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Energy Saving Tip Reminder for Winter

« Bentley’s Technology Sessions at Ecobuild America

POSTED ON OCTOBER 27TH, 2011 BY NICK

9 ways to save on your energy bill for your office/business.

1: Purchase energy efficient light bulbs. For example CFLs can save your business money. Compared to regular incandescent light bulbs, they use up to 75% less energy! Go further…research LEDs. LEDs can operate at about 6 times more in lifetime than CFLs. “If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an energy star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and present greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars” – EPA

2: Psychological reminders: On the bottom of your e-signature, place the following message, “Please remember the environment before printing…” Visual notes like these seen everyday speak loudly overtime.

3: Another psychological reminder for anyone leaving work late: Right before you leave work, place a note on your door, for example: “Last One out, Flip The Switch, Close The Windows.” Leave the note on the door for the future. This will have a lasting imprint.

4: Perform an energy audit to help find the energy and heat leaks within your work environment. Or tell your building manager to perform one for you. This can help reduce your rental and energy cost.

5: Purchase energy efficient equipment. Be cautious of old computers, monitors, printers, and devices sitting around. Turn your business from a Flintstone to a Jetson. Saving energy saves money. By using energy-efficient equipment, a medium size office can save up to $400 per year on utilities (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy).

6: Turn off and power down office equipment while you leave.

7: For bathrooms, invest in paperless hand dryer and automatic sensing faucet. For example, the EZ automatic sinks out there can save a business 70% water per hand wash while reducing germ contamination. Paperless, automatic hand dryers save the environment, thus lowering waste and reducing cost.

8: Use e-mail as much as possible. Devise a process improvement strategy to do so. If you were to eliminate purchasing office paper, how much would you be saving?

9: Turn down office temperature by purchasing an efficient thermostat. Contact your local utility company to see if you can qualify for an efficient thermostat. Turning down your temperature by several degrees can add up in generous savings.

Try these simple tips or suggestions within your job or business. Or take it one step further and apply some of the strategies towards your home. Taking these small steps can make a powerful difference for you and the environment as well. Have a great day and let’s have a bright future!

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to go green, a nice energy audit will send you in the right direction. The insight you gain from it will give you plenty of ideas for a little green remodeling, so you can become part of the solution.

Tags: EPA, Green Best Practices

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#EPA #Green Best Practices

GOVGREEN CONFERENCE AND EXPOSITION

REGISTRATION

GOVgreen registration is now open, click here to register!

EXHIBITORS: Click here to register your booth personnel to the show.Each exhibitor is entitled to three (3) exhibit personnel badges per 10’ x 10’ (100 nsf) booth.NOTE: Exhibitor badges are only valid for access to the exhibit hall; if you wish to attend the conference sessions, you must register as an attendee and pay the appropriate fees.

Questions?For GOVgreen Conference and Exposition questions, please contact:

GOVgreen Customer Relations1.703.683.8500 or [email protected]

For questions regarding registration, please contact [email protected] or call 708-486-0762.

CEIL’s GOVgreen POLICIES

Age Limits: NO ONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 years old, including infants, is permitted in the exhibit hall or educational sessions.

Federal Government Employees/Military Personnel: CEIL’s GOVgreen Conference and Exposition is free to credentialed government and military personnel. A valid Federal employee ID badge is required and must be presented onsite to receive free admission. If credentials are not provided onsite, applicable registration fees may be charged.

Academic/Nonprofit/State/Local Government Employees: A valid employee ID badge or nonprofit business card is required and must be presented onsite to receive the discounted rate. If credentials are not provided onsite, applicable registration fees may be charged.

Contractor/Consultant: Contractors and consultants to the federal government are considered to be within this category. A valid Federal employee ID badge or official consultant business card is required and must be presented onsite to receive admission to GOVgreen 2011. If credentials are not provided onsite, admittance may not be allowed.

Photo ID: Every attendee is required to present a valid photo ID onsite to gain admission to show floor and education sessions.Special Note:For Federal Government Employees and Military personnel, your government-issued, employee photo ID card is required to receive free admission to education sessions and exhibit hall.

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#GOVGREEN CONFERENCE AND EXPOSITION

BENTLEY’S TECHNOLOGY SESSIONS AT ECOBUILD AMERICA

Bentley Systems is offering six technology sessions at Ecobuild®America, Washington, D.C. December 5-9, 2011.

