Solar Bill of Rights

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition: "Support the Solar Bill of Rights".

Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 20000 signatures - please sign here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/715/758/531/

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.

Thank you! Scotts


http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/VdK7/qM../BJ1xQ

Photos and Build Notes-Green Build Projects

Location This attractive home in Austin, looks like your standard suburban dwelling, but it's far from ordinary. The eco-minded homeowners designed a hardworking home that's built from durable materials, enlists nature to help heat and cool, and is supremely energy-efficient. Location was the first step in their green building effort. To save gas (and time), the homeowners chose infill property in a neighborhood that's conveniently close to their bank, grocery store, and children's school. Building in or near a city is inherently eco-friendly because lots, utilities, and services already exist so no energy is wasted to create something new. Building Materials Fiber-cement siding and composite wood trim (recycled from milk jugs and wood chips) resist hail, fire, rot, and insects. Limestone, used to face parts of the home's exterior, is inexpensive and plentiful in Austin. It requires less energy to produce than a material such as brick. Metal Roof & Overhangs The Galvalume metal roof is made from post-industrial recycled steel. It resists cracking and corrosion, and its light color deflects heat. The home's overhangs extend 3-5 feet to provide summer shading. Another bonus: The homeowners don't have to clean the windows very often. Screen Porch The porch is positioned to capture southeasterly breezes. When doors to the living room are open, the incoming breezes can travel across the room and up the stairwell, where warmer air is released through electrically operated windows. Airflow A raised stone fireplace in the living room brings heat to where it's most welcome when the family gathers here: the height of the seat cushions. Flooring Linoleum and oak flooring found throughout the home are durable, are easy to clean, and reflect light. Linoleum is made from natural materials. The oak flooring is a smart choice because it's plentiful and affordable. And the homeowners don't have to worry that they're expending energy to import an exotic wood. Water Heater In addition to providing hot water, the water heater also handles space-heating needs with a radiant floor hydronic system. Appliances Energy Star-rated appliances, which are high-quality products verified to be more efficient than nonrated appliances, help to keep utility bills low. Open Floor Plan On the main level, only the guest room, bath, and home office are enclosed. The open plan offers reduced energy consumption (air circulates naturally throughout the space) and less use of building materials. Cooling System Two air-conditioning systems allow for independent zoning of each floor. This makes for better control of comfort, less energy consumption, and greater flexibility as living needs change over time. Digital programmable thermostats sense humidity in the house and correct the level when needed. Siting Key windows are oriented to capture breezes -- the most effective strategy to save on cooling costs in a climate dominated by air-conditioning. Article Continues at- Why It Pays to Go Green, By Denise Gee  http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/remodeling/eco-friendly/why-it-pays-to-go-green/?page=12 Changes You Can Make Today Follow these tips to make your home more high-performance -- saving both energy and money in the long run: -- Trade incandescent for fluorescent and LED lightbulbs. -- Add insulation to attic flooring, and if possible, to walls. -- Replace toilets and showerheads with low-flow ones and upgrade appliances to those that are Energy Star-certified. -- Repair or replace ductwork to ensure the home is properly sealed. -- Shade windows prone to excess light with awnings and make sure all windows are weathertight. build green, Scotty Scotts Contracting, St Louis Renewable Energy --Build a Green St Louis!

Guest Post, Guest Blog Tips

Five Tips Every Guest Blogger Should Know
One of the best ways to increase your visibility is to become a guest blogger at a popular blog. This is a chance for you to gain exposure to a new audience and credibility by being associated with highly-respected bloggers with major followings. Guest blogging is a win-win situation for everyone if done right: the blog gets excellent and free content to use while the guest blogger gets increased exposure for their blog, brand or products.

Of course, there are many other people who want to become guest bloggers for the same reason it might make sense for you to do the same. In order to get the prime guest blogging spots on the top sites you need to make yourself and your content stand out from the pack. Here are five tips on how to make that happen:

1. Read and Understand the Blog: It's amazing how many people contact major blogs wanting to be guest bloggers without fully understanding what the blog is all about. Each blog has its own topics that are of interest to the owners and their readers. If you suggest content which is not appropriate your guest blogging request is going to be denied.

