Sustainability and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources and Links

For those wanting to save energy, save money, and reduce pollution and waste there are a number of free resources available on the Internet. The following list can provide a good starting place for solving energy problems.

Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU – UNO) Links

Climate Portal report - main page: http://climate.uu-uno.org/

 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web Sites

www.energy.sc.gov The South Carolina Energy Office, through the Plan for State Energy Policy, provides a broad range of resources designed to help citizens, businesses, and public entities save energy - and money - through greater efficiency, better information and enhanced environmental quality.   See Residential for saving money & energy at home

www.eere.energy.gov U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Home Page.  US Department of Energy web site for information on energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

www.energystar.gov Energy Star for information on products, home improvement, assessing problems, green building, and other aspects of energy efficiency.

EERE Energy Savers www.energysavers.gov & http://energy.gov/energysaver/energy-saver

Home Energy Saver www.homeenergysaver.lbl.gov

www.ornl.gov/~roofs/Zip/ZipHome.html ZIP Code Insulation Program

http://www.roofcalc.com/ Roof Savings Calculator (RSC) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  White Roofs Cool the World, Directly Offset CO2 and Delay Global Warming, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory  http://coolcolors.lbl.gov/assets/docs/fact-sheets/Global- cooling-2pp.pdf

PV Watts Solar Energy Calculator The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed PVWATTS to permit non-experts to quickly obtain performance estimates for grid-connected PV systems within the United States. http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/pvwatts/ [See Site Specific Data Calculator (Version 1)]

U.S. Solar Radiation Maps Resource Maps www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html

Solar Water Heaters http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/solar-water- heaters

Weatherization Assistance Program The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/wap.html

Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) http://www.dsireusa.org/

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) www.aceee.org

Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) http://www.irecusa.org/

PACE Now For information about property assessed clean energy (PACE) legislation. http://pacenow.org/

A PACE bond is a bond where the proceeds are lent to commercial and residential property owners to finance energy retrofits (efficiency measures and small renewable energy systems) and who then repay their loans over 20 years via an annual assessment on their property tax bill. PACE bonds can be issued by municipal financing districts or finance companies and the proceeds can be typically used to retrofit both commercial and residential properties.

The PACE bond market has the potential to dramatically accelerate the energy retrofitting of America’s building stock.

PACE Impact: Property tax lien oriented financing that dramatically improves the economics of energy retrofits (efficiency measures and micro renewable energy)

[Note that PACE NOW is not the same as the South Carolina Palmetto Clean Energy (PaCE) program.]

Scientific American Magazine for articles on science, including energy and energy issues.  http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammag/ [search by topic or article title]

 

U.S. Green Building Council, S.C. Chapter http://www.usgbcsc.org/

Green Building Council of Greater Columbia http://www.columbiagreenbuilders.com/

The South Carolina Solar Council http://www.scsolarcouncil.org/

American Solar Energy Society http://www.ases.org/

Build it Solar www.builditsolar.com

Find Solar www.findsolar.com

Home Power Magazine https://homepower.com/

North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) http://www.nabcep.org/

Building Green www.buildinggreen.com

Rocky Mountain Institute www.rmi.org

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) http://ieer.org/

Some government websites provide information about energy efficiency and renewable energy. See what information your state and local governments provide and what incentives and tax advantages are available in your area. A good energy audit of your home, business, or workplace can help you decide how to proceed.

Compiled by Tom Howell