Interested in Boulder’s ClimateSmart Loan Program?  A new round of ClimateSmart Loan workshops have been scheduled:

Boulder County residential property owners will be eligible to apply for a wide range of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures though the ClimateSmart Loan Program. Invest in improvements that will save energy, reduce your utility bills, increase home comfort and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Required homeowner workshops* are now scheduled to start March 15 and run through April.

Register for a workshop today!  Please visit crc-climatesmartloan.wildapricot.org or call 303-999-3820 x226 to register for a workshop.

*If you have already attended a workshop, you will not be required to attend another one.

Please note:

~While energy audits are not required for this program, they are *highly* recommended, call 303-999-3820×226 to sign up for an energy audit.

~The online application will be available on our website ClimateSmartLoanProgram.org in mid-April.

ClimateSmartLoanProgram.org

Boulder County has adopted revisions to BuildSmart, its residential energy efficiency and green building code.  The revisions will go into effect on April 1, 2010.  Boulder County retained Populus Sustainable Design Consulting as its consultant to perform energy analysis in furtherance of the BuildSmart revisions.

Most notably, the revisions to BuildSmart now provide a prescriptive pathway alternative to the HERS rating performance pathway for homes up to 6,000 square feet.  For any addition or new construction projects where the total conditioned floor area is 6,000 square feet or greater, the performance pathway (HERS rating) must be used.  The prescriptive pathway applies to additions, remodels and new construction.   While the prescriptive pathway is intended to provide an alternative to a HERS rating, the energy performance requirements are designed to be as stringent as the HERS pathway.  The prescriptive pathway still requires that a HERS rater perform an insulation inspection and air infiltration / duct leakage testing as applicable.  In order to proceed under the Prescriptive Path Option (Chapter 11 Energy Efficiency, Section N1105.2.5.4), your project must meet the following requirements:

Maximum Glazing to Floor Area Ratio = 18%

Maximum Air Leakage = 5 ACH at 50 Pascals for New Construction and 7 ACH at 50 Pascals for additions and remodels

For Any New or Replaced Appliances = ENERGY STAR Labeled

Lighting Fixtures = 80% CFL or equivalent

Insulation Installation Standards = RESNET Grade I Standards

Furnaces and Boilers (additions/remodels only need to meet if replaced) = 92% AFUE with ECM Blower Motors

Water Heaters (additions/remodels only need to meet if replaced) = 82 EF

If your project does not meet these requirements, you must proceed under the Performance Path Option by having a HERS rating performed.  Projects designed and constructed to comply with the Prescriptive Option must also meet the requirements of Tables N1102.1 and  N1102.1.2 (below).  For new construction/additions with conditioned floor area between 3,000 to 6,000 square feet, there are mandatory requirements for photovoltaics (see Tables 3 and 4 of the Chapter 11 Energy Efficiency code) and a requirement that the gross wall to floor area ratio not exceed 1.0.  For any projects where the gross wall to floor area ratio is greater than 1.0, the Performance Path Option must be used.

Table Notes:

Mass Wall R-Value – the second number applies when more than half the insulation is on the interior

Basement Wall R-Value – the first R-value applies to continuous insulation, the second to framing cavity insulation; either insulation meets the requirement

Slab Edge R-Value and Depth – R-5 shall be added to the required slab edge R-values for heated slabs

Crawl Space Wall R-Value – the first R-value applies to continuous insulation, the second to framing cavity insulation; either insulation meets the requirement

Table Notes:

Mass Wall U-Factor – When more than half the insulation is on the interior, the mass wall U-factor shall be the same as the frame wall U-Factor.

To see all of the Chapter 11 Energy Efficiency revised code requirements, download it here.

In addition to HERS rating and consulting services, Populus Sustainable Design Consulting offers consulting, insulation inspections and field testing for compliance with Boulder County’s prescriptive pathway.  For a proposal, contact Laura at 303-325-7650 or learn more on the Populus 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 municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

BuildSmart Revisions, public hearing: Boulder County will hold a public hearing on its proposed revisions to BuildSmart on Tuesday, March 2nd at 2pm.   More information from Boulder County:

This is a second notice of Proposed BuildSmart Revisions and a public hearing scheduled for 2 PM on March 2, 2010 with the Boulder County Commissioners to consider these revisions at the Boulder County Court House 3rd floor hearing room .  Public testimony will be taken at this hearing with a time limit of three minutes per speaker.

