Links

Newspaper & Magazine Articles on Energy Efficiency:

Government Sites:

Energy Star: Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. http://www.energystar.gov/

Energy Savers: Department of Energy website full of useful homeowner information. http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11160

California Energy Commission: CEC website with many instructional videos. http://www.energyvideos.com/blda.php?P=CA&A=5&S=res

Climate Protection Campaign: Sonoma County’s commitment to the future and its desire for extraordinary action brought this Plan into being. This Plan is, in essence, a public works project to meet Sonoma County’s bold goal for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2015. http://coolplan.org/

DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?re=1&ee=1&spv=0&st=0&srp=1&state=CA

Flex Your Power: Flex Your Power is California's statewide energy efficiency marketing and outreach campaign. The campaign includes a comprehensive website, an electronic newsletter and blog, and educational materials. http://www.fypower.org/feature/lowincome/lowincome_programs.html#10

SCEIP: The Sonoma County Energy Independence Program provides an efficient and affordable way to dramatically reduce residential and commercial energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in Sonoma County while stimulating the economy through development of clean technology jobs. http://www.sonomacountyenergy.org/

Cal ReCycle: CalReCycle is the new home of California’s recycling and waste reduction efforts. Officially known as the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, CalReCycle is a new department within the California Natural Resources Agency and administers programs formerly managed by the State’s Integrated Waste Management Board and Division of Recycling. http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/

GPO: Governmental Printing Office; LOTS of documents on more subjects than you’ll ever have time to read, but if you’re looking for something in particular, this is someplace you might find it. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/

Surf Your Watershed: Find your watershed using the form below. Once you locate your watershed, you can find a listing of organizations that are working to protect water quality. You may wish to contact one of these groups to find out about cleanups, monitoring activities, restoration projects and other activities. http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm

California Building Climate Zones: Your zone defines what your mandated State energy requirements are. http://www.energy.ca.gov/maps/BUILDING_CLIMATE_ZONES.PDF

Energy Codes: U.S. Department of Energy Code Language for California (dense). http://www.energycodes.gov/implement/state_codes/state_status.php?state_AB=CA

Energy Savers Blog: The Energy Savers Blog provides a place for consumers to learn about and discuss energy efficiency and renewable technologies at home, on the road, and in the workplace. http://www.eereblogs.energy.gov/energysavers/

Fuel Economy: Department of Energy’s great site on auto mileage. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Tariff Analysis Project: Find your electric rate structure. TAP was originally developed to facilitate the analysis of electricity prices for the US Department of Energy's Appliance Efficiency Standards program. http://tariffs.lbl.gov/utility/utility.php?util_id=2207

Calculators and Games:

Household Emissions Calculator: You can use the following online calculator to get a rough “ballpark” estimate of your personal or family’s greenhouse gas emissions and explore the impact of taking various actions to reduce your emissions. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html

Home Energy Saver: The Home Energy Saver™ (HES) will empower you to save money, live better, and help the earth reducing energy use in your home. Time consuming and complex. http://hes.lbl.gov/

The Nature Conservancy: Climate Change Calculator. http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

Organizations:

ACI: ACI, a non-profit organization, celebrated 20 years of training building and housing professionals in 2006. Founded as the Affordable Comfort Conference in 1986, our roots are in defining the best way to make homes energy efficient, without harming the residents and the building. http://www.affordablecomfort.org/index.php

PassiveHaus: The Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) is a consulting and research firm working to further the implementation of Passive House standards and techniques nationwide. http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PHIUSHome.html

BPI: The Building Performance Institute, Inc. is a recognized global leader, supporting the development of a highly professional building performance industry through individual and organizational credentialing and a rigorous quality assurance program. http://bpi.org/content/home/index.php

RESNET: In April 1995, the National Association of State Energy Officials and Energy Rated Homes of America founded the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to develop a national market for home energy rating systems and energy efficient mortgages. RESNET's activities are guided by a mortgage industry steering committee composed of the leading national mortgage executives. http://www.natresnet.org/

