Climate Smart Missoula

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Our Story
    • Annual Report
    • People + Partners >
      • Smarty Pants Awards
    • In the News >
      • Missoula Current Column
      • Summer Smart News
      • Press Releases
    • Podcast
    • Jobs and Opportunities
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
  • Adaptation
    • Overview
    • Summer Smart >
      • Active Fires
      • Hotter Days and Nights >
        • Heat + Health Risks
        • Prepare for Heat
        • Shade
      • Drought and Low Flows
      • Shareable Products
      • Partners and Supporters
    • Wildfire Smoke >
      • HEPA Air Filtration
      • Improving Indoor Air Quality
      • Clean Air-Healthy Homes
      • Clean Air for Schools & Daycares
      • Pregnancy + Infants and Smoke
      • Older Adults and Wildfire Smoke
    • Resiliency Planning
    • Health and Climate >
      • Mental Health
    • Art and Humanities
    • Adaptation Resources
  • Mitigation
    • Overview >
      • 2015 Action Plan
      • Community Emissions Inventories
    • 100 % Clean Electricity
    • Solar >
      • Solar Ease
    • Buildings 4 the Future >
      • Electrify + B4F
      • Energy Smart
      • Workforce Coalition
    • Transportation + Smart Growth >
      • Land Use Planning
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Electric Bikes
      • Electric Buses
    • Financing
    • Zero Waste
    • Water Overview >
      • Water and Energy
      • Water and Resiliency
    • Mitigation Resources
  • Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • State Legislature 2023
    • Connect with us >
      • Volunteer Opportunities
      • Visualizing Climate
      • Climate Venn Diagram
    • Accelerate Clean Energy with the IRA
    • Act, Advocate, Invest
    • Clean Energy Expo
    • Footprint Fund
  • The Science
    • Overview
    • Climate Justice >
      • Justice and Indigenous Knowledge
    • Localized Impacts >
      • Specific Local Impacts
    • What We're Doing
  • Donate
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Our Story
    • Annual Report
    • People + Partners >
      • Smarty Pants Awards
    • In the News >
      • Missoula Current Column
      • Summer Smart News
      • Press Releases
    • Podcast
    • Jobs and Opportunities
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
  • Adaptation
    • Overview
    • Summer Smart >
      • Active Fires
      • Hotter Days and Nights >
        • Heat + Health Risks
        • Prepare for Heat
        • Shade
      • Drought and Low Flows
      • Shareable Products
      • Partners and Supporters
    • Wildfire Smoke >
      • HEPA Air Filtration
      • Improving Indoor Air Quality
      • Clean Air-Healthy Homes
      • Clean Air for Schools & Daycares
      • Pregnancy + Infants and Smoke
      • Older Adults and Wildfire Smoke
    • Resiliency Planning
    • Health and Climate >
      • Mental Health
    • Art and Humanities
    • Adaptation Resources
  • Mitigation
    • Overview >
      • 2015 Action Plan
      • Community Emissions Inventories
    • 100 % Clean Electricity
    • Solar >
      • Solar Ease
    • Buildings 4 the Future >
      • Electrify + B4F
      • Energy Smart
      • Workforce Coalition
    • Transportation + Smart Growth >
      • Land Use Planning
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Electric Bikes
      • Electric Buses
    • Financing
    • Zero Waste
    • Water Overview >
      • Water and Energy
      • Water and Resiliency
    • Mitigation Resources
  • Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • State Legislature 2023
    • Connect with us >
      • Volunteer Opportunities
      • Visualizing Climate
      • Climate Venn Diagram
    • Accelerate Clean Energy with the IRA
    • Act, Advocate, Invest
    • Clean Energy Expo
    • Footprint Fund
  • The Science
    • Overview
    • Climate Justice >
      • Justice and Indigenous Knowledge
    • Localized Impacts >
      • Specific Local Impacts
    • What We're Doing
  • Donate

Climate Smart Missoula's Blog

October Meetup: Getting energized about efficiency, conservation, and green building

