MiPL Building Assessments

I received word from Peggy today that we can have our building assessed whenever we wish since they have trained a number of people to do such assessments. I figure we'll wait for the temperature to cool again before contacting him. I'll include here what she had to say about the assessment itself:

"Just a reminder that the assessments we offer through MiIPL give suggestions for short-term (3 yr or shorter payback), easy-to-do projects -- like CFL and other energy efficient lights, weatherstripping, appliances. It will not be a full energy audit. It will not do a lot with heating, cooling, insulation kinds of issues, or major projects. It is generally about a one-hour walk-through of the building."

Because it is on a much smaller scale, I will contact Paul Dannels, who was there for the first meeting, and see if he's been able to make a connection with someone who could give us a more full building assessment.

Carbon Offset Providers

from Ecobusinesslinks.com


1) AtmosClear Climate Club, $3.56a - $25.00; Methane

2) Carbonfund.org, $4.30b - 5.50; Renewables, Efficiency, Reforestation

3) e-BlueHorizons, $5.00, Renewables; Reforestation

4) DriveNeutral.org, $6.93 & up; Efficiency

5) Terrapass, $7.35c - 11.00; Renewables, Efficiency

6) Native Energy $13.20; Renewables

7) The CarbonNeutral Company, $14.00-18.00; Renewables, Efficiency, Reforestation,Methane

8) Sustainable travel International, $18.00; Renewables

9) Solar Electric Light Fund, $10.00; Renewables

10) Carbon Clear, $17.00, Reforestation

Carbon Footprint Calculators

Here's a list of what I could find. I found 5) to be the best for household energy use, 6) is good for total footprint including travel, and 3) is cool for showing how one ton of CO2 stacks up in gallons of gasoline, trees planted, pounds of coal burned, etc.

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1) Energy Depot: http://www.energydepot.com
I did the audit and didn’t find it terribly accurate (heating was supposedly $4,000 a year, even though we were only at $191 in the cold February we had). Electric estimates were low -- $300 for the year. They do have a good calculator and library that are worth checking out.


2) Pollution and Electricity use Calculator:
http://www.cleanerandgreener.org/resources/pollutioncalculator.htm


3) Greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator:
http://www.usctcgateway.net/tool/


4) EPA (shows sector percentages and gains from different actions):
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ResourceCenterToolsGHGCalculator.html


5) Home Energy Saver: http://hes.lbl.gov/
Super-detailed, accounts for MI climate, the best one I’ve seen for household energy use.


6) BP Carbon Calculator: http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9008204&contentId=7015209
My favorite all-inclusive calculator.

7) Redefining Progress Ecological Footprint:
http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp#
Shows how much land use you're responsible for; includes diet and consumption habits. Very little detail, though.

8) Safe Climate: http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/
Not great but popular.