Energy community loses powerful Congressional advocate

This past Thursday, popular Democratic Congressman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) announced that he would be retiring from the House of Representatives at the end of his current term. The decision came as a shock to many within the political community, as Waxman has spent four decades becoming one of the most prolific – and respected – politicians of modern times. But no one will feel this loss more acutely than clean energy advocates, who have relied on Waxman's likability and forcefulness to further their environmental agenda.

Rep. Waxman serves as the ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a broad group that oversees many different aspects of government regulation, including air quality, environmental health and the supply and delivery of energy. The group has jurisdiction over five Cabinet level departments, including the Department of Energy. Waxman has been instrumental in passing legislation dedicated to environmental protection since the early 1990s, and has been a strong advocate for stronger regulations to be enforced by the EPA and more oversight of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Forty years have gone by very quickly. I have a great deal of satisfaction in our legislative accomplishments. This is a good time to move on and have another chapter," Waxman said in a public statement. He then went on to criticize the current political climate of Congress, believing it has now become too difficult to pass any kind of major legislation.

Whatever his reasons, it is clear that energy efficiency organizations will be at a loss when Waxman is out of Congress. There are few lawmakers with his expertise on the issues willing to fight for a cleaner United States.

Even with Waxman leaving Congress, it is important to be aware of your own environmental impact. Improve the energy efficiency of your home by having an energy audit from Alban Inspections.

On Wednesday, January 29th, the mayors of 10 major American cities – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Kansas City – announced that they are partnering with energy efficiency organizations to cut down on commercial energy consumption. This is very significant because in most cities, big buildings often operate all day every day, with elevators running, offices being heated or cooled, lights on and computers running. Because of this, electricity is constantly being used and often wasted. Experts estimate that commercial buildings are responsible for 50 to 75 percent of all carbon emissions from a city.

What is most shocking is how much of this energy is wasted. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that these buildings do not use about 30 percent of the energy they take in. This is not only unnecessarily spent money, but it is damage to our environment that could be easily avoided. Better energy efficiency will lead to governments and companies saving money, which is why these local leaders have decided to change their energy consumption practices.

The mayors will be working with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Market Transformation in a new program they are calling the City Energy Project. They hope to save a combined $1 billion for residents and businesses by transforming these buildings into green spaces. Each city will be responsible for creating and implementing its own energy-saving plan and will start by improving municipal buildings that are directly under their control.

If you want to improve the energy efficiency of your own home, there are plenty of low-cost steps you can take. Start by contacting Alban Inspections today, as our team of skilled professionals will help you cut down on any unnecessary energy waste.

According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), certain energy efficient measure could lead to an increased rate of lung cancer among homeowners. Paul Wilkinson, the lead author of the report, and his colleagues used a physics model to calculate what would happen if homes in England used all available methods to become more airtight and reduce air leakage.

What Wilkinson and his coauthors found was that by increasing the air tightness of a home without taking any other measures would lead to a dramatic rise in indoor radon levels by an average of more than 50 percent. This means the number of homes above the radon action level would jump from 0.6 to 2.0 percent, opening up many people to the possibility of lung cancer.

Radon, a gas produced naturally from uranium in soil and water, is a known cause of lung cancer. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, radon contributes to over 21,000 lung cancer deaths in the country each year and is most prevalent in people who smoke.

What researchers found is that by installing a ventilation system in these houses, the radon levels would still increase but at a dramatically reduced rate. They recommend that homeowners who are making energy efficiency changes to their home install mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems to help mitigate any potential radon risks. Wilkinson predicted an additional 300 deaths per year would take place in England if people continued making energy efficiency changes without proper ventilation.

Wilkinson recommended all homeowners have their homes tested for radon and see what they can do to prevent themselves from developing lung cancer.

Homeowners should have an energy audit from Alban Inspections to see what they can do to keep their homes safe and energy efficient.

