E-Conservation Program Success Stories

This month the E-Conservation Program focuses on the Buncombe and Madison County

Buncombe County

Maintaining a home is not in many homeowners ability which can result in the home deteriorating and not holding its market value. To assist homeowners to increase their knowledge of basic home maintenance and become capable of making their own repairs the Buncombe County Extension Center offers a five-series Basic Home Maintenance Course. The course is available to all residents in the county desiring to become proficient in home repair. Recently a course participant reported she had replaced a leaking faucet in her kitchen as a result of what she had learned in the class saving both a plumbers visit and conserving water during our drought. The same homeowner also reported having a gas leaked fixed as a result of the class. Once the leak was repaired she no longer suffered from the headaches experienced prior to the repair. The latter may have saved her life from CO poisoning.* *[See picture]

Madison County

Last fall the library director attended a workshop of ways to live "greener" hosted by the Madison County Cooperative Extension. The director of the library hoped learn how to increase the energy efficiency in the county libraries.

Among the literature available at the workshop was a brochure from Waste Reduction Partners (WRP) that described a program for evaluating buildings and making recommendations of cost-effective steps to reduce energy consumption. The director contacted this group to begin a Best Options plan to reduce the energy consumption of the local library buildings. The County Manager and the Maintenance Department Director both participated in determining actions that could be taken quickly and with little or no cost to the library, while realizing immediate improvements in energy efficiency.

Actions taken included: Place the hot water circulator on a timer; wrap the hot water heater in an insulating blanket; install light sensors on lights that are near windows so they only come on on overcast days or at night; shut blinds at closing time to reduce heat transfer through windows; install better weatherstripping on exterior doors; adjust the timers and the off-hours temperature settings on thermostats so comfort is maximized when the building is occupied, but energy use is significantly reduced during off-hours; adjust the outside-air intakes in the HVAC system to reduce the volume of fresh air being processed. (The amount of traffic in and out of the building during open hours combined with room volume was used to calculate this and still maintain safe fresh air levels.)

In addition to the immediate benefit to the library in the central branch, the increased understanding and knowledge of energy reduction principles has helped the director and staff as they move forward with plans for an expansion of the Mars HIll branch. The focus is on creating an inviting functional space that will be as energy efficient as possible within reasonable costs (with payback periods up to 10 years. The architect has a clear understanding of what the objectives are and is able to plan accordingly.

All of this has contributed to an atmosphere of consciousness of best practices for good stewardship of our resources. We are very grateful that this program came at a time when the need is becoming critical.[picture]

 

 

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