Low Carbon Diet Book

Low Carbon Diet by David Gershon

from their website: This “30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds” is a fun, accessible, easy to use guide that will show you, step-by-step, how to dramatically reduce your CO₂ output in just a month’s time.

Grounded in over two decades of environmental behavior change research, this illustrated workbook offers much more than a list of eco-friendly actions. It walks you through every step of the process, from calculating your current CO₂ “footprint” to tracking your progress.

By making simple changes to actions you take every day, you’ll learn how to reduce your annual household CO₂ output by at least 15%. And, for those who are more ambitious, you’ll discover how you can help your workplace, local schools, and community do the same.

Join the growing number of citizens who have decided to take global warming into their own hands.

You can buy this book from Gulliver's Books (3525 College Rd)
(907) 474-9574
If you'd like to purchase more than five copies for a group, please contact Gulliver's and ask about a "Book Club Discount" of 20%.

Alaska Interfaith Power and Light

Use it up.

Wear it out.

Make it do.

Or do without.

This mantra of the Yankee thrift ethic was a hallmark of our childhood, both in New England and Minnesota. We were not poor, but we learned to be careful, to not waste the bounty of God's gifts. This realization has turned us toward sharing with our faith community and with the larger society the insights of a way of life spent trying to be responsible stewards of the creation that God has placed into our care. Perhaps we can try to live in such a way that in our own life we leave minimal trace of our passing through this world.

This is the premise behind Alaska Interfaith Power & Light www.akipl.org

Alaska Interfaith Power & Light is part of a nationwide effort, also known as the "Regeneration Project," to bring faith communities and religious organizations together to take actions aimed at reducing the impact that we Americans are having on the environment. We have been surprised and delighted by the savings resulting from our personal choices. In Fairbanks, Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church recently chose to accept the challenge, by signing the Covenant of Alaska Interfaith Power & Light, and made a beginning by switching out many of the light bulbs and a fixture in the church building from incandescent to more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. While it is too soon to be certain of the savings, there has been a marked improvement in the brightness of the new fixture and of the lights that have been installed. This increased brightness could be a metaphor for the lesson that the choices each of us makes with regard to the use and care of the creation have an impact upon our own lives and the lives of others. Also, we have begun a "Low Carbon Diet," a program developed by David Gershon, founder and CEO of Empowerment Institute. The program is intended to help individuals and families lose up to 5000 pounds of carbon emissions in a year. The group will be our "Team," and together we will explore many ways of reducing our impact on our environment, saving money and energy, and encouraging one another and others to live intentionally on the earth. Our group is comprised of members of Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, but the program is one in which any group or individual can participate. There is a workbook that provides ideas and sources of vital information for any one who desires to contribute to a better, more sustainable future for our community.

Perhaps most importantly, the leaders of the congregation feel that in their actions they are setting an example for others of stewardship and responsibility toward the creation we have been given by God.

Oliver & Andrea Backlund are members of Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, which is a member of Alaska Interfaith Power & Light. The Backlunds may be reached at kestrels@acsalaska.net.

Legislative Success

The legislative session came to an end April 13th, after passing two important bills for Interior and Arctic Alaska:

House Bill 152: A Renewable Energy Fund AND Senate Bill 289: Home Energy Conservation and Weatherization.

$50 million will be put towards renewable energy projects and $300 million (!!) has been approved by the Governor to expand Alaska Housing and Finance Corporations budget for home weatherization programs.

Check back for more details on how to participate, and to learn about new renewable projects.

Legislative Alert

• You are an important voice in Juneau!
  
• 
  
• State legislators are currently in session working on a bill which proposes increased funding for Alaska Housing and Finance Corporation programs for these types of weatherization projects.
  
• 
  
• It is Senate Bill 289: Home conservation and weatherization, and it’s very important to ask your Representatives to pass this one. It allows AHFC to assist Alaskans through existing programs to deal with home energy conservation and weatherization without limiting it to low income. It would still give first priority to those most in need. The increase in demand for this work will create job training and employment opportunities for Interior Alaska. Please write your local Representative today www.legis.state.ak.us

Retrofit to Save Money!

So How’s Your House Doing?

Rich Seifert

The reality of a few days at 40 below is always an impressive reminder of where we live. There you are listening to the furnace running and running, on and on. Darn, I should have added insulation to the attic or weather-stripped the doors. Now there’s that frost on the door threshold, and I can see air leaking out the gable ends of the attic.

Spring officially begins today, signaling the time to start on projects around the house. So what to do? Since I work at the University’s Cooperative Extension Service, I have some helpful suggestions. Not only that, but these suggestions are in a high priority order. That means what’s at the top of the list is the most effective thing to do, and doing those things first saves the most money. All this comes from our publication “Tips on Insulting an Existing Home”, available on our website (http://www.uaf.edu/coop-ext/faculty/seifert/) or by calling 474-7201.