Instead, read through the past two to three months of blog posts to see what topics the blog is focused on. You'll want to avoid pitching topic ideas that have already been covered, but at the same time you might be able to pitch a rebuttal to a previous post or a different take on a popular theme. This will also give you a strong sense for the tone of the blog.

2. Know the Guest Blogging Guidelines: Not all blogs accept guest bloggers, so you'll want to make sure they do before you pitch them with your idea. If they do accept guest posts, chances are that they'll have specific guest blogger guidelines published on their site. It's important to review these rules before you contact a blog. You don't want to break any rules at the start which might anger the blog owners and make it harder for you to convince them to let you be a guest blogger. If you seem uninformed about the guidelines of the blog, it's tough to convince a blogger that you will provide great content.

3. Write the Blog First: If you are dealing with a very popular blog, chances are that the site's owners and editorial team are extremely busy. Taking the time to establish a rapport with the blog's management, pitching a story idea and then working through the details is time-consuming. In many cases, it's better to just write a blog on a topic you feel confident will work and send it to the blog. If they like it, they can publish it without having to jump through hoops. If they reject it, you can take it to another blog.

4. Prove Yourself: It's important to provide your credentials when sending over a guest blog in order for the bloggers to understand that you are an expert in the field. A guest blog written by a savvy industry professional is going to carry more weight than one written by a random person. Explain to the blog why you are the right person to discuss a certain topic with their audience and what perspective you bring that can't be found anywhere else.

5. Write a Compelling Headline: A great headline can do more than bring readers to your blog -- it's also the perfect way to grab the attention of the owner or editor of a blog. Much like readers, the people you contact with a request to guest post might only skim to the title of your proposed post. If it's interesting and engaging, they'll want to read more; if it's boring or stale, they'll move on. One great tip is to write a headline that proposes a question you will answer in your article.


GUEST POSTS ARE CLOSED or BY INVITATION ONLY Scotty 10/10/2014

Information Provided by:Scotty, Scott's Contracting GREEN BUILDER, St Louis "Renewable Energy" Missouri http://stlouisrenewableenergy.com; contact  for additional information or to Schedule a "Free Green Site Evaluation"

White Roofs Bring Cool Savings

No matter where you live, you can save energy and money by switching to a white, or "cool," roof, for about the same cost as a conventional roof.

February/March 2010

By Amanda Kimble-Evans 

White or light-colored roofs can reduce energy use and lower utility bills. NREL/CRAIG MILLER PRODUCTIONS/DOE

White roofs, aka cool roofs, are a "hot" topic these days as a means to help stem global warming. Most of us know better than to wear black on a hot day, but when it comes to the roofs on our houses, temperature often takes a back seat to aesthetics . Dark roofs mean higher air conditioning bills, and higher carbon dioxide emissions as a result. The good news is you can save money and help protect the planet by lightening the color (and therefore the temperature) of your roof, or by switching to a white roof the next time your house needs a new hat.

The Benefits of a White Roof

Switching to a white roof can actually reduce energy use by about 20 percent in hot, sunny weather, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Heat Island Group in Berkeley, Calif. Hashem Akbari, the Heat Island Group's lead scientist and a professor of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, says that transitioning to reflective roofing and pavements in the world's urban areas would offset the equivalent of emissions from the planet's 600 million cars for the next 18 years. A 1,000-square-foot cool roof saves air conditioning use that otherwise would emit about half a ton of carbon dioxide per year. (The average total square footage of a home in the United States is more than 2,000.)
In urban areas, white roofs also help lower smog levels by lowering local temperatures, which tend to be higher due to the large proportion of paved surfaces.
Critics have suggested white roofs do more harm than good in colder climates. But research shows that the heating benefits of a dark roof in the winter are negligible because days are shorter, skies are cloudier, the angle of the sun is low, and sometimes roofs are covered in snow. "The amount of heat savings you may lose in the winter would be, at the maximum, 30 percent of the summertime savings," Akbari says. "If you need cooling in the summer and heating in the winter, no matter where you are, a white roof will most likely save you money."

Cool New Roof Options

"Cool" is the buzzword that encompasses a range of roofing materials that can reduce carbon footprints. And cool roofs come in a variety of light colors.  The best time to install a cool roof is when a new roof is needed or major roof maintenance is in order. According to researchers, there's little difference between the cost of roof colors.