A draft of the  Proposed revisions are attached to this email and may also be found at www.BoulderCountyBuildSmart.org.  The staff  invites you  to review and comment on these proposed revisions, either by phone, 303-441-3930, email http://www.bouldercounty.org/lu/info_center/ask_the_building_official.htm, or in person at the Courthouse Annex, Southwest corner of Spruce and 13th Sts in downtown Boulder, prior to the public hearing, your comments will be forwarded to the Boulder County Commissioners.  You may also send comments directly to me [Doug Parker] at the contacts listed below.

Doug G. Parker

Sustainability Examiner

Boulder County

dgparker@BoulderCounty.org

720-564-2643

www.BoulderCountyBuildSmart.org

From the Boulder County ClimateSmart Loan Program:

• Boulder County commercial property owners are eligible to apply for a  wide range of energy efficiency & renewable energy measures.
• Invest in improvements that will save energy, reduce your utility bills and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
• Repay loans through a special assessment on your property.

Attend one of our informational sessions this week!

• Thursday, Jan 21^st 8:00am-9:00am in Boulder
• 3rd floor of the Boulder County Courthouse 1325 Pearl St. Boulder CO 80302
• Friday, Jan. 22^nd 3:30pm-4:30pm in Longmont
• Longmont Civic Center 350 Kimbark St. Longmont CO 80501

Find out more information online at www.ClimateSmartLoanProgram.org

Join Clean Energy Action Citizen Power for the next event in its Global Warming Solutions series:

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New one-time location!
Unity Church
2855 Folsom Street, Boulder, CO 80304

Time: 6:30-7:00 Social Hour
7:00-8:30pm Presentation

This presentation is a unique and timely opportunity to learn about the process and options that cities face when negotiating with large-scale energy providers. With franchise renewal set for summer of 2010, Boulder is in the process of negotiating an energy supply commitment with Xcel Energy. Come and become informed about how cities do long-term energy planning, about the time commitment considerations for Boulder’s next franchise agreement, and about options for choice in Boulder’s energy sources. Ms. Perkins will focus on the inherent responsibility of Colorado cities to provide energy as a vital service and to respond to the moral, financial and social imperatives associated with carbon emissions.

About the speaker

Susan Perkins has spent 34 years as an energy lawyer with an exclusive focus for four years on sustainable and renewable energy. Representing distributed solar and utility-scale solar and wind clients, participating in energy policy dockets at the Public Utilities Commission, and representing cities in the negotiation of their franchise agreements, Ms. Perkins is a strong advocate for systemic thinking and long-range planning for energy policy.

ATTORNEYS PLEASE NOTE: An application will be filed at the Colorado Supreme Court for 1.0 hour of Continuing Legal Education Credit (CLE) for this program.

For more information, contact Andy Lenec or visit
www.cleanenergyaction.org
Copyright© 2009 Clean Energy Action

ClimateSmart Neighborhood Energy Sweeps is currently seeking volunteers:

Energy Sweeps Volunteers Needed

Longs Peak Energy Conservation (a division of Boulder County Housing), and the cities of
Boulder and Longmont have planned Energy Sweeps and need your help.  We’re looking for
community minded individuals who have an interest in residential energy efficiency and a
desire to help reduce the utility expenses and carbon emissions of fellow residents.

With the rising cost of energy having a disproportional affect on fixed and lower income
families and with a determination by local government to curtail the green house gases
emitted within their jurisdictions, the Energy Sweep is a program whose objective seeks
to address both issues.

On September 26th in Longmont, and in Boulder on October 10th and 17th, volunteers are
needed to canvass pre-selected low to moderate income neighborhoods in teams installing
energy saving devices like compact fluorescent light bulbs, and to converse with families on
alternatives to costly and inefficient home energy practices.  No experience is necessary,
but a mandatory 2-hour training is required (dates and location TBD).

Volunteer Benefits: Energy Sweeps T-shirt, breakfast and lunch, volunteer recognition
gifts, and the knowledge that you are making a REAL contribution to someone’s wellbeing
while helping to make your community more environmentally sustainable!

