staying a lot warmer this winter!
- Wendy Wyss, Unincorporated Boulder County
- The Wyss family wanted to invest in long-term value, and put solar panels on their home shortly after moving in. When they got an energy assessment from EnergySmart, they were surprised at how leaky the house was, especially around the kitchen can lights. They’re looking forward to tightening up the house and reducing their wasted energy.
The Home Energy Makeover grand prize, valued at approximately $20,000, will be announced later this week. The Grand Prize package includes a new energy efficient furnace, air sealing and insulation upgrades to the attic and crawlspace/basement, an energy efficient water heater, cooling system upgrades, and $4,000 to use for recommended energy upgrades of the homeowner’s choosing.
Contest prizes were largely donated by local contractors:
- Insulation/air sealing: EcoHandyman, ThermalCraft Insulation, EcoSmart Homes, ERC Insulation.
- Furnace installations: Service Experts, SAC Mechanical
- Grand Prize package: Solar City
EnergySmart focuses on improvements that will reduce energy waste, improve comfort, and produce cost-savings for both residential and business participants. Services include energy assessments and expert advisor assistance with finding contractors and all available rebates and financing options for energy efficiency upgrades. Since the program’s launch in January 2011, EnergySmart has helped more than 6,600 residents and 2,200 businesses throughout Boulder County.
EnergySmart is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the U.S. Department of Energy’s BetterBuildings grant program and is sponsored in partnership by Boulder County, the cities of Boulder and Longmont, Xcel Energy and Platte River Power Authority. For more information, visitwww.EnergySmartYES.com or call 303-544-1000 (for homes) or 303-441-1300 (for businesses).
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Frankenstorms are fueled by global warming
Oct 30th
Global Warming Raises Sea Levels, Alters Jet Stream, Makes Storms Stronger
SAN FRANCISCO— As America copes with the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, scientists with the Center for Biological Diversity are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to use the Clean Air Act to take emergency action against climate change. Global warming creates a “superstorm triple whammy” that helps turn nasty weather into a nightmare of killer winds and devastating storm surges.
“The terrifying truth is that America faces a future full of Frankenstorms,” said Shaye Wolf, Ph.D., the Center’s climate science director. “Climate change raises sea levels and supersizes storms. The threat of killer winds and crushing storm surges will grow by the year unless we get serious about tackling greenhouse gas pollution.”
Here’s how scientists say climate change feeds the superstorm triple whammy:
1. Global warming loads storms with more energy and more rainfall. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that Katrina-magnitude Atlantic hurricanes have been twice as likely in warm years compared with cold years. In warm years hotter ocean temperatures add energy to storms and warmer air holds more moisture, causing storms to dump more rainfall. Global ocean temperatures hit their second-highest level on record in September, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
2. Storm surge rides on higher sea levels, so more coastline floods during storms. In the northeastern United States, sea levels are rising three to four times faster than the global average, putting major U.S. cities at increased risk of flooding and storm surges, according to a June 2012 study in Nature Climate Change. The West Coast is not immune: Most of California could experience three or more feet of sea-level rise this century, heightening the risk of coastal flooding.
3. Melting sea ice and accelerating Arctic warming are causing changes in the jet stream that are bringing more extreme weather to the United States. Climate change in the Arctic is destabilizing the jet stream, causing bursts of colder air to drop down farther into the United States. In Sandy’s case, a collision with a cold front acted to turn the hurricane into a superstorm. Recent research, including studies by Georgia Institute of Technology and Rutgers University, has linked Arctic warming to increased risk of a variety of extreme weather events.
Deep and rapid greenhouse gas cuts are needed to reduce extreme weather risk. The Clean Air Act is America’s leading tool for curbing greenhouse gas pollution, and more than three dozen U.S. cities have joined the Center’s Clean Air Cities campaign urging the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to help reduce carbon in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, the level scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 450,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
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Homeless EWC open 7pm Saturday Oct 27 67 & Arapahoe
Oct 27th
There will be an EWC Warming Center Oct 27, 2012: Emergency Warming Center tonight at Seventh Day Baptist Church, 6710 Arapahoe Rd. Doors will open at 7:00 PM. RTD: Jump on Arapahoe:
EWC Info
The status of emergency warming centers (that is whether open or closed) will be on the main page of this web site. The emergency warming centers are only open when dangerous conditions are present; the decision is made on a day-by-day basis.
Saturday @ Boulder Seventh Day Baptist Church
– 6710 Arapahoe (on the south side of Arapahoe)
RTD: JUMP on Arapahoe
