A worker dismantles old computers and electronics at E-Parisara, an electronic waste recycling factory, April 11, 2008 in Dobbspet, India. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) (Uriel Sinai)

Earth Day is Tuesday, but some are celebrating all week. Of course, every day should be Earth Day, considering all the challenges that our planet is facing, including climate change.

As technology users, there are things we can do to make a dent. Even very little things, when multiplied by millions of people, can have a big impact.

One thing we can do is reduce power consumption. Turn off your PC or make sure it goes into sleep mode when you're not using it. Don't use "screen saver" software that puts a moving image on your screen when it's not in use. You don't need them with modern LCD displays and they waste power. Have the screen simply go blank after a period of inactivity. Windows and Mac OS X have controls to maximize power saving.

When buying a PC, printer, appliances, heating and cooling equipment or just about anything else that uses power, look for Energy Star compliance as a basic minimum. For most homes, a programmable thermostat is an inexpensive and effective investment. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that programmable thermostats can save about $180 per year in some climates. The EnergyStar.gov website has other recommendations, including sealing insulation leaks and using a space heater rather than heating an entire house. The website can help you find Energy Star certified products.

Beware of passive energy hogs. Those little plugs that charge our cellphones, for example, typically use some power when they're plugged in, even if they're not in use. Unplug them or plug them into a power strip that you can turn off. The Bussmann Chargesmart Universal Mobile Charger shuts off when the device it's charging no longer needs power, according to the company, but at about $20 on Amazon, it's a pretty expensive charger.

Computer and electronic components to be processed by a recycling machine at the Hewlett-Packard recycling facility in Roseville, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)

If you have a laser or ink jet printer, you can save plastic by recycling your cartridges (some office supply stores will give you a rebate for turning them in). You can also refill most ink jet cartridges, which helps the planet and your budget. There are do-it-yourself kits, but it can get kind of messy. You can have them refilled at Costco and many other stores.

Printers can waste a lot of paper, so don't print if you don't have to. I sometimes email documents to my cellphone or tablet so I can refer to them when I'm out of the house. When you do print, try using draft mode, which uses less ink. When shopping for a printer, look for one that automatically prints on both sides and chose printers that get a lot of pages per cartridge. Sometimes you have to pay a little more for them, but they can more than pay for themselves over time.

Even the font you use can affect energy and ink use. In 2010, the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay switched fonts from Arial to Century Gothic, which uses 30 percent less ink. But it also takes up more space, which can waste paper. The website Ecofont.com sells a $25 font for Windows that, according to the company, saves ink without using more paper. I tried it and noticed that the ink wasn't as dense on the page.

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Magid: For tech users, every day should be Earth Day

The installation of a new air-conditioning system at city hall is now under way and expected to be completed before this summer.

Lakebrink Heating and Air Conditioning, Union, is installing the new variable refrigerant flow system to replace the current boiler system.

The old boiler system was high maintenance, said Mayor Mike Livengood. There was a lot more failure and future expenses with plumbing.

The need for an upgrade was critical, he added.

The new system would provide heat in areas that are not temperature controlled now, including the auditorium and the city clerks office.

The city clerks office is heated with space heaters.

Livengood noted that an air-conditioned auditorium has been a need for several years.

Weve always wanted to get more versatility out of it, he said.

Livengood explained that once the auditorium is air conditioned people are more likely to rent the facility during the summer months.

Allen Eaker, co-owner of Lakebrink Heating and Air Conditioning, estimated that work is about 50 percent completed and should take another few weeks to finish the job.

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City Hall HVAC Installation Now Under Way

Although the growth of solar power has been substantial in California in recent years, the percentage of homes that have solar panels on their rooftops is still small less than 2 percent. Likewise, many property owners throughout the state have yet to install energy-efficient upgrades to their homes. The reason often comes down to cost: It's still expensive to adopt green-energy practices, even though prices have come down in the past decade. And that's especially true for residents of Oakland, Berkeley, and East Bay cities who live in smaller homes and don't use a lot of electricity.

In fact, solar power and energy-efficient upgrades are still cost-prohibitive for many such homeowners that is, it costs more to put solar panels on your home or make energy-efficient upgrades than what you'll save on your monthly PG&E bill. Part of the problem is that the state does not provide enough green-energy incentives, particularly for low-energy users. For example, California strictly limits a homeowner's ability to sell excess solar energy back to utilities.

Until such policies change, some environmentalists contend that eco-conscious consumers may have to start viewing energy efficiency much like they do organic and sustainably grown food: It's expensive, but good for the earth. Dan Forman of the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter said he knows some area residents who have installed solar rooftops, knowing full well that they will never recoup their costs. One said, "'I know that I'm not making money on this I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do,'" Forman said.