As part of Ecobuild’s Conference Within a Conference series, the Tech Users Sessions will run throughout event.

“Our government in DC is investing heavily in infrastructure across America, “ says Huw Roberts, AIA-Global Marketing Director, Bentley Systems. “At Ecobuild® America, Bentley will be presenting several highly informative conference sessions on how our information modeling software, for all disciplines and infrastructure types, can help users best benefit from and participate in that investment.”

The educational sessions are oriented towards current and prospective users of Bentley software systems, and help practitioners quickly gain insight on how Bentley software provides a competitive advantage on today’s AEC projects – by increasing productivity, reducing cost and risk, and improving quality.

Key Sessions -View Complete Listing

Discount Code: BLS11Register Here

Tuesday, 8:30 AM – 10:00 AMSustainable Parametric Design

Tuesday, 10:15 AM – 11:45 AMEnvironmentally Sustainable Design: Going from “Green” to Truly…

Tuesday, 1:15 PM – 2:45 PMInspiring Project Case Studies – Sustaining…

Tuesday, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PMBIM to SIM (or how do I get that rich data into my simulations…

Wednesday, 10:15 AM – 11:45 AMInformation Modeling in Transportation and Site Design

Thursday, 8:30 AM – 10:00 AMBig BIM-Connecting Project Teams

Please click here for more information.

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#AEC Projects #AIA-Global Marketing Director #Bentley's Technology Session #EcoBuild America

COMMUNITY SOLAR DAY – OCCUPY ROOFTOPS

Community Solar DayHappening in 22 communitiesNov 20, 2011Interested in helping your community go solar? Then get together with your friends on November 20th to kickstart your project by taking a photo at (or on the roof) of the building you want to help go …visit Community Solar on MeetUp.com for more information.

About Community Solar Meetups Everywhere23 superheros 25 citiesAround the globe people are coming together to take a picture of a school, place of worship, community building or local park that they plan to occupy with beautiful solar panels. Start a group today and begin moving your community towards energy independence!

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#Community Solar Day #Occupy Rooftops #Occupy Wall Street #Solar panel

Green Your Baby by Tamara Raseberry

« Solar Lease in Maryland

POSTED ON OCTOBER 26TH, 2011 BY TAMARA RASBERRY

Parenthood is an important responsibility. It is from the parents that children learn their initial lessons about everything, including being environmentally responsible. You will set the example for your children when it comes to actions such as recycling, re-use of materials and lessening your carbon footprint. No need to wait until your offspring are old enough to sort recyclables from the trash before you start putting them on the pathway to greener living. Start them off early! From food to clothes to diapers to toys, there are several options available that will help you and your baby go green.

Diapers - Instead of using ordinary disposable diapers, consider reusable options. Back in the day parents used the boring, bulky cloth diapers with the huge safety pins. You can go that route or you can opt for an updated version made from organic cotton and designed to be super absorbent.

Food - Optimally you would have the time (and energy) to puree organic fruits and vegetables for your little one, but for many new parents, time is of the essence. Thankfully, there are certified organic options available to save you time and take the guesswork out of “what can I feed my baby?”

Skincare - Your baby needs to be clean. Your baby needs his/her skin moisturized and protected. Your baby does NOT need a lot of extra dyes and fragrances poured into environmentally irresponsible packaging. Look for hypoallergenic, paraben-free versions of body wash, shampoo, lotion etc. – preferably in recycled/recyclable packaging.

Clothes – You have similar options for eco-friendly clothing for children as for adults. Seek out organic materials and when it comes to children’s clothing, hand-me-downs and thrift stores are your best friends.

Toys - Opt for toys made from natural materials (cotton, rubber, etc.) and that use non-toxic paint. Babies love to put things in their mouths! Confirm that the product is PVC, BPA and Phthalate free – it should say this on the (optimally recycled) packaging.

Your baby won’t quite realize or understand the importance of the choices that you are making but as he/she gets older, you can explain it to them. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.

Tags: carbon footprint, green diapers, parenthood

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Is it possible! Renewable-energy standards is an issue?

« Fear the Turtle, Tear the Trash!