10/10/2016

2 Comments

 
Autumn might just be my favorite season. The air outside is cool and crisp, the slanting light brings the golden mountains and trees into gorgeous contrast, cozying up inside with a steaming mug of tea seems ideal…are you a fan of fall too? Fall is also the time of year when I become hyper-sensitive to the indoor spaces I spend time in, turning on more lights and bumping the thermostat up a few degrees. After months of warm summer weather, it’s almost easy to forget that we live in a place that is cold and dark a lot of the year!  
Picture
Svein Newman from Northern Plains Resource Council explaining PACE.
For this reason, fall may actually be the perfect time to re-think ENERGY use in our built environment. At our Climate Smart Monthly Meetup at Imagine Nation Brewing last Thursday, we had a wide-ranging discussion about one of our biggest buckets: GREEN BUILDING, ENERGY EFFICIENCY and CONSERVATION.

​
Green building is a huge topic in its own right – we know there’s a lot we can do to make sure new homes, offices and schools are as smart as possible, such as setting green standards for building codes. We support the folks at the Five Valleys High Performance Building Collaborative and their goal to engage builders, architects and other technical experts in the green building conversation.
In the policy realm, an exciting effort, led by Northern Plains Resource Council, is also championing the passage of PACE legislation in the upcoming 2017 state legislative session. What the heck is PACE, you ask? It stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy, and in a nutshell, it’s a funding mechanism that expands opportunities for renewable energy and energy efficiency measures for homes and businesses. 
Lots of other states already have PACE programs, and we really like PACE because it makes clean energy and energy saving improvements more accessible to everyone, from low-income folks to landlords to big businesses. Want more details? Watch this video, read this recent op-ed in the Helena Independent Record, then contact Northern Plains to help move this policy forward in Montana!
PictureLED light bulbs are SUPER energy efficient and even come in decorative options.
Policies like PACE are super important, but they're only part of the energy sandwich. Forgive the silly lunch-hour metaphor, but if energy policy is the peanut butter, then the jelly is all the energy saving actions we can take as individuals and as a community. And the more jelly, the more delicious the sandwich! Replacing an old water heater or putting your lights on a timer may not be as sexy as installing shiny solar panels on your roof, but energy efficiency and conservation measures like these are pretty darn effective at shrinking carbon footprints, not to mention good for the wallet. (Wondering what’s the difference between efficiency and conservation? Good question. Check this out.)

At our meetup, we asked those gathered for some feedback and brainstorming about how to get our community jazzed to save energy together. Maybe all we need is a little friendly competition with our friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We are interested in gathering ideas and we want your help! We’d love it if you would take a minute to get in touch and tell us:
  • What resources or information would you need to reduce your home energy use?
  • Would your household participate in a competition to reduce your home energy use?
  • Would you join a team to play an energy saving game involving actions that earn points, special challenges, or other fun ways to get involved?
  • What incentives would motivate you to participate in an energy saving game or competition?


​As the weather gets cooler and winter marches ever closer, throw on an extra sweater, put your thinking cap on and share your creative ideas for saving energy with those around you, and with us, of course!

2 Comments
Kim link
11/23/2016 03:55:07 am

This is a great post. Thank for share

Reply
Arnold link
10/20/2021 09:51:37 pm

I like to take care of my health, both physical and mental. To avoid deficiencies, I had to adopt a balanced diet and above all use a specific food supplement. It is on this article that I found the product that allowed me to relive and enjoy optimal well-being without health concerns.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    Abby Huseth
    ​Amy Cilimburg
    Caroline Lauer
    Mason Dow
    ​Kelli Littleton
    Hailey Jorgensen
    ​Terri Nichols
    ​Max Longo
    ​Mattie Lehman
    Anna Weinberg

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    Categories

    All
    Bicycling
    Clean Energy
    Climate Change
    Climate Resiliency
    Community
    DearTomorrow
    Earth Day
    Electrification
    Energy Efficiency
    Food Systems
    Forestry
    Health
    Heat
    Inflation Reduction Act
    Local Food And Agriculture
    Monthly Meetups
    Policy
    Recycling
    Renewable Energy
    Shade
    Smart Growth
    Solar
    Summer Smart
    Transportation
    Trees
    Urban Forests
    Volunteer Opportunities
    Water
    Zero Waste

    RSS Feed

Connect with us! 

Picture
Picture
Picture

Sign Up For Our E-News

* indicates required