But that's not to say you shouldn't take advantage of existing green-energy incentives. For example, Energy Upgrade California, a state program, gives homeowners between $1,000 and $4,500 for permanent home upgrades i.e., things you can't take with you when you move that improve energy efficiency. Ratepayers fund the program via a tax on their energy bill.

Here's how it works: Homeowners choose from a list of pre-approved, specially trained contractors available at BayAreaEnergyUpgrade.org. (They can also see all the rebate programs they qualify for at EnergyUpgradeCA.org, and then choose a contractor based on which ones they specialize in.) There are two main programs Home Upgrade and Advanced Home Upgrade. The former is based on a point system: Each upgrade is given a certain number of points and the total rebate amount is based on how many points you accumulate. The latter option offers a rebate based on the total energy consumption of your home after the various upgrades have been completed. It requires an energy assessment test.

Advanced Home Energy, which is based in Richmond, is one of the largest Bay Area contractors to participate in Energy Upgrade California, according to marketing manager Marisa Lee. Lee recommends the Advanced Home Upgrade over the Home Upgrade plan because it's more flexible and offers better savings. (For example, window upgrades aren't available through the Home Upgrade plan.) It begins with an audit of the "health and safety" and "comfort and energy efficiency" of your home, said Lee. "Health and safety" means checking for asbestos and testing gas appliances, for example, while "comfort and energy efficiency" evaluates things such as how well your insulation is working and how efficient your furnace is. That report is then submitted to your local utility company for most East Bay residents, that means PG&E.

After going over possible upgrades and the cost of those fixes with the contractor, the homeowner then decides on a plan of action. After the work is completed, the contractor performs another energy audit of the home and submits it to PG&E, which would then send a check to the customer. In addition to the $1,000 to $4,500 rebate for the upgrades, PG&E also offers up to $300 for the audit, which can cost between $100 and $450, depending on the size of the home, said Lee, who added it's possible that the entire audit will be covered.

The average rebate is $3,000, she said, and the average cost of the upgrades (before the rebate) is between $10,000 and $15,000. "Most of our customers get 25 percent back in rebates," Lee said. (Rebates for the Home Upgrade plan are slightly lower.)

Still, even with the rebates, many residents won't recover the costs of the actual upgrades. For example, if your monthly PG&E bill is $100, and you pay $10,000 (with a $4,500 rebate) for upgrades that reduce your bill to $75, it would still take 220 months or about 18 years for your investment to pay for itself. And that's a best-case scenario.

An exception is for those who use a lot of energy. Lee said one customer reported saving 70 percent on his energy costs after making upgrades to his very large home but his bill started out at $700 per month and was reduced to $100. "The average energy savings varies significantly it's based on home size and location and age of the home," said Monica Tell, spokesperson for PG&E. But there are other benefits to participation, she added, including increasing comfort and improving indoor air quality.

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Organic Energy

Angela Knight has forged a career on defending the seemingly indefensible, having fought for the Tories in John Major's government, then the banks just after the financial crash, and now the energy companies.

"It is true and I put it on my CV - I do difficult jobs," she quips. Knight is currently chief spokesman for the energy industry as head of the Energy UK trade body, not the easiest industry to represent in the public eye.

After a string of news stories about rising bills, Labour leader Ed Miliband set public debate alight about energy companies last September with his pledge to freeze energy bills for two years.

Knight praises the Labour leader for "sensing the mood" among consumers about rising bills, adding: "Nobody was talking about the reasons for the price rises." Miliband, she says, seized a "god-given opportunity of something people dont like, an industry you can pin it on and the government of the day not actually framing particularly strongly in that policy area, and then ka-boom!"

The 64-year-old unsurprisingly shares her industry colleagues' scorn for the pledge, quipping that she thought he would announce it this September rather than last year "as you'd only have five months before the general election for it to then unravel".

Does she share Energy secretary Ed Davey and energy giant bosses' concern that the move would increase the chances of blackouts breaking out across Britain?

"We do have to be careful what we do and how we do it. You don't need much in there to cause investors to say 'I think I'm going to wait to see what happens'."

Scottish Independence? 'It's A Bit Of A Nightmare'

Many businesses have already warned that Scottish independence could cause major uncertainty for their operations, how does Knight feel?

Knight struggles to hide her concern about the administrative complications, suggesting that it could increase costs for the energy companies that they may have to pass to consumers.

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Defending The Banks And Now Big Energy, Why Does Angela Knight Do It?