POSTED ON AUGUST 17TH, 2011 BY NICK

I am not sure how this was suppose to work out. But when the Department of energy and several state government proposed that certain percentage of energy resources will stem from clean energy, there was going to be some legislation to support that objective. The Washington Times reported that the mandate from the state of Colorado to produce 30% of clean energy is unconstitutional. American Traditional Institute filed a complaint to clam that the mandate violated Commerce Clause. In essence, this proposed legislation by Colorado government, is a burden to the economics for its residents; in the sense that it forces the purchase of renewables energy services against other energy resources that are “less expensive” and “less polluting”. Really?

The article claims that emission pollutants increase due to the presence of renewable energy resources; such as wind power demanding backup generation of fossil fuel on the grounds of inconsistency and unreliability. That is to say, the “flickering” power generated by such fuels as backup for wind forms more emission than a steady fossil fuel generator would.

Isn’t the fossil fuels itself the pollutant to begin with? This a serious assertion that renewable energy resource is a costly service than the traditional energy resources; while also claiming they are pollutant products and job killers. Stating the these residents are victims if they “bend” to subscribing clean energy resource is quite an exaggeration.

It would be very satisfying to have any data to support these claims. I don’t see how wind-power and other clean energy elements are somehow pollutants, since they don’t generate any emission. I would also assume that renewable energy providers will have to compete with other markets to gain more customers, which should mean that having a higher energy price will be repelling to customers, not to mention unsustainable for their companies. Nevertheless, Obama’s administration and department of energy would not go as far as promoting clean energy and heavily invest for such development if they are pollutants or a luxury alternative for only a select population to purchase. In addition, this is also a new realm of job creation under manufacturing and industrialization for the country.

This trend in recent technology is about emergence of batteries and equipment that pertain to the engineering of electric cars. That is the same development with wind-power, solar-power and other renewable resources. These are among the options on alternative energy resources that are initiated to increase renewable energy usage that basically offset carbon footprints and serve the environment better.

The relevance to this issue is that the outcome of this filed complaint will have ripple effects to the other 29 and other prospective states that enable renewable energy standards. Development of wind farms and solar panels are not to enforce mandates to customers but rather encourage people to more affordable clean energy. Clearly, this article confuses the agenda of clean energy. China, Germany and United States are the top 3 in clean energy investment, so they must have more facts and conviction that clean energy is the new direction of energy consumption and technology. On the issue of Commerce Clause, I believe that the free energy regulation on these 30 states permit the approval of renewable energy standards and not to purchase expensive amenities. Renewable energy credits (RECs) have comparable rates as your current energy supplier or most likely, cheaper.

Understand that eco-living is smart living. Majority of energy efficiency or sustainable living is to save money and ultimately improve your way of living. So it would not be in favor of renewable energy ventures to have these counter-beneficial implications to the environment as a whole.

Tags: affordable energy resource, cheap energy resource, clean energy, Maryland alternative energy, sobuka, solar lease, solar power

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#affordable energy resource #cheap energy resource #clean energy #Maryland alternative energy #sobuka #solar lease #solar power

Solar Lease in Maryland

« Fear the Turtle, Tear the Trash!

POSTED ON AUGUST 17TH, 2011 BY NICK

While the success of sustainable energy using wind power continues to expand, there is also another resource that is gaining similar momentum – solar energy. We once featured the concept about solar lease, now we are highlighting that with some specifics.

The state of Maryland is privilege on benefits of solar power from solar leasing option, courtesy of SolarCity. This company is offering a solar panel leasing program that would make home owners and businesses attain much quicker solar benefits. Similar to other companies such as SolarCity’s service, they offer a no up-front-cost solar lease that has since been popular in the west coast. The solar lease is structured such that an arranged fixed monthly payment is established while experiencing immediate energy savings.

This comes as another alternative that would generate more customers due to the pricey scare of basic photovoltaic system install purchase. Though the federal government contributed towards PV system purchases with 30% tax credit, the expected conversion did not translate. Hopefully with this much affordable solar lease, we would see the expected spike that reflects on the benefits of clean energy resources.

Maryland solar energy generation is going to broaden as more homeowners become more informed thus embracing this and more clean energy development within the state. So in addition to the tax incentives, this un-strenuous plan to your budget will garner much subscription popularity in the west. Take advantage of this great opportunity, your savings is only a contact away!

Sobuka can connect you with the right contractors to initiate your efforts to energy saving. Request a free quote so we can get you started!