This checklist assumes that you are starting with a fairly standard existing house relative to energy features: for example, an uninsulated basement: 2x4 walls insulated with R-11 fiberglass; a flat ceiling insulated with R-19 fiberglass; insulated-glass windows or single-pane windows with storm windows; a relatively leaky 5-7 air changes per hour at 50 pascals (ACH50), and an atmospherically vented furnace or boiler. The checklist starts with easy, low-cost measures, and includes progressively more costly or difficult measures.

So here’s the list of winning actions for warming up the home team:

- Air seal foundations and attics. Identify and seal major holes in the foundation and attic; patch holes in ducts through unconditioned spaces.

- Fix moisture problems and insulate basement walls.

- Air seal the house; weatherstrip windows and doors. Be aware that tightening up a house can lead to higher moisture levels that may have to be dealt with.

- Add insulation to the attic, but air seal the attic first! It is best to install attic insulation by blowing it on top of the old insulation. This adds insulation value and fills voids in the insulation blanket.

- Insulate the water heater. If you haven’t already done this, it is always a good idea. Water heater insulation blankets can be purchased at many local building supply stores.

- Tune up the heating system, inspect it and ensure that the mechanical systems are in top working order, efficient and reliable. This is always a good plan when we need the heat so much!

- Finally, a good idea but expensive, is to replace your boiler or furnace. This is especially wise if it is more than 20 years old. Newer boilers and systems are more efficient than the older models and you should buy a heating system with its own air supply directly from outdoors and with a closed exhaust, so that it cannot be “back drafted”. This can occur if the exhaust stack is not sealed from possible negative pressure from other appliances such as a clothes dryer.

This checklist gives you some money-saving ideas for getting started with your own retrofit. Visit the Cooperative Extension website or give our office a call for more information.

Rich Seifert is Energy and Housing Specialist for the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His professional mission is to retrofit Alaska's homes with insulation for the future, and helping Alaska to a sustainable economic future.

Don't be Fuelish!

2nd Annual Don't be Fuelish Competition

Sign up now!!

May 1st - September 30th, 2008

Tired of fighting traffic?
Want to save money on gas?
Want cleaner air?
Would you like to enjoy cleaner air?

This is a friendly competition among organizations in town to raise awareness of the need to save on fossil fuel usage.

Save miles and money by carpooling, biking, walking, taking the bus, or other alternative transportation to work. Keep track of miles saved, and the organization saving the most will win the coveted "gas can" trophy, currently held by U.S. Fish & Wildlife.

Please email lori@northern.org
to sign up as a coordinator for your organization or for more information.

Energy Focus

Lighten Your Electric Bill

Install New Lights

John Davies, CCHRC Research Director
photo from Cold Climate Housing Research Center

Fairbanks Daily Newsminer 03/13/08 Section A3

There are many different types of energy efficient lighting available. For indoor use, typical choices involve replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFL) or old fluorescent tubes (T12) with newer ones (T8 or T5). LED lighting is available for some uses such as holiday and closet lighting, exit signs, work lights, etc., but for general illumination they are still somewhat expensive and limited in availability.

Replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs is as easy as unscrewing the old bulb and replacing it with a CFL of comparable light output, usually measured in lumens. The energy savings can be 50-80% and most bulb types are readily available. This is a classic no-brainer, although there are some limitations—they don’t work very well at low temperatures, if at all, and switching the light off and on many times per day can significantly shorten the bulb life. They are perfect for locations where they are likely to be on for several hours per day such as kitchens, living rooms, play or work areas, and bedrooms.

Replacing old T12 fluorescent tubes with the newer T8 ones is another matter. To use the new tubes in the old fixtures and get the maximum value in energy savings and light quality you must replace the old magnetic ballast with a new electronic ballast. The electronic ballasts are more energy efficient; eliminate the hum and flicker associated with the old magnetic versions; they have instant, rapid, and programmed start options; and some are dimmable.

A difficulty is that they are wired differently in the fixture, so replacing the ballast requires some electrical acumen. If you don’t have the skills yourself or don’t want to hire an electrician, you can simply buy a new fixture that has the ballast installed in it. The rewiring is not hard (it took me about 20 minutes to revamp a 4-tube fixture), and ballasts for 2- and 4-tube fixtures are readily available in local electrical stores at a cost ranging from about $18 to $40. For the project in our kitchen, replacing four T12 tubes with four T8 tubes, I figure that we will recoup our cost for the ballasts in about one year, a 100% return on our investment! Not bad.

In some applications, T5 tubes are a better choice. They are slightly more energy efficient, generally brighter and well suited for indirect or diffused lighting or very high ceilings. You will need to buy new fixtures as the T5 tubes are shorter than the comparable T12/T8 standard lengths.

Almost any choice that you make in replacing old lighting with newer options will reduce your electric bill and you can feel good about also reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Additional Information

Cold Climate Housing Research Center

EPA Energy Star Program: Light Bulbs and Fixtures

DOE Building Technologies Program: Lighting