Washing dirty clothes is a chore that nobody can avoid. We wear our clothes, they get dirty, we do the laundry and repeat this cycle every single day. But what you might not think about while cleaning your clothes is the environmental impact multiple loads per day can have. If you are trying to reduce your carbon footprint or simply lower your monthly energy bills, changing how you do your laundry is an excellent place to start. These tricks are guaranteed to improve your environmental sustainability:

• Use a clothes line: Having your clothes dry outside is a wonderful way to reduce the energy you use. The sun and wind can be very effective at drying laundry, particularly in the warmth of the spring and summer months.
• Only wash full loads: Many homeowners are guilty of washing loads of laundry that do not fill the machine to capacity. A washing machine will use the same amount of energy regardless of how full it is, so all that extra energy will be spent for no reason. Let your clothes accumulate before washing them.
• Wear your clothes longer: The easiest way to cut down on the amount of laundry you do is to wear your clothes longer between washes. While this tip should not be applied to socks or underwear – though that is entirely up to you – only cleaning clothes that are noticeably dirty cuts down on the amount of energy spent. Generally, pants and shirts can be worn at least twice before having to go through a laundry cycle. Try and purchase clothes in colors that do not show stains easily.

If you are looking for other ways to help increase your home's energy efficiency, contact Alban Inspections today to figure out where to get started.

Let's face it, nobody enjoys cleaning a bathroom. Even in the most well-maintained homes bathrooms can become a Petri dish for all kinds of bacteria and mold that can wreak havoc on your house. This is why most homeowners will opt for the strongest cleaning chemicals available to get the job done. Harsh disinfectants are very popular, but can be harmful both to your health and the environment. Many ingredients found in these cleaners contain toxic poisons and industrial-grade pesticides. Fortunately there are better options available, many that you can even make using basic household items.

Here are a couple different ways you can clean your home while remaining eco-friendly:

• Drains: A clogged drain is one of the most common issues anybody will face. To combat this problem, all you need are a few simple things. All you need to do is pour three-quarters of a cup of baking soda into the drain followed by one cup of vinegar. Use a rag as a stopper over the drain and wait 30 minutes for the mixture to eat away at the clog. After this, remove the rag and pour a cup of boiling water down the drain to finish the job.
• Tile floors: To make any tile floor shine, all you need is vinegar and water. Mix two cups of vinegar in a gallon of warm water and you are good to go. This mopping solution will not only disinfect your floor, it will bring out the natural gloss of the tile. It also won't leave behind any annoying streaks.

Using natural cleaners is not the only way to protect the environment. Alban Inspections will help you increase the energy efficiency of your home by providing an energy audit, and will pinpoint any areas where you can improve your eco awareness.

In 2007, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act into law with broad bipartisan support from both parties in Congress. The law had a slow roll-out by design to give both consumers and light bulb manufacturers time to adjust to the new regulations that were being put into place.

The law prohibits the production and selling of incandescent light bulbs of any size. Bulbs of 100 and 75 watts were phased out at the beginning of 2012, and 60 and 45 watt bulbs began their own phase out at the beginning of this year. Old incandescent light bulbs that already exist can be sold, but new ones cannot be created.

The United States is not the only nation that is beginning to embrace more energy efficient lighting. According to a new study, 88 percent of United Kingdom households have made the transition to CFL light bulbs. The survey was conducted as a part of the ongoing PremiumLight project, an initiative that is dedicated to informing consumers about the quality of energy efficient light bulbs and the money they could be saving by investing in them.

Those who participated in the survey cited their main reason for investing in the CFL light bulbs was to save money on their energy bills each month. A third of those who answered the survey have purchased LED bulbs, which also use much less energy and electricity than their incandescent counterparts. Figures from the UK Energy Savings Trust estimate that citizens can save a combined 1.4 billion pounds – or roughly $2 billion U.S. dollars – by simply investing in these new kinds of light bulbs.

To increase the energy efficiency of your own home, Alban Inspections recommends investing in CFL bulbs.