Tags: affordable energy resource, cheap energy resource, clean energy, Maryland alternative energy, sobuka, solar lease, solar power

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#affordable energy resource #cheap energy resource #clean energy #Maryland alternative energy #sobuka #solar lease #solar power

A Majic Hat of Beer

« 5 Tips on Creating an Eco-Friendly Home

POSTED ON AUGUST 16TH, 2011 BY NICK

If you’re like most folks at happy hour, you probably never think about what it took to make that beer in your hand… some could care less about the quantity they consume, but that’s another topic… anyway, did you know that one of the best breweries out there is running its operations on beer? No, they’re not getting drunk off their own supply, instead they’re running their facility by turning their excess beer and other organic waste into natural gas.

A typical brewery produces plenty of organic waste during the brewing process by using large quantities of hops, barley, yeast, etc.. Some of the spent grain is usually sold or given away to farmers as cattle feed, and some of it may end up as wastewater in the watershed, after being treated on site. But thanks to Purpose Energy‘s biphase orbicular bioreactor (or B.O.B.), the brewery’s organic waste can be turned into biogas, which can then be used to power the facility.

The man behind Purpose Energy and B.O.B. is Eric Fitch, a 37 year-old mechanical engineer by training, and home brewing extraordinaire (he once clogged up the pipes of his Cambridge, MA, apartment building when he dumped the oatmeal looking organic waste from his brew into his garbage dispenser). Fitch initially tested out his invention by taking away the waste from Yuengling’s brewery in Tampla, FL, to a local farm, where he dumped it into a 400-gallon methane digester. With his refined B.O.B, he went back to New England to approach several breweries for a pilot project, and Magic Hat agreed.

Magic Hat’s 42-foot tall silo structure is what houses Purpose Energy’s B.O.B. system. The B.O.B. has a 50-foot diameter, can hold 490,000 gallons of waste slurry, and produces about 200 cubic feet of biogas per minute to power the brewery’s operations. The whole thing cost about $4 million to build, and just 100 feet away from the main Magic Hat facility, it’s like having your own power plant in your backyard. The system can save up to $2 per barrel of beer, and with Magic Hat’s medium-sized operations delivering 154,000 barrels of beer per year, they save approximately $25,000 every month!

Like its company slogan says, Purpose Energy is “saving the earth, one beer at a time.” And we say cheers to that! (via boston.com, treehugger.com)

Tags: biogas, green brewery, Magic Hat, Purpose Energy

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#biogas #green brewery #Magic Hat #Purpose Energy

Believe in Wind Power

« 5 Tips on Creating an Eco-Friendly Home

Believe in Wind Power

POSTED ON AUGUST 16TH, 2011 BY NICK

Another bold move to contribute in green strides recently occurred. These types of recognition is always encouraging to have because there is only so much engagement and infrastructure that are developed to increase energy efficient consciousness to more communities. This is reports about Warren Buffert – who is considered one of America’s brilliant investor, recently invested in a lot of wind power project making his company #1 in wind power ownership. This amount of possession increases wind energy technology and businesses that will lead to more alternative energy subscribers.

In addition, this project counts another wind farm development like that of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Wind energy industry continues to expand as more interested parties like Google buy into this aspect of developing clean energy. To this effect, wind power is going to be a major factor to producing clean energy into the nation’s power grid thus garnering more bureaucratic and private attention.

Though some may think that this move could be based on mere investment rather than an environmental interest. But, be that as it may, the end result will not only encourage more investors and this particular market, it will pose to gain more commercial and residential customers. Eventually other energy efficient resources could enter this market to this movement a national success.

The company – MidAmerican plans to install significant numbers of wind turbines that would generate about 3000 megawatts of clean energy this year, with more to come. That is quite a catalyst for clean energy generation services. Similar to MidAmerican, companies like Clean Currents* provide renewable energy to either businesses or residents at affordable prices. Their efforts benefit the community by providing a more affordable energy resource and also contribute to using natural sustainable energy.

So this, in a matter of doubt is proof that renewable energy is the technology that is paired with today’s technology worth every penny for investing. Producing energy that is competitive to the fossil fuel market is something worth buying into. Sooner than later, a large percentage would be subscribers to these types of “preferred reserves”.

sobuka is proud to be of service to assist in converting to clean energy supply. The easy steps starts here.

* – only available at selected states.

Tags: clean energy generation, Clean Energy Investments, renewable energy investments, Wind Energy, wind farms, Wind RECs providers, wind services

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#clean energy generation #Clean Energy Investments #renewable energy investments #Wind Energy #wind farms #Wind RECs providers #wind services

5 Tips on Creating an Eco-Friendly Home

« Fear the Trash!

