Our Home Energy Audit

We at Positive Energy are lucky to live in Boulder, Colorado where energy audits are subsidized by the city.  Recently, I finally got around to having our own home audited.  Our home was built in 1912, so we expected that despite the fact that we had added insulation, changed out old windows, added a set-back thermostat, changed to compact fluorescent light bulbs, and had an on demand water heater installed, we might not receive top marks.

Our energy auditor, a private contractor, showed up with an infrared  gun and a blower door.  He installed the blower door in the opening of our front door, closed all the windows, and turned on the door's fan.  This pressurized  our house - he could then go around with a smoke stick and see where the leaks were.  He used the infrared gun to look at the insulation in our walls and ceiling.   

Our house looked better than we expected!  We got extra points for living in a home that is only 1500 square feet - much smaller than average for our community.  The only further step that our auditor recommended was to insulate our basement walls - a job we don't want to take on - we'll contract that out as well.

For more information on Boulder's subsidized energy audits, see www.beclimatesmart.com

For more information on set-back thermostats, on demand water heaters, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and much much more - see our website, positive-energy.com.

Our Neighborhood Goes Green

     As the owner of Positive Energy and The Green Builder's Catalog (www.positive-energy.com) my business interests spill into the rest of my life.  I am fortunate to live near neighbors with similar energy saving concerns.  We are all interested in "greening" our community. What can a community do to enhance their "greenness"?  Our neighborhood of about 1000 homes has formed a committee to investigate and take action.  Here are some of the steps that we have taken.  

     We started by delivering flyers to every home in our neighborhood, announcing a kick off meeting featuring a major speaker (Hunter Lovins - who lives in Boulder, our town).  At the meeting, we got folks to sign up for home energy audits, gave them some compact fluorescent bulbs (thanks to the Climate Smart city program) and gathered e-mail addresses.  

     Our latest initiative is the launching of a "Community Roots" program.  Buying food close to home is optimal in terms of what is best for the planet, and you can't get more local than this! We are signing up folks in our area with large yards to be program "hosts". Neighbors and the small Roots staff would farm the yard.  The home owner reaps all the vegetables that they need, with the rest going to neighbors who buy a share, and help to work the land.  I'll let you know how this works out.  For more information, check out their website at www.communityrootsboulder.com.

     Future projects include energy related movie nights (maybe on an outdoor screen in the summer), a car share program, "The Biggest Loser" neighbors' low energy users competition, and anything else we can think of - ideas welcome.  If you want to learn more about what we are doing, check out the "Greenlands" portion of our website, www.newlandsneighbors.com