Celebrating Halloween today?  You should’ve been celebrating National Weatherization Day!  That’s right, today was National Weatherization Day.  Read the press release and find out more about national weatherization efforts from the Department of Energy:

Friday, October 30, 2009 is National Weatherization Day, recognizing the hard work thousands of Americans are doing to improve residential energy efficiency. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program. Weatherization can help low-income families—those most vulnerable to rising energy costs—to lower their energy bills by an average $350 per year.

In recognition of National Weatherization Day, Matt Rogers, Senior Advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu for Recovery Act Implementation, recorded a video message. The video emphasizes the energy and cost benefits of improved energy efficiency, encouraging all Americans to install energy efficiency measures in their own homes, and expresses appreciation for the nation’s weatherization network for its past accomplishments and its continued commitment to serving low-income citizens. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Weatherization Assistance Program will continue to grow and deliver results for American families across the country.

View the National Weatherization Day Video on the Weatherization Assistance Program Web site.

Read an op-ed from Energy Secretary Steven Chu on the benefits of weatherization.

To see how weatherization and other clean energy programs are impacting Americans’ lives, visit Energy Empowers.

For energy saving ideas and tips, visit Energy Savers.

Want to apply for grant money to weatherize multi-family housing?  Submit your information to Energy Outreach Colorado (“EOC”).  EOC recently received stimulus funding through the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office to weatherize multi-family housing in Colorado.

Filling out your mail-in ballot?  There are two Boulder County initiatives on the ballot this fall that are worthy of your support.  The Boulder Green Building Guild (“BGBG”) has endorsed these clean energy initiatives:

Ballot Issue 1B will authorize up to $85 million in additional bonding capacity for the ClimateSmart loan program. So far, there have been two successful rounds of ClimateSmart Loans. Approximately 650 property owners borrowed $10 million for solar and energy efficiency improvements – lowering their utility bills, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and saving jobs in the local construction industry. And we anticipate the first round of commercial loans late this fall. The model has been so successful that three other counties have placed the program n the ballot this fall, and Denver is expected to vote on a similar program next spring. As with the original finance district, there will be no tax increase – the only people who will pay are those who choose to participate. Issue 1B will allow us to continue this pioneering financing program  and will allow us to work with other counties and cities outside of Boulder County to jointly issue bonds, lowering the costs and interest rates for everyone. This program is good for property owners, good for the environment, and good for our economy

Ballot Issue 1C will allow Boulder County to make use of a new federal program, the Qualified Energy Conservation Bond program, which allows local governments to borrow money interest free, to pay for deep energy retrofits to public buildings. 1C will allow the county to issue up to $6.1 million in bonds in order to add solar hot water, biomass heating, solar PV, reflective roofs, efficient lighting, and efficient chillers to buildings like the jail, the Justice Center, and other energy intensive public facilities. This will be a win – win – lowering energy costs, generating investment in green collar construction in Boulder County, and reducing fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. There will be no tax increase – the County will simply pay off the bonds out of general fund revenues that would have been going to pay utility bills.

A Bill of Rights from the Solar Industry?  That’s Right.  Yesterday, the President of the Solar Energy Industries Association (“SEIA”), Rhone Resch, declared a “Solar Bill of Rights” that seeks to further a competitive solar industry and to empower consumers:

The Solar Bill of Rights

To secure a policy environment that allows solar energy to compete and empowers consumers to choose, Rhone Resch declared today, October 27, 2009, in the City of Anaheim, California, a Solar Bill of Rights:

We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country.  We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best.

1. Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses Restrictive covenants, onerous connection rules, and excessive permitting and inspections fees prevent many American homes and businesses from going solar.

2. Americans have the right to connect their solar energy system to the grid with uniform national standards. This should be as simple as connecting a telephone or appliance. No matter where they live, consumers should expect a single standard for connecting their system to the electric grid.

3. Americans have the right to Net Meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates. When customers generate excess solar power utilities should pay them consumer at least the retail value of that power.

4. The solar industry has the right to a fair competitive environment. The highly profitable fossil fuel industries have received tens of billions of dollars for decades. The solar energy expects a fair playing field, especially since the American public overwhelmingly supports the development and use of solar.

5. The solar industry has the right to equal access to public lands. America has the best solar resources in the world, yet solar companies have zero access to public lands compared to the 45 million acres used by oil and natural gas companies.

6. The solar industry has the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines. When America updates its electric grid, it must connect the vast solar resources in the Southwest to population centers across the nation.

7. Americans have the right to buy solar electricity from their utility. Consumers have no choice to buy clean, reliable solar energy from their utilities instead of the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

8. Americans have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry. Consumers should expect the solar energy industry to minimize its environmental impact, provide systems that work better than advertised, and communicate incentives clearly and accurately.

You can learn more by visiting SEIA’s website.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

Earthster is a new green rating tool that performs life-cycle analysis to access the “greenness” of products.  There are two very intriguing aspects to this software: first, Wal-Mart will be using the rating tool to influence its suppliers; and second, the program will be open-source.  You can read more on Green Source Magazine’s Blog.