POSTED ON AUGUST 11TH, 2011 BY TAMARA RASBERRY

As we become more and more conscious of the effects that our lifestyles have on the environment, we need to consider ways that we can be eco-responsible in all aspects of our lives, including home décor. Even small changes in paint choice and flooring can have a large impact. Here are five tips you can use to make your home not only beautiful, but also environmentally friendly.

1. Axe the Age-Old Appliances. This is not just about having the hottest, shiny new thing. Older appliances often use more energy than necessary. Make sure that all of your appliances are Energy Star-rated. Replaced appliances can often be recycled so be sure to check for local options.

2. Treat Your Windows Well. Select curtains that not only complement your color scheme, but that also have thermal lining. Thermal-lined curtains can significantly lower your heating and cooling costs.

3. Paint with Purpose. Paint can completely change the look and mood of a room. When selecting the shades that you will use to create the right look for your room, choose non-VOC options. VOCs are volatile organic compounds and create the fumes you typically smell from paint.

4. LED the Way. When it comes to eco-friendly lighting, LED (light emitting diode) is the way to go. LED bulbs consume less energy and can last for up to 20 years. You can purchase LED lamps or just install LED bulbs in the lamps you already have.

5. Reclaim, Repurpose, Reuse. You don’t always have to buy brand new furniture to spruce up your place. Thrift stores are a treasure trove of great furniture finds for a fraction of the cost. You can also ask friends and relatives for any pieces that are in good condition, but they no longer need or want. Also consider updating furniture that you have by painting or reupholstering to give it a new look.

By making a few conscious design choices, your home can be both design forward and eco-friendly. Go forth and decorate!

Tags: Electricity Bill Household Applicances, home decor, LED

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#Electricity Bill Household Applicances #home decor #LED

All-electric, hybrid, and diesel all-in-one!

« Saving Money With Public Transportation

POSTED ON AUGUST 10TH, 2011 BY NICK

We just posted some great videos highlighting green cars from the Washington DC Auto Show (Watch SobukaTV), and we found one more cool car worth mentioning, the amazing Volvo V60! Most car manufacturers pick a specific efficient technology and design the car around it, but the engineers at Volvo decided to merge three different technologies into one!

Scheduled to be revealed at the Geneva Auto Show on March 1st 2011, the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid is designed to operate as an all-electric, as a hybrid, or as a diesel, at the switch of a button. This gives consumers the choice of changing their driving style depending on the situation. If you have a simple commute of driving back and forth between work and home, you can put it in Pure mode and drive it as an all-electric, with a range of up to 30 miles. Not enough? switch it to a hybrid and stop worrying about the distance, because in Hybrid mode it can cover up-to 745 miles (125 mpg equivalent) on a single tank of diesel! That’s like driving from Washington D.C. to Chicago, IL or Jacksonville, FL on a single tank of gas! Obviously if you’re stuck in traffic, etc. this may change some, but it’s still amazing! And if you pull up next to some ego-tripping “lemme race you and leave you in the dust” type, switch to Power mode and let them taste the 285 horsepower from the combined diesel and electric motors, with 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds and 472 foot-pounds of torque. They’ll have second thoughts of ridiculing your Volvo “family” wagon.

The V60′s front wheels are are powered by the five-cylinder 2.4 liter D5 turbo-diesel engine (215 horsepower and 320 foot-pounds of torque). The rear wheels are powered by a 70 horsepower electric motor that gets its juice from a 12 kilo-watt-hour lithium ion battery pack. The car comes with a six-speed automatic transmission. Volvo estimates the car will be in European showrooms by 2012, and it seems like it will be a while until we get it here in the US. With Europe’s diesel prices at approximately $7.80/gallon compared to the $3.80/gallon in the US, you can’t be mad at them for that… but we need such cars here too! (viaTreehugger, wired, and volvo)

Tags: electric, green cars, green tech, hybrid, plug-inX V60, volvo

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#electric #green cars #green tech #hybrid #plug-inX V60 #volvo

Saving Money With Public Transportation

« Go Green – Fashionably!

POSTED ON AUGUST 8TH, 2011 BY NICK

For the past two and a half years, John has been commuting back and forth from Washington, DC to Baltimore, MD, a 100 mile round trip. Until one day home, John got into a car accident. (Don’t worry he was not hurt.)

