Category: Energy Efficiency

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More Sites Added to GLRPPR’s P2 Search

In May, GLRPPR announced the new P2 Search tool, designed to search several different pollution prevention (P2) related web sites simultaneously. Now we’re pleased to report that the total number of sites currently included in this search engine is 45. GLRPPR Help Desk Librarian Laura Barnes has added the “GreenBiz” family of web sites (www.greenbiz.com, www.greenerbuildings.com, www.climatebiz.com and www.greenercomputing.com), as well as OSHA, CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to this customized Google search tool. The complete list of sites included in P2 Search is available at http://www.glrppr.org/search/p2_search_list.cfm. If you have suggestions for other web sites you think should be included in P2 Search, contact Laura Barnes.

We appreciate feedback on P2 Search. Our thanks go out to Harmony Madill of Environment Canada’s Canadian Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (CPPIC), who contacted us recently after trying out P2 Search and noticing that some documents available on CPPIC weren’t showing up in the search results, even though they were showing up in the results of a standard Google search. Laura Barnes did some investigating and discovered that P2 Search was looking at the index of the English version of the CPPIC site (it’s available in English and French, of course), rather than the more generic http://www.ec.gc.ca/cppic (sometimes you can be too specific). Laura remedied the situation by broadening P2 Search to include the entire Environment Canada domain. Nice catch, Harmony!

You can add P2 Search to your own web site or to your customized Google homepage (iGoogle) by following the links and instructions available in the lower right hand corner of the P2 Search homepage. Code is provided for adding the tool to your web site, so if you’re not technically savvy or not authorized to alter your organization’s web site, you’ll need to provide this to your webmaster. If you do this, tell us about it to help us get a feel for how many people are using this option. Happy searching!

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Apply for a Free Energy Savings Assessment by 3/16/07

There’s still a few days left to apply for a FREE Energy Savings Assessment (ESA) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Applications are being accepted until March 16, 2007 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. According to the online application information: “DOE will make initial selections of applications for ESAs in late November. Additional selections will be announced periodically until the target of 250 assessments is reached for the calendar year 2007.”

Through the Save Energy Now program, DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program is sending energy experts to energy-intensive manufacturing facilities to conduct free Energy Savings Assessments (ESAs). “The purpose of the assessments is to identify immediate opportunities to save energy and money, primarily by focusing on energy intensive systems including process heating, steam, pumps, fans and compressed air.” Check out the Save Energy Now fact sheet for more information.

Visit the Save Energy Now web site to read FAQs about the program, view results summaries from past ESAs, read case studies, find contact information for ESA energy experts, and access tip sheets, technical fact sheets, software and other best practice information.

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Grants Available for P2 Projects at Michigan Public Parks

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has announced the availability of applications for the 2007 Community Pollution Prevention (P2) Grants Program. The goal of this program is to institute P2 practices and waste reductions at public parks, and offer visitors a unique opportunity to learn about P2 and environmentally sustainable practices while observing day-to-day operations at those parks. A total of $250,000 in grant funds are available and applications are due April 30, 2007. Examples of eligible activities include: development of a park-wide P2 program; recycling projects; implementation of education outreach programs to train park staff and visitors about P2; the disposal of solid and hazardous waste, pesticides, and fertilizers located on park property; replacement of hazardous cleaning products through the purchase of environmentally friendly products; the purchase and installation of water saving fixtures and landscaping; the purchase of energy efficient lighting, heating and cooling, and maintenance equipment; and green demolition and construction projects.

Be sure to check the GLRPPR Funding Opportunities page regularly for additional notices of grants available throughout the region. Relevant funding opportunities also appear in corresponding Sector/Subject Resources on the GLRPPR web site.

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Canadian Government Announces ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative

The Government of Canada has announced a plan to invest $300 million over four years to promote energy efficiency. The ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative includes three components: a retrofit program that offers information and support for the retrofit of homes, buildings and industrial processes; a program to encourage the construction of more energy efficient buildings and houses; and a program to accelerate energy-saving investments and exchange of best-practice information within the industrial sector. See the Natural Resources Canada Backgrounder for more information on this initiative.

This initiative is the latest in a series of measures set forth by the Canadian government to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner energy technologies. See the ecoENERGY web site for more information on all these energy-related initiatives, as well as the Natural Resources Canada Backgrounders on the ecoEnergy Renewable Initiative and the ecoENERGY Technology Initiative.