Not ready for a new roof but still want to cool down? Install a white roof coating instead. There are a number of coatings that will substantially improve an existing roof's reflectance/emittance. Plus, coatings protect and seal, potentially extending the life of your roof. The installed cost of coating a roof is about $0.50 to $1 per square foot, according to Akbari, which will be paid back by lower energy bills and the extended life of your roof.

Roof Resources

A cool roof is measured by two properties: reflectance (the ability of the product to reflect energy away from the roof) and thermal emittance (the roof's ability to radiate absorbed heat). Ideally, you want your roof to be high in both.
The Heat Island Group has developed a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) to rate cool roofs. You can browse the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Cool Roofing Materials Database for information about a product you're considering. The Heat Island Group says an SRI rating of 30 percent or higher for sloped roofs (70 percent or higher for flat roofs) can reduce utility bills.  The Cool Roof Rating Council also offers a product directory; just click on "Rated Products Directory."
Federal and state rebates are available; check the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency for details specific to your project. Also call your utility company to check for local programs. "This will not be the silver bullet that solves the global warming problem," Akbari says. "But it cools your home, cools your community and helps cool the globe while putting money in your pocket."
--
Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
https://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com/search?q=roof

Renewable Energy-Electric Power Lines-Transmission Lines

In the Transmission Line Debate, I've included my comments on the Article.


scotts-contracting-171793

August 20, 2010

Grid, Smart Grid, New Transmission Lines- What a Crock of ___.

If more people utilized their own Renewable Energy Production for Home or Business use. I believe it would lessen the need for Grid Improvements simply because the Energy needed for each House Hold or Business is produced on site- no extra power lines will be needed.

Simpleton Example: if 5 of the 10 Houses on my Block utilize RE Producing Systems. This can lower the need of Electricity Generated by the Electric Company by 1/2 for my Block. With no Transmission Lines Needed.

The only drawbacks I for-see is the Loss income from the Taxes the Government levies on every bill. [My last bill had between $5-$10 dollars worth of Taxes.] And, the Revenue for the Electric Companies and those they employ.

Both of which are small prices to pay in lieu of the Eventual Global Warming which is increasing every year. Worst Case Scenario: We can live without Electricity- But we can't live without food. Our Food comes from the Earth if the Earth is too Hot to support Vegetation where will our meals come from?

I welcome all Green and Eco Friendly Comments on my Green and Eco Friendly Web Site: http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com. If you have Green and Eco friendly information to share I offer Sponsor Post Opportunities.

Build Green,
Scotty

Is the Transmission 'Problem' Real?

by Stephen Lacey, Editor

Published: August 19, 2010

California -- Aside from policy stability, it's probably one of the most widely-cited problems facing the renewable energy industry: The lack of transmission. But is the problem really as big as we're told? Or are utilities using it as an excuse to get more money for an unnecessary build-out of infrastructure and increase profits?

"This effort is not surprising considering that network upgrades create more rate base and therefore higher profits for IOUs."

Jaleh Firooz, former transmission planner, SDG&E

We hear stories all the time about projects being curtailed because the grid can't handle the electricity. Industry trade groups also report that there are thousands of megawatts of renewable energy projects sitting in interconnection queues around the country.

But according to a former transmission planner at San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), the push for more transmission – at least in California – is not necessarily needed to bring more renewable energy projects online.

In a piece written for the July issue of the Natural Gas and Electricity Journal, Jaleh Firooz of Firooz Consulting argues that the incessant attention on building new transmission lines actually hinders development of new renewables in the state.

Debate in California over the need for new transmission lines to help clean energy projects has raged on for years. The most high profile project is the Sunrise Powerlink being developed by SDG&E, a $1.8 billion, 150-mile line that will stretch from the Imperial Valley in southern California to San Diego. The main selling point for the transmission project is that it will bring up to 1 GW of wind, solar and geothermal plants online.

Organisations such as the Utility Consumers Action Network (UCAN) say it will help SDG&E's parent company, Sempra, sell power from a large coal plant in Mexico to the southern California market. Other opponents say that distributed generation offers a more cost-effective, dynamic solution to the power needs of the region.
Firooz notes that the cost to ratepayers for the Sunrise Powerlink project would be around $200 million per year. However, she writes that the congestion charges in the entire state of California in 2008 were only $176 million – not enough to justify the new line.