After the accident, he was trying to figure out how much he could save with public transportation, a much cleaner alternative than driving.

So one day he drafted the following questions along with his responses to analyze the cost of public transportation vs driving. The follow is his analysis:

1.) What time does my job start and end?

John’s response: 8am to 4:30 pm.

2.) Are there bus routes, rail, or combo-metro routes leading from my home to work?

John’s response: Yes. I can take the DC metro, bus F4, from Prince George’s Plaza Station to New Carrollton Station (MD). Then from New Carrollton, I can take the Marc Train to Baltimore Penn Station.

3.) Is the cost of driving a new car effective anyway?

Cost of Driving:

Cost of comprehensive insurance per month: $200.00 (before the accident)

Cost of fuel per week given 100/mile day commute: $40.00 (2001 Toyota Corolla )

Cost of monthly parking pass: $110.00

Other factors for John to consider:

Purchase a minimal, new reliable car: $vary

Maintenance and service on new car: $vary

Total monthly cost to work by car, not including vehicle purchase or M/S: $390.00

Cost of Public Transportation:

Monthly transit pass (Bus + Rail + Marc included): $250.00

Other factors to consider:

ZipCar: Rental for $7.00 an hour for after work activities.

Total monthly cost for John to take public transportation to work: $250.00

This is a difference of $140.00 that John would save if he rode public transportation.

Have you carefully looked at your own commute from a financial perspective? How much would you be saving or spending?

Tags: DC Metro, MARC, New Carrollton, Prince George's Plaza, SmartTrip, ZipCar

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A Simple Way to Go Solar.

« Go Green – Fashionably!

POSTED ON AUGUST 8TH, 2011 BY NICK

Several months ago, we wrote a blog highlighting the solar lease as a way for people to get a solar installation without incurring any upfront costs. Today we are introducing you to the solar Power Purchase Agreement, or sPPA: another viable alternative for getting solar panels without any upfront costs.

What’s a sPPA?

Ok, you do want them solar panels on your home or office building but you don’t like the upfront cost. You also don’t want to lease them like we mentioned above. That’s where the sPPA option comes in.

With this alternative, you let the solar company put panels at your site, but you do not pay for the installation. You simply pay for the electricity that these panels generate.

The Benefits

Because you don’t technically own the panels, you save a boat-load of cash by not paying for the installation or maintenance. The cost of the electricity from these panels is usually the same amount or lower than what you were already paying PEPCO or BG&E, or whatever utility company you have. Your contract with the solar company will state what the agreed rate per kilowatt-hour is. This rate will usually go up by 1% to 5% per year, but it is designed to remain below the typical annual rate increases from your utility company. Your contract with the solar company usually lasts about 6 years, and at the end of the contract, you can agree to another contract, buy the solar panels, or get them removed.

Here’s an example. Imagine you signed a sPPA contract 6 years ago, in 2004, for solar panels that generate 20% of your home’s electricity (you still pay the regular utility company for the remaining 80%). Let’s assume your household uses an average of 1000 kW-hours of electricity per month, and if we use the 2004 average US national rate of 8.95 cents/kW-hour, your total electric bill would be $89.50 per month. In January 2005, the average national electricity rate went up to 9.45 cents/kW-hour, but your sPPA rate goes up by 1% according to your contract, to 9.04 cents/kW-hour. If we do the math, you now pay $75.60 for 80% of your electricity (800 kW-hours) to your utility, and $18.08 for the remaining 20% (200 kW-hours) to the solar company. That’s a total of $93.68 for January 2005.

Now in 2010, reaching the end of your 6-year contract, and how much have you saved so far? If you never got solar panels, then you spent a total of $8,854.80. However with the sPPA model, you spent a total of $8,633.31. Your total savings over the the last 6 years are $221.49. Wait, did you just say that’s not a big deal? Let’s give you a couple more reasons:

the utility’s electricity rate (red line) jumps up in an unpredictable fashion, while the sPPA rate (green line) is predictable because your contract tells you exactly what you’ll be paying over the 6 years of solar power. Knowing your electricity cost in advance is a huge benefit for planning and budgeting.

over the 6-year period, you prevented your utility company from generating 14,400 kW-hours of unclean electricity, because you had your own clean version to use. That’s the equivalent of 11.7 metric tons of CO2 emissions, or in plain English: you stopped 2 cars from emitting pollutants for a year.

