Aim Green Omaha

March 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Feb
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Eco-Film at the Omaha Festival

By admin On March 8th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

The Omaha film festival is happening March 8-14th at various theatres across the metro and a certain “green” film has caught our attention.

Ecoheartland, is a documentary made by two brothers while on a roadtrip across middle America. They were concerned about the United States growing energy problems and decided to see if they could find innovation and positive change in the midwest.

The United States is being buffeted by high energy prices and falling ground water levels, increasing pollution and the growing threat of climate change. But the good news is that there are solutions. Innovative approaches and cutting edge technology along with some old fashioned American know-how are pointing the way forward to a more sustainable United States

Check out this film that Aims Green at Wednesday, March 10th at 7:15 or Saturday, March 13th at 12:30 at the Great Escape Theatres.

Bookmark this

More »

Electronic Billing

By admin On March 5th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

One easy way to reduce waste is to use the power of the internet to pay your bills.

It may take a little work on your part, but it usually just takes the click of a button, an email submission and confirmation and away you go from this world of wasted paper. It may not seem like much, and it is an easy thing to just ignore, but the difference between 2-10 paper bills per individual in a month among an entire community, state or country can make a huge difference.

Most companies make it easy, just go online to the specific companies websites where you pay bills and follow the instructions found there to step into the digital world. You’ll even save money on those pesky stamps that seem to be worth a penny less than what you need!

Get started with paperless billing from OPPD and Aim Green!
-

Bookmark this

More »

Heartland Walk for Warmth

By admin On March 1st, 2010 in Uncategorized /

Last week, on a calm, but cold Friday evening people from all over Omaha took a walk around Heartland of America Park to raise money for local energy assistance programs.

It is important for the program to use funds wisely which also means being sustainable. Energy assistance programs in the heartland include classes which teach low-income families how to save energy and also offer direct assistance to families who need help paying bills or purchasing new heating or cooling equipment.

Check out this video from the walk, and consider joining us next year for the 2011 Walk for Warmth!

Bookmark this

More »

An Energy Audit Helper

By admin On February 26th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

TreeHugger.com posted an article about EnergySavvy, a tool that helps simplify and consolidate everything it takes to do a proper home energy audit. Its easy to use and offers real solutions based on the data you give about your home. You can even find pre-screened, qualifed contractors to help fix outstanding energy wasting issues in your home.

Snapshot of EnergySavvy

Take a look at the article for more details on being EnergySavvy.
-

Bookmark this

More »

OPPD’s Eco-Annual Report

By admin On February 24th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

Whether its researching opportunities in renewable energy, promoting a CFL rebate program, or an office recycling program, OPPD works hard to Aim Green. Check out the 2009 Sustainability Report to get all the details.

Bookmark this

More »

A Quick Fridge Tip…

By admin On February 17th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

Here’s a simple tip that you may have never thought of.

We all know you should be cleaning your home’s air filter, but have you considered cleaning off the coils on your refrigerator? Dust and pet hair can collect on the coils making it harder for your appliance to work efficiently. Consider getting a couple friends to help you pull your fridge away from the wall and giving it a good wipe down with a damp rag. While you’re at it, check the seals around the door of your fridge to make sure they are clean as well and no old food crumbs are causing tiny gaps in the door.

Refrigerators can account for up to 10% of your homes electricity use so it’s important to make sure they are running as efficiently as possible.

Bookmark this

More »

An ENERGY STAR, Star

By admin On February 10th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

OPPD’s ENERGY STAR for New Homes Program has certified and confirmed the lowest known Home Energy Rating Score (HERS) for a home in the Omaha area.

With ENERGY STAR’s HERS rating system, homes are rated on a scale of 0 to 100 for energy-efficiency. The lower the score, the better. A home must score 85 or lower to qualify for an ENERGY STAR rating.

Homes scoring 70 or lower earn ENERGY STAR’s Five-Star Plus designation. The home OPPD just certified easily qualified with a score of 40. The homebuilder is Todd Menard Construction. OPPD took a moment to talk with Todd about why he builds Energy Star Homes

Todd achieved this rating by super-insulating the home, super-air-sealing it and installing a geothermal HVAC system.*

Todd Menard Construction is one of 40 metro homebuilders that are building strictly ENERGY STAR-rated homes. As shown below, the number of such homes is growing, and the number of ENERGY STAR homes built by custom builders has more than doubled over the last two years.

ENERGY STAR-Rated Homes in OPPD’s Service Area
2006: 7
2007: 17
2008: 565 (40 from custom builders)
2009: 813 (100 from custom builders)

* A geothermal (or ground-source) heat pump is a central heating and/or cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground. It uses the earth as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems. It uses the earth as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems.

Bookmark this

More »

New Battery Technology!

By admin On February 5th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

Hybrid Battery Pack

Batteries have always been an obstacle for new technology, giving finite life to products we would like to think should last forever. With hybrid and full electric cars, the batteries used are quite large, and quite expensive and eventually that battery will go dead. That could be a major concern if you are stuck replacing an expensive battery several years after purchasing your vehicle.

Everytime you recharge a battery, it slowly weakens components within the battery. A Japanese company claims to have discovered a method that would keep the battery from degrading as quickly, extending the life of the battery.

From Crunch Gear:

The main idea is to stabilize the electrodes and prevent the deterioration of tin, making the batteries withstand repeated charges. The batteries have a negative electrode that incorporates a tin-coated resin and accumulates lithium ions coming from the positive electrode. The positive electrode is made of silicon and tin and swells while generating the ions.

As a result, the repeated charging and discharging causes the binding between particles in the tin to weaken, but Eamex’s technology helps to effectively maintain the bonding among those particles.

As it stands current batteries are not prohibitive when considering a vehicle with some form of electric power, but if this new technology can find its way into the market, it’ll make electric vehicles an even more sensible purchase. And all of our other gadgets would hold a charge for a lot longer as well!

Bookmark this

More »

More Winterizing Tips

By admin On January 29th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

The cold weather is here to stay and if you still haven’t taken the steps to winterize your home, there is no time like the present! Take some time to look at these great weatherization techniques from The Daily Green which will save energy and money.

Tips include running your ceiling fans in reverse to circulate the warm air from the high points in your home, to turning your water heater down a few degrees, because no body likes being scalded while taking a shower.

Take some time over the weekend to make these changes in your home. You might even find you actually enjoy waking up for work Monday when your home doesn’t feel like a drafty igloo. Then again, maybe Mondays are just difficult no matter what.

Bookmark this

More »

Questioning the Thermostat

By admin On January 27th, 2010 in Uncategorized /

I was asked an interesting question the other day…

“If I turn down the thermostat while I’m out of the house, doesn’t it take just as much energy or more to bring the heat back up to where it I want it when I return?”

I wasn’t sure of the answer, but then a similar question popped up in TreeHugger’s, Ask Pablo, blog post and I thought everyone might like to read the results and find out how you can save some energy.

Pablo Päster is a weekly columnist for TreeHugger.com, an experienced greenhouse gas engineer and the Senior Environmental Program Manager at Hara Software.

Bookmark this

More »

Aim Green Omaha

Green Greetings!

Stuff We Just Posted

Get Connected

Older Stuff

Posts

Eco-Film at the Omaha Festival

Electronic Billing

Heartland Walk for Warmth

An Energy Audit Helper

OPPD’s Eco-Annual Report

A Quick Fridge Tip…

An ENERGY STAR, Star

New Battery Technology!

More Winterizing Tips

Questioning the Thermostat

Events Calendar