The push to make the city of Los Angeles more energy efficient is gaining steam among elected officials. Members of the state legislature are calling for the city to have 20 percent of its power needs met by local solar sources within the next six years. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti adopted a rooftop solar goal last year and many are now joining his fight.

Mayor Garcetti wants 1,200 megawatts of solar capacity constructed on Los Angeles roofs and parking lots across the city. This is less than providing one-fifth of the city's peak consumption, which is anywhere from 6,100 to 6,200 megawatts of power. But now there are those who are hoping to not only meet Garcetti's goals, but to go well beyond them.

Los Angeles' public utility announced at the end of last week that the city will be hiring a new general manager, picked by Mayor Garcetti himself, by the end of January. Now, elected officials – including Congressman Adam Schiff and State Senators Kevin de León and Ted Lieu – are working with solar power advocates to take advantage of this new opportunity to put the L.A. Department of Water and Power solidly behind this new solar power energy plan.

"It's time for Los Angeles to take its place in the sun as a world leader on solar power, and it can only happen with strong leadership from Mayor Garcetti and the next general manager of LADWP," said Emily Kirkland of the group Environment California, which is a strong supporter of this energy initiative. Renewable energy activists and members of the state legislature believe a new general manager will make the 20 percent local solar goal a top priority for the utility.

For a simple way to make your own home energy efficient, Alban Inspections – a leading home inspection company – recommends the use of CFL bulbs.

If you are a new mom or dad, you will have plenty of questions on the best way to raise a baby. Once you have that new little person in the house, there are plenty of steps that can be taken to protect them, yourself and the environment. Living a green life means cutting down on the waste you produce as much as possible, while being gentle on yourself and the environment.

Here are some helpful tips any new parent can incorporate into their lives to be more environmentally friendly:

• Cleaning products: Using toxic products to clean up after a baby has harmful effects on both the baby's health and the environment. Avoid letting any harmful chemicals seep into the atmosphere or into your child's lungs and skin by only cleaning with eco-friendly products and ingredients such as baking soda, lemons and vinegar.
• Diapers: Avoid throwing away tons of disposable diapers every month by making the switch to cloth. By reusing cloth diapers, you will be producing far less waste every time baby goes to the bathroom.
• Feeding: The greenest way to feed your baby is to simply breastfeed. You will be cutting out all the waste that is produced by formula containers, bags and bottles. By not having to make multiple trips to the store every week, you will also reduce your transportation costs and the pollutants you release into the air. This option will also save you money. But if breastfeeding is not an option, avoid plastic bottles made from Bisphenol (BPA), PVC and Melamine. They can potentially release toxic compounds into the formula.

Even if you are not a new parent, you can still find ways to increase your energy efficiency by having an energy audit from Alban Inspections.

This week, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and newly-elected Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a new series of initiatives that will aim to help the state be better prepared for the impact of global climate change. Governor Patrick pointed to the extreme weather conditions that have gripped Massachusetts – as well as a large part of the country – over this past winter. He took special note of the recent polar vortex that plunged the United States into record-setting low temperatures.

The plan – which will cost $50 million – will asses and then address any vulnerabilities in climate preparedness across the state. The government will look into how extreme weather conditions will effect transportation, business, energy and public health. $40 million of the new plan has already been earmarked to strengthen protections around any energy services in surrounding towns and cities. The money will come from the Department of Energy Resources.

The last $10 million will be dedicated to coastal infrastructure repair, including grants to reduce the risks associated with any coastal storms and the rise of sea levels. At a news conference at the New England Aquarium, Governor Patrick spoke about the October 2011 ice storm that left thousands without power for weeks and that the energy grid must be able to withstand any future storms.

Mayor Walsh – who was inaugurated on January 6th – ran on the issue of climate change while seeking office. He told reporters at the event that his administration will be making announcements over the upcoming weeks and months on the actions that will be taken to make Boston superstorm ready.

No matter where you live in the country, you can do your part to help the environment. Increase your family's energy efficiency by having a home inspection from Alban Inspections today.