Let’s not forget the “I got solar panels on my roof” statement you can use freely at every cocktail party; that’s some major cool points right there…

Just remember this: the whole thing cost you nothing to setup. You simply chose a different path to get your electricity and become a good citizen of the environment.

The “Bad”

There’s nothing bad about going green, hence the quotation marks. However here are the changes that you might have to deal with by going solar with a PPA model:

you will not cash-in any of the government tax credits or state rebates for using solar, because you don’t own the panels

you will not be able to receive cash for any solar Renewable Energy Certificates (sRECs), again because you don’t own the panels

if you are short-term leasing your place, the lease may prevent you form getting a PPA because you need at least 6 years for the contract. In addition, your landlord may not want you to make changes to the property, so your solar panels may not be installed in the ideal location, if any at all

you may save money by buying the solar panels outright, especially if you consider the government-backed incentives

your property taxes may go higher if your property gets reassessed after the solar panel install

taxes and other surcharges by your utility company may take up the amount of money saved, so you may not save anything financially

Ok, now that you have a picture of the good and the “bad,” please remember that you are doing this not just to save money, but to help the environment. What’s next? Why not explore the different solar installation types? And as always, let us know if you need FREE quotes for a solar installation from our list of wonderful contractors.

Tags: power purchase agreement, PPA, solar

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Several Sweet Gifts

« Go Green – Fashionably!

POSTED ON JULY 28TH, 2011 BY NICK

What do vegetable and soy inks, recycled and bamboo papers, fair trade chocolate, and an organic wine have in common? A great gift of course! For the eco-conscious couple that thinks about today’s actions for a better tomorrow [for your kids, and kids' kids..] or for the rest that wants a well-thought-out gift idea, here’s a short list.

Moral sugar tooth

Dagoba‘s blend of rich dark chocolate from organic cacao beans, with raw sugar and other natural ingredients [healthy! ..in moderation] will address that craving for your sweet tooth, and it will make you feel great, considering the fact that these great chocolatiers have Fair Trade business practices. Local farmers in cacao-rich Central/South America and Madagascar grow and prepare these goodies with beneficial returns for their land and their communities. In addition, they use recycled paper wrappers and print them with vegetable based inks! Here’s a link to other organic chocolatiers.

Flowers and emotions spilled on paper

Whether you craft your emotions on paper or you need someone to say the things for you, we don’t care. But we do think it would be pretty cool to get some eco-friendly cards. By far our favorite, the plantable [yes, as in seeds!] cards from Botanical Paperworks let you give the gift of freshly grown flowers from a card! So if you forget to get the flowers, you actually have a pretty sound excuse:

He: “I got the freshest flowers for you babe!”She: “Yay! you’re the best! where are they?”He: “They’re in the card, how cool is that?! …you still have to grow them.”She: “…”He: “fresh flowers babe, it can’t get any fresher than that.. you’ll have them for months!”

So yea, …maybe you still need a bouquet of flowers.. anyway here’s a list of other eco-friendly cards.

For the wine snob [wannabe]

The USDA Organic seal has some very strict guidelines to follow. And when a great-tasting meal pairing is obtained with wine from organically grown grapes, then we toast to the wine maker! Grapes are frequently grown with the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, so when wine makers drop today’s commonly used fast-paced growing methods and deliver a good glass of wine, we all benefit. Our favorite here is Bonterra Vineyards, a farm that has been growing food organically since 1987. Their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon holds strong accolades with a 92 point rating by Wine Enthusiast. A toast to Bonterra.

The grub and the venue

We leave that up to you, but we do have one recommendation… how about you stay in and cook something?

Tags: bamboo paper, green gift guide, organic chocolate, organic wine, recycled paper, soy ink,vegetable ink

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Recycling Envelopes – Contest Winner

« Go Green – Fashionably!

POSTED ON JULY 28TH, 2011 BY NICK

We would like to congratulate David Thompson from Washington, DC, winner of Sobuka’s Green Photo of the Month contest, with a $50 prize and again it was SUPER EASY… even a child could do it. Let me tell you just how EASY it was, so our winner David went to his local post office to handle some business and purchase stamps when he noticed there was a box of FREE RECYCLING ENVELOPES used for recycling electronic waste (e-waste) such as inkjet cartridges, cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and other small electronics. He pulled his phone out of its case and went SNAAAAAAP!…actually his camera phone was on silent and his camera flash was off so he didn’t hear the SNAAAAAAP! sound. Afterwards, he emailed his green photo to Sobuka and his photo was the best out of all the other submissions which made him our WINNER. YAAYYYYYYYY!

