$1 Million Saved Through Conservation in One County Alone

By Kevin Hamm

Aurora, CO– In times of tight budgets, any cost savings are welcome. Due to the foresight of the Arapahoe County, CO commissioners, nearly $1 million was saved last year thanks to conservation efforts in the county’s buildings.

In 2004, Arapahoe County entered into a contract with Chevron Energy Solutions to assess the energy and water usage of the county’s facilities and make recommendations on improvements. Since then, more than $10 million in electrical, natural gas and water improvements have been made, said Curtis Cole, the county’s energy resource conservation specialist.

The contract guarantees a certain amount of annual savings if the recommendations are implemented, Cole said. Last year, it guaranteed savings in the amount of $587,727, but the county actually saved $737,813 after implementing the recommendations, and when other factors that aren’t monitored under the contract are added in — such as lighting improvements and water conservation efforts — the savings were $969,505.

County commissioner Pat Noonan said the board of commissioners started looking into the issue when the county began having concerns with the heating and cooling systems in some of its buildings and were looking to make upgrades and save money on energy costs.

Cole credits the county’s forward-looking thinking when budgets weren’t as strained as they are now.

“It was good planning since it all started when revenues were better,” he said. “It might be a tougher sell now, honestly.”

Cole is the person who monitors the conservation efforts and looks for any additional places improvements can be made. The big improvements made so far are things like replacing old boilers, chillers and cooling towers with newer, more efficient models, he said, but a lot of small things add up as well.

The county has upgraded lighting and temperature control systems in many of its buildings so they operate more efficiently, something that has the added benefit of employees’ comfort. “We’re not going nuts with freezing you in the winter and boiling you in the summer,” Cole said. “You can have a comfortable workplace and still save money.”

“We’re in it for the long haul,” he said. “A little bit of money spent now amortized over 10, 20 or 30 years is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s a benefit to taxpayers.”

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Source: Yourhub.com

Nuprana.com becomes first water conservation store to offer free shipping on every product

Nuprana.com, the first online water conservation resource that provides information, products, news, and advocacy recommendations all in one place, is now the first one to offer FREE SHIPPING on every product in its online water conservation store.

September 16, 2008 — Online sales are growing at a faster pace every day, especially among environmentally conscious shoppers who are realizing that shopping at online stores has a much lower carbon footprint than driving to a 300,000 square foot ‘energy guzzling, garbage producing’ superstore or worse, having to drive to several stores in one day to find what they need.  Some shoppers continue to drive to do their shopping because of increasing shipping costs at online stores, due to the infamous “fuel surcharge” that carriers are now including in their rates. This additional surcharge often represents 20-30% of the total shipping rate which takes the final price tag way above what shoppers are comfortable paying.

Now Nuprana.com makes it easy for green homes and businesses to shop for water conservation products without the hassle of driving all over town or spending hours online searching for what you need and then paying high shipping costs. At Nuprana.com every single item offers free shipping without a minimum amount or minimum quantity of items.  For example, you can buy the smallest item in the store– the ‘Toilet Leak Detection Tablets’ for $1.99– and it offers free shipping.

“We are trying to eliminate all of the barriers that keep American households from saving more water and protecting our environment” explains Elizabeth Beachy, co-founder of Nuprana and an expert in Behavior Change Communication related to Public Health issues. “We know our costs will increase because of this decision, but we want our clients to make their decisions based not on how much the shipping costs, but on how much water they want to save” added Mrs. Beachy.

About Nuprana.com:

Nuprana LLC is a family-owned, on-line green business dedicated to water conservation that offers affordable, user-friendly water conservation products for green homes and businesses, in addition to water conservation information, news and advocacy recommendations. It was founded by Elizabeth Beachy and Osvaldo Gomez with the vision of conscious water use, cleaner waterways, safe drinking water, and pristine freshwater sources preserved and revered for their natural beauty. The couple resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They started Nuprana after the birth of their son inspired them to help improve the world awaiting his generation.

Big River or Big Hose, You Decide

This summer’s Denver Water conservation campaign has been absolutely brilliant.

In case you haven’t gotten the message, they’re not giving up on your drippy faucet just yet!

Kudos to the clever folks at Sukle Advertising & Design for thinking outside the box this summer!

Source:RandomTope

For more information on water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Durham, NC offers $100 rebates on water-saving toilets

Durham, N.C. — The city’s Department of Water Management has launched a program to provide $100 rebates to local residents who replace old toilets with models that conserve water.

The city will spend about $300,000 on the program, which officials said could save Durham 21 million gallons of water a year.

Only single-family homes are eligible to receive the rebates, which will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, officials said. Homeowners must purchase high-efficiency toilets bearing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense-label to obtain a rebate.

“Toilet flushing makes up about 30 to 40 percent of all water used in homes. Older, inefficient toilets can use between 3.5 and seven gallons per flush and are responsible for most of the water wasted in our homes,” said Vicki Westbrook, deputy director of the Department of Water Management. “Recent advancements have allowed toilets to use 20 percent less water than the current federal standard of 1.6 gallons per flush, while still providing equal or superior performance.”

Source: WRAL.com

For more information on water conservation, visit our LEARN section

Building Codes Division takes action to support water conservation

Salem — The Department of Consumer and Business Services’ Building Codes Division (BCD) has taken the first of many steps to make it easier for Oregonians to conserve water.

After input from the plumbing industry, the division approved two new methods that allow homeowners to harvest rainwater and reuse wastewater. The first method involves reusing certain wastewater in homes when the owner installs water conservation systems. The water conservation systems treat water drained from bathtubs, showers, bathroom sinks, washing machines, and laundry tubs, and then store the water for use in flushing toilets.

The second method gives both homes and commercial buildings the ability to collect rainwater from roofs to be used for gardens, flushing toilets, washing clothes, and in heating and air conditioning units.

Oregon joins a small group of states, including California, Washington, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Hawaii, that are working toward allowing builders and homeowners to install wastewater conservation systems.

The approval of these methods applies in every Oregon city and county because Oregon has a statewide building codes system. “With these two rulings, Oregon is making a large contribution to the advancement of a sustainable environment for its citizens,” said Ken Carlson, Oregon Plumbing Board chairman.

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Source: Portland Online

For more information on water conservation, visit www.nuprana.com