ALBUQUERQUE>> PNM paid more than $3.7 million in incentives to New Mexico businesses in 2013.

The company announced new energy-saving programs, Wednesday, for businesses and commercial building owners. PNM is adding to their existing rebates and services to help business save on electricity bills. These programs reduce the initial cost of energy efficiency improvements and shorten the investment payback period.

PNM has enhanced the rebate opportunities for business through the new Building Tune-up program, which program is designed to improve the energy efficiency by bringing mechanical and electrical systems up to peak performance levels. This systematic analysis takes advantage of energy efficiency measures that are usually overlooked.

Another program on offer is Retro-commissioning, which provides a facility assessment, a report of findings and incentives for installing energy-saving measures. This program targets commercial building owners with an annual energy usage of at least 750,000 kWh.

The Advanced AC Tune-up allows building owners to make substantial upgrades to cooling units to save a significant amount of energy. Trained professionals provide diagnostic and inspection services to improve performance of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Every component of the HVAC system is tested to ensure it is operating at full capacity. The AC Tune-up is available to commercial building owners with an annual energy usage of less than 750,000 kilowatt-hours whose HVAC systems are older than three years and at least four tons in size.

The Building Operator Certification is a nationally recognized, competency-based training and certification program. PNM will provide tuition support for qualifying facilities' personnel to enroll in classes providing improved job skills and knowledge to transform workplaces to be more comfortable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

Existing PNM programs include: New Construction where PNM business customers can apply for incentives for building a more efficiency facility; Retrofit Rebates with pre-set and custom incentives to business customers to install energy-efficiency equipment within existing facilities and PNM Quick Saver for small business accounts to make lighting and refrigeration upgrades.

For applications, eligibility requirements and more information, visit their website at http://www.pnmenergyefficiency.com.

Residential customers also can receive rebates through PNM. The Refrigerator Recycling Program will pay the consumer $50 for old refrigerators and take the units away. "Most people will take their old refrigerators and move them into the garage. What you're doing is taking the most inefficient appliance in the house and move it where it will have to work that much harder," said Ryan Baca of PNM media relations.

PNM then recycles the parts. Glass from refrigerators are added to asphalt while plastic parts get turned into computer components. Insulation is now used to clean up oil spills.

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PNM helps businesses and citizens to save money

An IBM computer center in Germany reduces its energy-consumption with a water-cooling system attached on top and helps heat the surrounding area.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Data centers are large facilities filled with servers and other equipment. In the United States, data centers are responsible for more than 2% of the country's electricity usage, according to researchers at Villanova University. If the global cloud computing industry were considered to be a single country, it would be the fifth-largest in the world in terms of energy consumption, according to Ed Turkel of Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ, Fortune 500) Hyperscale Business Unit.

Nearly half of the energy data centers consume goes to cooling the equipment using fans and other methods. That's "just wasteful," said Jill Simmons, director of Seattle's Office of Sustainability and Environment.

That's why the city of Seattle is working on a project to make use of the heat data centers produce. The city plans to route heat from two local data centers to to help warm 10 million square feet of building space in the surrounding area. The project is still in the conceptual phase, but Simmons said the city hopes to have it in motion "within the next year."

Related: Russia fallout pushes Europe to develop shale gas

The plan is to take the water that cools the data center and pipe it out to buildings nearby. The system will also rely on water heated by energy from sewer lines and electrical substations.

The construction cost will be borne by private utility Corix, which will recover its investment through rates paid by customers over a 30-year period.

"Our hope is that the rates will be competitive with the rates of other utilities, and hopefully better over time," said Christie Baumel, energy policy advisor at Seattle's Office of Sustainability and Environment.

Seattle is following the lead of other cities around the world, including Munich and Vancouver, small portions of which also use heat from data centers.

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How data centers are heating Seattle

Two Flagstaff brothers are helping to design the homes of the future.

Charlie and Andy White, both Flag High graduates and sons of retired Flagstaff astronomer Nat White, own AVDomotics in Sedona. The company specializes in creating home and commercial automation systems that can be controlled from a touch screen or a smart phone.

We can automate nearly anything. It just depends on what the customer wants, Andy White said.

The company has programmed everything from a security gate to the new collaborative classroom in Northern Arizona Universitys School of Communication.

The NAU classroom separates students into groups, Andy White said.

Each student has a computer, which is connected to both the universitys network and to a series of larger monitors in the room. The teacher can call up the computer screen from any computer in the room onto one of the larger screens. The students can also share screens between groups.

The NAU system is also connected to an Apple TV that allows the teacher to pull up movies, music, video and more, from iTunes or Netflicks. The device also allows a teacher or student to connect to the system with a hand-held tablet computer or smartphone and project its screen onto one of the monitors.

