Stimulus Dollars Benefiting Asheville Residents

Asheville's Office of Sustainability has begun offering free home energy education classes. 

On the evening of August 11th, I took an opportunity to participate in a free home energy efficiency class offered at the Reed Center in Asheville. 

 The group of about 15 Asheville residents in attendance was inquisitive and obviously sincere in their desire to be informed. The class covered a wide variety of opportunities and options for homeowners to consider. Subject matter ranging from the value of minor water efficiency improvements to whole house air infiltration testing, to the does and don’ts of upgrading your homes insulation.  Hands on participation was available for many of these subjects.


Class presenters were from local nonprofits; Matt Siegel of WNCGBC, Torin Kexel of Green Opportunities of Asheville as well as city building inspector and maintenance officials.

The class was much more informative than I had anticipated, and everyone involved seemed genuinely interested in the welfare of our community and our environment.

It's great to see our local governments interest in providing these educational resources as well as the public interest in obtaining and implementing the information. This is where the rubber meets the road. 

Bravo to the Office of Sustainability personnel Maggie Ullman, Kerby Smithson & Rachel Doebber for pulling this together. I look forward to participating of more of these sessions. Money and time well spent! When is the next class?


Links:
www.greenopportunities.org
www.ashevillenc.gov/green 


AP

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Let's talk water- It's a worthwhile conversation.

During my Wednesday evening commute home I happened across 570 AM talk show hosted by Matt Mittan. This one hour (4-5) discussion format brings local business sponsors into the studio for discussions on various green building and environmental topics. Bravo Mr. Mittan, I think this is a very community oriented programming choice and could become a valuable resource for people to get acquainted with options that are available when considering home construction or home improvements. I’ll be listening in on this program to see where it goes.

I am a little disappointed by the minimal attention offered in this past Wednesday nights show when the topic of water was approached. Mr. Mittan was clearly concerned about his recent experiences with water quality, and for the most part that’s where the conversation ended. There was some brief commentary regarding water conservation as related to LEED point qualifications. This is likely due to the topic of that evening’s show and the sponsorship involved. There is a considerable opportunity to improve community awareness on a very relevant issue. Water quality and water efficiency needs to be promoted and encouraged by those in our community that have the ability to communicate to the masses.


In recent communication I’ve had with Maggie Ullman, Energy Coordinator at the City of Asheville Office of Sustainability, the largest contributing aspect of Asheville’s carbon footprint are the resources used in providing water to its residents. There is a very well documented connection between increasing water efficiency and lowering power consumption. It takes a lot of resources; electricity, natural gas, chemicals etc, to treat and distribute water though out a community. Likewise it takes a lot of water to produce the electrical power, gas, chemicals etc, to provide safe clean water. I would like to see more thought and planning on the subject of water conservation by city and county leaders as well as community organizer and public figures. Water is a resource that must be taken care of and managed effectively; not only during times of drought but at all times. Sustainable community growth and public health and welfare depend on its protection and effective long term management. How bout it folks; is water important in your life?

AquaPro
http://www.askaquapro.com/
AquaPro@AskAquaPro.com
Aqua Environmental Resource Center of Asheville, NC
info@AquaEnvi.org
http://www.aquaenvi.org/


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