Bill Tauber the "Green Energy Coach™"

If you are a Los Angeles Department Water and Power Customer (L.A. DWP) customer, I have great news for you...How about a brand new Top of the Line Efficent Washing Machine, Delivered right to you front door, for less than $150? 

L.A. DWP has a rebate program for energy efficient Washing Machines that will pay you $300 to buy a new Washing Machine. If you use Gas to heat your water and are a Southern California Gas Company Customer you can get an extra $35 dollars back.

This past Monday I went online and found a qualifying Amana washing machine for sale on a major home improvement stores website for $450.00, including delivery! So add in the rebates and your cost for the Washing Machine is only $115!

How about a FREE refrigerator? This is another one L.A. Dept of Water & Power (L.A. DWP) but unlike the other programs I’ve talked about, this one does have some income restrictions, but I wanted to highlight it anyway because it is such a great program.

If you are a L.A. Dept. of Water & Power customer on their Low Income Rate program, you may qualify for a FREE replacement refrigerator. L.A. DWP will be mailing out letters to qualifting customers. Check their website for details.

Now for the rest of you in L.A. Dept. of Water & Power's service area that are thinking about a new refrigerator, there are programs for you too, You can get $100 for buying a new qualified Energy Star Refirgerator and recycling your old one.

Want some more freebies from L.A. DWP? How about some free shade trees for your yard? The L.A. DWP Trees for a Green LA Program in partnership with Million Trees LA has made it simple for Los Angeles City residents to receive FREE shade trees through the Trees for a Green LA program (TFGLA). Follow the simple steps on their website to enjoy the benefits of cool natural shade, energy efficiency, and clean air.

That’s the best energy savings of all!

The next thing I have for you is a FREE Energy and Water Saving Kit from Southern Caifornia Gas Company.

The kit includes three faucet aerators and a low-flow showerhead to help you save energy and water.Low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators are great ways to save energy and water. These devices allow air to enter into the water stream, maintaining a high-pressure flow while reducing water usage.

Germany has devolved 250,000 new jobs in renewable energy, including nearly 50,000 wind power jobs in the last 5 years alone – remember Germany is only 25% the size of the U.S – that’s equivalent to a 1 Million jobs in the U.S. The government worked to promote a green culture thorough all levels of society. They started with simpler parts, like automating systems in office building to use less power. Financial incentives were given to people who retrofitted their homes with renewable sources. Police officers ticketed polluting cars that drove in emsssion-reduction zones.

Competitors challenged citizens to see who could save the most power. School children in the city of Heidelberg who devised and implemented successful plans received some of the money they saved to use in their classrooms.

The green jobs creation program costs the average German family $38 per year on its utility bill. The county lead Europe in develop and exporting green technology, generating $240 billion in annual revenue. And the German government continues to lead by example; its parliament building is set to run solely on green energy.

Did you ever wonder if all those energy efficient cars and machines and energy saving devices really save energy and are good for the environment? What I mean is....if building something, like an automobile that comes with big claims of saving energy and saving gas and not polluting the air with all those harmful bad gas emissions...are they REALLY providing a NET energy savings?

According to Honda’s website they claim the 2010 Honda Accord gets 22 MPG in the city and 31 on the highway

Let’s compare this to Honda’s Hybrid car. Their Honda Insight claims to have 40 MPG in the city and 43 MPG on the hwy. Sounds impressive.

DUST TO DUST CYCLE (to produce, distribute, drive, dispose of, etc.). The latest reasoning is that hybrids are not the answer. They are less energy-efficient than conventional vehicles if you look not just at the period when the hybrid is driven, but at their entire dust-to-dust lifecycle.

I found on line a study completed by CNW Research (Marketing/Research Firm) out of Oregon. The study involved collecting data pertaining to the energy cost per vehicle, from production to disposal. And they are translated into 'dollars per lifetime mile' for all new vehicles sold in the US in 2006. Essentially, this report confirms the amount of energy consumed over the lifetime of a vehicle and therefore the environmental impact.

The study shows that hybrids did not fare well in this report. Here are a few examples (showing energy cost per lifetime mile):

Here’s what the report showed:

Honda Accord Hybrid - $3.29 cost per mile to drive
Honda Accord (non-hybrid) - $2.18 to drive one mile

Toyota Prius - $3.24 cost per mile to drive
Toyota Camry (non-hybrid) - $1.95 to drive one mile

So it seems that the non-hybrid vehicles scored much better than their hybrid counterparts. It sort of makes sense when you take into account energy usage during production and distribution, fuel economy (small factor, so it seems), energy required to dismantle and dispose of the vehicle, etc., and consider that driving a hybrid may reduce greenhouse gases in the area you drive it, but essentially export pollution to other areas –like where the vehicle is built, shipped or disposed of.

A central authority (usually a government or international body) sets a limit or cap on the amount of a pollutant that can be emitted. Companies or other groups are issued emission permits and are required to hold an equivalent number of allowances (or credits) which represent the right to emit a specific amount. The total amount of allowances and credits cannot exceed the cap, limiting total emissions to that level. Companies that need to increase their emission allowance must buy credits from those who pollute less. The transfer of allowances is referred to as a trade. In effect, the buyer is paying a charge for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions by more than was needed. Thus, in theory, those that can easily reduce emissions most cheaply will do so, achieving the pollution reduction at the lowest possible cost to society.^[1]

A home energy audit is a way to benchmark how much energy your home currently uses and to determine what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient. An audit will measure the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems and can also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity.

You can perform a simple energy audit yourself or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit.

Professional energy audits generally go into great detail. The energy auditor should do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills.

Many professional energy audits will include a blower door test. Most will also include a thermographic scan. There's also another type of test – the PFT air infiltration measurement technique – but it is rarely offered.