As many as 32 devices can connect into the system and four images can be shown at the same time on any of the computers or larger monitors. Students and teachers can also control the system through a series of touch screen tablets at each group table or at the teachers podium.

The brothers bought the company from its previous owner about six or seven years ago, Andy White said.

AVDomotics also built the high-tech theater at the new Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center. It also designed the lighting for the Hotel Weatherfords annual Pine Cone Drop.

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Business: AVDomotics offers one-touch, automated home

Published: 4/3/2014 - Updated: 1 hour ago

BY ROSE RUSSELL BLADE STAFF WRITER

As northwest Ohioans fling open their doors to run from the house to shed cabin fever, they might want to remember to examine door screens and the rest of the house to get it back into shape after such a rough winter.

The biggest thing right now is checking screens for holes so no bugs get inside, said Brian Yeager, a manager at Neighborhood ACE Hardware in Sylvania.

Bugs? Really? Yep. They come with warm weather, and though it seems a long time coming, warmer weather is coming, and with it comes chores homeowners must do to prepare their houses for spring and summer.

If you cleaned leaves from the gutters last fall, Mr. Yeager said to check them again this season.

With the rain storms coming, check the seams to make sure none has split due to the ice, Mr. Yeager said. Also, Make sure the down spouts are clear and pointed away from the house. Use extensions to make sure water flows from the house and not into the basement.

Safety is foremost, as pointed out by William Sinz, manager at Home Depot on West Alexis Road.

For damaged gutters, homeowners without roofing experience shouldnt do more than simple tasks, like securing nails and adjusting spouts. Beyond that, its safer to get a professionals help, Mr. Sinz said.

Spring and summer is no time to ignore the furnace, either. Jeff Chamberlain, the owner of Pro Hardware in Whitehouse, said furnace filers in summertime should be changed every 30 days.

Originally posted here:
Spring brings household obstacles

The New York City Housing Authority is looking into whether geothermal energy is the future when it comes to heating and cooling the agency's hundreds of buildings, but there's a push in Brooklyn to get the technology all set up now. NY1's Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report.

Red Hook residents have gotten used to the sight of supposedly temporary boilers set up throughout the public housing complex, but the Red Hook Houses have depended on these mobile units for more than 17 months, ever since Hurricane Sandy hit, wiping out the old boilers.

FEMA will be giving the city housing authority $100 million to get new ones, but Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams says there's a better way to go.

"We want to move the borough towards sustainability, not the way we have done things in the past," he said.

Adams is calling for geothermal technology to modernize the heat, hot water and cooling systems in New York City Housing Authority buildings, starting with the ones damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Red Hook and Coney Island. On a diagram, he showed NY1 how the environmentally friendly system works.

"Go through the earth's natural systems and heat the air, and then come up and go to the building and allow the heat to come through," Adams said.

The idea is to maintain a steady temperature year-round. Electricity is still used, but to a lesser extent, so there is a cost savings.

Adams said window air conditioning units here could be a thing of the past if it's successful.

The hybrid geothermal technology is already being used in a pilot project at a NYCHA building on East 28th Street in Manhattan, but results are still being evaluated. Also, NYCHA said the system can't be installed in all of its buildings because certain conditions need to be in place at the location.

Adams said he's also looking at using geothermal technology at Borough Hall.

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Brooklyn BP Pushes For Geothermal Energy in City Housing Buildings

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Marie Zimmerman was a nationally acclaimed metal-craft artist in the late 19th century. In 2012, her house, located in Dingmans Ferry, was being restored by the Friends of Marie Zimmerman.Photo provided

April 01, 2014

The Marie Zimmerman House in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area will be closed this year, and the nonprofit group that restored it is ending its relationship with the National Park Service.

The Friends of Marie Zimmerman terminated a five-year agreement with NPS in January. The agreement, signed in 2010, should have gone to 2015.

"Further improvements to the site to meet legal requirements, such as accessibility, will be pursued before the site reopens to the public," said NPS spokeswoman Kathleen Sandt.

The house and farm are located off Route 209 near the former village of Dingmans Ferry. It cannot be seen from the road, but NPS signs point the way to the large stone home where artist Marie Zimmerman once lived.

Zimmerman lived from 1879 to 1972. She was born on June 17 and died on June 17.

The farm home was built in 1910.

In 1944, Zimmerman closed her National Arts Club Studio and moved away from the New York art scene to her family's vacation home near Milford, a NPS biography says.

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Restoration group severs ties with recreation area's National Park Service