E-waste is literally a growing problem and we must help reduce this problem at all costs. In the U.S., we generated an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of e-waste in 2006 alone. However, this number will continue to grow as new electronics are introduced to the market and consumers continue to upgrade to the next best thing. Do us and the environment a favor and look around your house for all your old electronics (cell phones, PDA’s, etc) and RECYCLE THEM for FREE using the recycling envelops found at your local post office. For more information about recycling e-waste and recycling in general check out the following links:

Earth911.com

Free Recycling Envelopes from USPS

Thanks again to all the participants! For your chance to WIN take part in our next contest.

Contest Rules:

Submit one picture that you took of something green (environmentally friendly technology, service, process, etc.). Remember to tell us where it was taken, and why you think it’s green related. Mail your photo to contest [at] sobuka [dot] com. Happy shootin!

Tags: contest winner, recycling envelopes

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#contest winner #recycling envelopes

There’s a Groupon for you – GreenDeals.org

« Recycled paper photo contest

POSTED ON JULY 19TH, 2011 BY NICK

In case you haven’t heard, Groupon, a web-based coupons seller for various local businesses, is making a killing with its business model. So much so in fact, that itdeclined a $6B offer from Google! Its amazing success in this market has left the doors wide open for plenty of other competitors with a similar model, thus giving customers like you and I more choices for discounted coupon deals to enjoy.

The latest addition to this market comes from the good folks at Green America, a network of eco-friendly and socially responsible businesses. The site is GreenDeals.org, and it focuses on bringing customers green-related coupon discounts from the vast network of Green America approved businesses. The site was launched in November 2010 at the San Francisco Green Festival, after conducting beta testing with over 100,000 users (via GreenBiz.com).

The success of the Groupons of the world does show that customers are willing to wait for discount bargains on items that they may have overlooked in the past. From our experiences at sobuka.com, financial concerns are stated as the biggest barrier to entry when it comes to go green. If green related deals are packaged and presented successfully, there is no reason why GreenDeals.org can’t break through the barrier and move more customers to eco-friendly alternatives while shopping.

Tags: green america, green coupons, Green Shopping, greendeals.org, groupon

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#green america #green coupons #Green Shopping #greendeals.org #groupon

E-Discovery Saves Trees

« Recycled paper photo contest

POSTED ON JULY 19TH, 2011 BY NICK

I occasionally run into many seasoned legal professionals around the Washington DC area working on big corporate cases. In almost every encounter, there is a conversation about the massive size of files (.doc, .xls, .ppt,..) they receive from their clients. They include hard drives, cd’s/dvd’s, flash drives, and even back-up tapes. Yes, I said back-up tapes.

Some of you tech savvy people who already know what is a back-up tape, just hold on for a minute, while I explain…. All the information that is central to your job is backed up. Depending on the type of IT budget your company has allocated in preserving your data, the information you work on is saved on or off site, real-time, daily, weekly, monthly, or whatever your IT data retention policy states.

WHy is this conversation so critical? Back-up tapes can range in size that’s why. Let’s start with a 250 GB back-up tape, the standard size of a desktop hard drive these days. Let’s assume that each file on your tape is about 1/4 of a MB (250 KB), filled with all types of office files (word docs, power point, excel spreadsheet, etc..). Now you are talking about 1,000,000 files easily just off one tape.

Here is how we relate this ‘legal-tecky’ conversation to Sobuka:

If the average file is 5 pages, that’s already at 5,000,000 pages (10,000 realms – 500 pages/realm)! Try printing that out to your favorite Xerox machine. You’d be in the office for the next 20 days non-stop. RainForestMaker.org calculator estimates this as cutting down 720 trees. I am trying to figure out how may trees Noah’s Ark used up to save the world. Because for just one back-up tape, the size of a regular computer HD, all the trees on our planet (~ 400 billion) would be in jeopardy, a subtle but trend-like Armageddon.

We should be thankful that the legal industry already knows this is not practical but even more from a financial standpoint. They have utilized technology throughout the years to help take snapshots of files by producing them into tiff images, jpegs, and even ‘natively,’ thus reducing the need for paper.

Let us know how your business or industry is saving trees. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Tags: E-Discovery, EDD

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#E-Discovery #EDD

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