"In such an event, consumers would be economically better off if congestion were managed through the re-dispatch of generation and avoiding the cost of building the new transmission," writes Firooz.

She also argues that large-scale transmission projects hurt developers' ability to get equipment in the ground. Because developers have to shoulder much of the cost of transmission upgrades, they often abandon the project when factoring in those costs. If other alternatives are not explored to get the power to the grid – which, writes Firooz, they often aren't – project developers have limited options to explore when filing their interconnection requests.

In addition, Firooz says the data show that consumer demands have not outstripped transmission investment, the common argument for supporting new transmission lines. (See the chart above).

"This effort is not surprising considering that network upgrades create more rate base and therefore higher profits for IOUs," writes Firooz. "However, if progress toward renewable resource goals is the public policy objective, the focus on network upgrades is entirely misplaced."

The transmission issue is a huge one for the renewable energy community. It is often said that large projects won't be able to get built without new investments in transmission lines. But these new lines often pit concerned landowners and environmental groups against renewable energy developers and utilities. In addition, such projects create a philosophical divide within the industry over the value of centralized and distributed generation.

California is shooting for a 33% renewable energy target by 2020. By most estimates, the state will have a hard time meeting that goal. As it tries to do so, there will inevitably be a debate over how best to do it: With on-site, local resources? Or with centralized power plants that require more transmission investment.

According to Firooz, the focus on transmission may actually delay the goal further. You can find the whole piece here.

--
Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com

392 ppm CO2 Currently World Wide

Dear Friends, Sometimes 'climate change' can seem like an abstraction. That is, until you see it in action, as we have this summer in Pakistan, in the mountains of China, in Ladakh, and in the overheated peat bogs of central Russia. This is all part of the reality we face in our current world of 392 ppm CO2. Our main work is to try and slow down the climate crisis before it gets worse--by getting to work on climate solutions that can get us back to 350.   But working to create a safe climate future doesn't mean we don't need to try and help the victims of the climate crisis along the way. When our comrades and colleagues issue a call for assistance, we do everything we can to respond. The recent floods in Pakistan have displaced 20 million people, and nearly a fifth of the country is literally underwater.  The scale of the suffering is difficult to fathom--and though relief efforts are underway, reports from the ground indicate that the response has been far too small and slow to provide the level of relief needed.  That's why we hope you'll take a moment to send some money off to the relief agencies and local groups dealing with the recent climate disasters: www.350.org/disasters All of the countries recently devastated by the floods, mudslides, and heatwaves were hugely active in the International Day of Climate Action last October 24 (check out the photos below) and they're all planning events for 10/10/10: the Global Work Party.  It's both tragic and inspiring to see the pictures of a fifth of Pakistan underwater--and in those same areas see amazing events registered 10/10/10. In the face of a changing climate, we hope you'll send some money to the victims of climate disasters--and that you'll keep working in your community to build this movement. Many thanks, Bill McKibben for the 350.org Team P.S. We're sure you've seen the heart-wrenching images of Pakistanis underwater, Russians coping with fire, and the Chinese recovering from devastating mudslides. We thought you might like to see a more hopeful set of pictures from these countries: Pakistan Russia China You should join us on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350 To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup 350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate

Congress-Dirty Energy Money-US Politicians

No More Dirty Energy Money!

Congress' inability to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation is completely unacceptable.  

Enough is enough.  To break our nation's addiction to oil and coal, our Representatives will clearly have to break their addiction to dirty energy money. 





No more oily Representatives. No more subsidies to these rich corporations as rewards for campaign contributions. 







Our government should represent us, not the fossil fuel industry.  





Use this tool to write your Representatives in Washington today and demand that they end their addiction to dirty energy money!

Loading data, please wait ....

In order to address your message to the appropriate recipient, we need to identify where you are.
Please enter your zip/postal code:

To Find the Top Contributors and The Politicians who are receiving Political Pay-Offs use the following link: http://dirtyenergymoney.com/

--
Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com


  Energy-policy analysis and congressional action