Green Building Advisor: GreenBuildingAdvisor.com is dedicated to providing the most useful, accurate, and complete information about designing, building, and remodeling energy-efficient, sustainable, and healthy homes. http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/

Build It Green: Build It Green is a non-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote healthy, energy- and resource-efficient building practices in California. We work with mainstream stakeholders in the housing industry to accelerate the adoption of green building practices. http://www.builditgreen.org/

CalCERTS: In 2003 CalCERTS, Inc. was approved by the California Energy Commission to become a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Provider. The company's mission is to fill the growing need in the Energy Efficiency industry for a technically superior, yet customer-oriented HERS Provider. CalCERTS, Inc. is a private organization that provides service, support, training and certification to HERS raters. https://www.calcerts.com/

PG&E: Pacific Gas & Electric’s web site. Here you can access your own meter history and find tools and articles on how to reduce your electric usage. http://www.pge.com/myhome/

RERA: Redwood Empire Remodelers Association was formed in 1991 and now has more than 100 professionals in most areas of service in the remodeling field. http://www.rera.com/

Safe Climate Calculator: The Safe Climate carbon footprint calculator allows you to determine carbon dioxide emissions from major sources: home energy consumption and transportation by car and plane. http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/

Green 3D Home: At Green3DHome, we want to help homeowners reduce their home’s energy use so they can save money and save the planet. http://www.green3dhome.com/

My Foot Print: The ecological footprint quiz estimates the amount of land and ocean area required to sustain your consumption patterns and absorb your wastes on an annual basis. After answering 27 questions you’ll be able to compare your ecological footprint to others’ and learn how to reduce your ecological impact on the earth. http://www.myfootprint.org/en/

Environmental Working Group: The mission of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment. EWG specializes in providing useful resources to consumers while simultaneously pushing for national policy change. http://www.ewg.org/

Home Ventilating Institute: The Certified Rating Programs of HVI were created to provide a fair and credible method of comparing ventilation performance of similar products. http://hvi.org/

CHEERS: CHEERS mission is to promote residential energy efficiency through the development and implementation of a uniform, statewide, market-driven home energy rating and labeling system, to include related public education, and facilitating the means to finance energy efficiency measures. http://www.cheers.org/

National Fenestration Rating Council: A non-profit, public/private organization created by the window, door and skylight industry with the goal of providing accurate information to measure and compare the energy performance of window, door, or skylight products. http://www.nfrc.org/

ToolBase Services: A wide ranging set of advice, information, and best practices. http://www.toolbase.org/index.aspx

Forest Stewardship Council: The Forest Stewardship Council’s purpose is to coordinate the development of forest management standards throughout the different biogeographic regions of the U.S., to provide public information about certification and FSC, and to work with certification organizations to promote FSC certification in the U.S. http://www.fscus.org/

Companies:

Thermographix: A company website that clearly shows the usefulness of infrared camera technology. http://www.thermoguy.com/

Energy Circle: Energy Circle aims to be the best place for gathering the information you need on good, cost-effective energy efficient products. We'll give you the 411 on sensible, realistic and money-saving steps for your home, and provide access to the best products on the market. http://www.energycircle.com/

Home Energy Magazine: Home Energy magazine’s mission is to disseminate objective and practical information on residential energy efficiency, performance, comfort, and affordability. http://homeenergy.org/

Building Green: We are an independent company committed to providing accurate, unbiased, and timely information designed to help building-industry professionals and policy makers improve the environmental performance, and reduce the adverse impacts, of buildings. http://www.buildinggreen.com/

Building Science.com: Building science.com provides objective, high-quality information about buildings. This resource combines building physics, systems design concepts, and an awareness of sustainability to promote the design and construction of buildings that are more durable, healthier, more sustainable and more economical than most buildings built today. http://www.buildingscience.com/bsc/