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

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!  

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!

LED 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!

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