Let's make February count: Future Cities is challenging you to make efforts all month to live more sustainably, decrease your carbon footprint, and give back to your city. One lucky winner will even get a prize.
Florida Consumers Saved 8,519 Gigawatts In 2012 The Florida Public Service Commission (which regulates power and utility companes) said in a recent report that Florida consumers' participation in utility-offered energy conservation programs and incentives have helped reduce the state's energy consumption.
As of 2012, Florida Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (FEECA) utilities' conservation programs, in total, reduced winter peak demand by 7,095 megawatts and summer peak demand by 7,164 megawatts. Total energy consumption was reduced by an estimated 8,518 gigawatt hours, which reduces fuel consumption at electric generators.
Recent federal legislation encourages energy efficiency through new building codes and residential appliance efficiency standards. Newly approved dishwasher standards, the Commisson report said, are expected to reduce energy consumption by 15% and clothes washer standards, effective in 2015, will save consumers $350 over the life of the appliance.
Florida's utilities performed more than 238,000 residential energy audits, and offered more than 100 conservation programs for residential and commercial customers.
Re: Living Green in Fort Lauderdale I have successfully used a small inexpensive 5 inch fan sitting beside my laptop to keep it cool in the summer here in Florida.
By installing an app to monitor internal computer temperatures, any small breeze flowing through the bottom of the laptop works well, even if the room temperature is well into the 80s.
Re: How I Lowered My Electric Bill To $19.21 To see how low I could get the electric bill for "Green February," I set the water heater to 110 degrees which is plenty hot for me, and then only turned it on about 15 minutes with the timer to warm it up. This summer, I expect the house interior to stay cooler because of the new windows and door, and doubled attic insulation, and I attempt to leave the air conditioning off until it gets in the 80s inside the house.
I might mention I also installed a new lighter color architectural shingle roof last month, taking off a 32 year old red tile roof. I think the energy efficiency might not show up there because tile roofs are pretty efficient because of the air space below the tile.
I be looking forward to seeing just how the improvement will affect the electric use. Of course, many of the large projects (roof, door and windows) will take many years to show a return on investment, but they were needed just because of age needed replacement anyway.
Re: How I Lowered My Electric Bill To $19.21 That is really quite impressive on the redudction in the electric bill! I'm curious as to what your experience is in cooling costs for the summer, although I take it this will improve, too, based on the energy efficiency improvements that you've made. Great job!
Green Living - Trees And Plants One of the projects ongoing this month is planting trees around the house as well as some plants from seeds. Trees and plants take in carbon dioxide, convert it to sugar and then release oxygen into the air. making such projects one of the best green projects at minimal cost.
Trees, of course are one of the best ways to provide shade as well as beauty around buildings and yards. but also providing food for wildlife and shelter for birds.
The video I've posted describes an inexpensive method for obtaining trees from contractors working on road projects. Most areas mandate the transplanting of any trees that must be removed at road construction projects.
A road project in my city meant moving several hundred trees. I contacted the project manager and they delivered and planted lots of trees in my neighborhood at very minimal cost.
For fun, try growing plants from seeds or cuttings. My example in the video, is taking a pineapple cutting and planting it. Also, for sub-tropical ares like mine, papaya seeds work very well and the trees grow rapidly with minimal care.
Re: Living Green in Fort Lauderdale Yes, living sans AC in Florida could be quite a challenge. One thing that doesn't like to get hot are computers and printers. How does NewDream's technology cope in the heat?
We don't have AC here in Barcelona, and we haven't lived through a whole summer yet. The plan is to try without. The flat is on the six floor with a good airflow from the front to the back of the building. But we might have to resort to a fan at night. It's truly hot and sticky here in July and August. Vamos a ver...
Smart City Money Makers companies and solutions that are most prominent, and destined to be most profitable, in the smart city revolution.
How to Make Your City Smarter Cities all over the world need to become smarter and more sustainable. But where to start? Download this guide to learn the first, proven steps toward making your city smarter.
Site Moderators Future Cities is looking for engaged readers to moderate the message boards on this site. Engage in high-IQ conversations; earn kudos and perks. Interested? E-mail: moderators@ubmfuturecities.com
directory
Designed to provide the people with access to green building products all year round
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This