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Best Workplaces for Commuters

A cooperative effort of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and participating corporations (including 1,600 work sites that earned the Best Workplaces for Commuter designation), Best Workplaces for Commuters provides information for employers and employees looking for alternatives to a gas-guzzling commuter lifestyle.

The site includes facts and figures about the program and about commuting more generally, as well as benefits of a sustainable commuter program, resources for setting up a benefits program at your workplace, and summaries of successful programs.

For more information about the benefits of alternative commuter programs, see also:

If you have suggestions for additional resources, please login and post them in the comments.

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Mercury in compact fluorescent lighting

Compact fluorescent light bulbs offer significant environmental benefits over incandescent bulbs because they are more energy efficient, which reduces their climate footprint. However, they do contain a small amount of mercury, which can be released into the environment if the bulb is broken upon disposal.

Vicki Fulbright addressed this topic in her presentation at the 2005 ENERGY STAR Lighing Partners Meeting, “The CFL Mercury Conundrum: Northwest Utilities Respond“. She discusses the conundrum, reasons to recycle, and profiles successful recycling programs from throughout the United States.

For more information on the topic, see also:

If you have other suggestions for other resources on this topic, just login and leave a note in the comments.

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Plastics Energy Best Practice Guidebook Available from Focus on Energy

Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program recently released a Plastics Energy Best Practice Guidebook. According to a Focus on Energy press release, the guidebook emphasizes not only the energy savings advantages, but the additional benefits, such as improved production, reduced waste and lower materials and water usage that result from improving plastics-specific manufacturing processes. The guidebook includes a discussion of energy use in the plastics industry, ways to compare a facility’s performance with other plastics processors, guidelines for energy management best practices and summaries for more than 20 technical best practices for plastics-specific production processes that have been reviewed by plastics industry leaders. To request a copy of the guidebook, contact Craig Schepp at 608-277-2948.

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October is Energy Awareness Month

In honor of Energy Awareness Month, during October the GLRPPR Blog will highlight web sites, resources, and organizations pertaining to energy efficiency and alternative/renewable energy.

To kick things off, be sure to check out GLRPPR’s Web Site of the Month for October, the Delta P2E2 Center. The Delta Institute is a non-profit organization located in Chicago, IL that works with businesses, governments and communities to improve environmental quality while promoting community and economic development. The Institute and its partners have developed the Delta P2E2 Center to help promote pollution prevention and energy efficiency measures among manufacturers, local governments, school districts, and civic institutions. The Center provides technical assistance to identify energy efficiency measures to save money and protect the environment. The Center provides a range of financing programs to implement the most promising measures. The Center also buys and sells carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange on behalf of companies, and pools and trades carbon credits generated from carbon sequestration projects on behalf of farmers and landowners.

The web site provides case studies (three are currently available) and publications related to the Center’s P2E2 assistance projects in the Great Lakes region (none available at the time of the writing of this post). Continue to watch this site for further developments. Contact information for partner organizations in both Illinois and Michigan is provided on the web site for those who would like more information.

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Discussion Group Pages

One of the outcomes of the GLRPPR Strategic Planning Meeting that was held in February 2006 was the formation of four “discussion groups” for the purpose of networking and facilitation of communication and cooperation among regional organizations. These groups were formed around four topics identified by meeting attendees as subjects of special interest for the region: mercury, energy efficiency, water, and lean and green manufacturing.

GLRPPR administrative staff will assist these groups as needed with the arrangement of conference calls, and facilitation of communication among members of the group and among the groups and the general membership via the maintenance of these web pages and posting or promotion of material via the GLRPPR web site and newsletter. The discussion groups are independent entities/efforts of GLRPPR members—the GLRPPR administrative staff and Steering Committee do not manage these groups or dictate the pollution prevention topics for which GLRPPR members may form groups.

Discussion Group pages are now available on the GLRPPR web site. These pages provide descriptions of these groups and contact information, as well as conference call information and shared documents of interest where appropriate. If you are interested in joining any of these groups, please contact the individual “lead” for that group, identified on the group’s page.

If you are interested in forming an additional discussion group on a topic of regional significance, please contact Bob Iverson.