Volunteer sign ups are welcomed until teams are filled.  Minimum age: 15.
Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) volunteers are especially needed.

SWEEPS TIMES AND LOCATIONS:
Longmont: Midtown (19th-15th Ave. & Kimbark – Meadow), September 26th, 2009
Boulder: Arborwood Condos (3250 O’Neal Cir.), October 10th, 2009.
Orchard Grove Mobile Home Park (3003 Valmont), October 17th, 2009

Tentative start and end times: 9:00a.m. – 2 p.m.

For more information or to volunteer contact:
Dave Hatchimonji
Energy Sweeps Coordinator, Longs Peak Energy Conservation
Email: energysweeps@bouldercounty.org
(303) 441-3912

Visit Populus at the Logan-Wiggins House on the CRC’s Solar & Green Homes Tour.  The Boulder County Solar & Green Homes Tour, part of the Center for Resource Conservation’s Solar Week, will be held on September 26th, from 10 am to 4pm.  The Tour includes 14 solar and green homes throughout Boulder County.  At each house you will have the opportunity to talk with the homeowners and the green service professionals on each project for advice, tips and lessons learned.  In addition, you will have the opportunity to explore the high performance sustainable systems and materials used in each home.

Populus Sustainable Design Consulting provided the energy analysis and LEED for Homes Green Rater services on the Logan-Wiggins House and will be on-site during the tour to answer questions and showcase the home’s green features.  The Logan-Wiggins House goes beyond net-zero in its bid to achieve LEED for Homes Platinum certification.  Based on the energy modeling provided by Populus, the home will be a net-producer of energy, providing enough additional electricity to charge a Plug-in Electric Hybrid Vehicle.  The home’s numerous energy efficiency features include optimum value engineered (“OVE”) framing, insulated concrete formwork, open-cell foam insulation, a high-efficiency ground source heat pump system, and a solar photovoltaic array.  Beyond energy efficiency, the home uses only low VOC interior finishes and a heat-recovery ventilation system to ensure healthy indoor air quality as well as a graywater re-use system and low-flow fixtures to minimize water consumption.  Finally, the use of responsible materials, such as the building’s salvaged brick façade, reduces the home’s embodied energy and preserves resources.

You can learn more about the CRC’s Solar & Green Homes Tour here.

Populus is a Boulder-based, full-service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus is your partner in high-performance design solutions, specializing in energy efficiency codes, green building certifications and LEED for Homes™ training.  Contact Populus at news@popboulder.com.

It seems that everyone is talking about the McKinsey Report.  Want to be in the know?  The McKinsey Report is a report by McKinsey & Company, which is based on substantial analysis of energy efficiency in the non-transportation sector and focuses on the challenges and potential strategies involved in “unlocking energy efficiency opportunities” in the United States economy.

Based on McKinsey & Company’s research, we have the potential to reduce non-transportation sector energy consumption, the majority of which is consumed by the built environment, by about 23% by 2020.  Such a reduction would require a $520 billion upfront investment, but would save $1.2 trillion in energy waste by 2020.  The McKinsey Report argues, however, that to achieve these substantial results in the field of energy efficiency, a significant set of barriers will need to be overcome.

For those of us here in Boulder, Colorado, the Report offers confirmation that we are on the right track to overcoming the current barriers that prevent more widespread implementation of energy efficiency measures – the report identifies the need to focus on education, incentives and financing, high performance energy codes and the deployment of resources to achieve increased energy efficiency.

As national and regional organizations and governments ramp up efforts to increase non-transportation sector energy efficiency initiatives, it is our hope that they will look to forward-thinking municipalities like Boulder and Boulder County and learn from our implementation of performance-based energy codes, innovative financing options like the ClimateSmart Loan Program, broad-based energy efficiency incentives and educational opportunities for consumers and building industry professionals.

You can learn more and read the full McKinsey Report here.

Populus is a Boulder-based, full-service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus is your partner in high-performance design solutions, specializing in energy efficiency codes, green building certifications and LEED for Homes™ training.  Contact Populus at news@popboulder.com.

Boulder County’s ClimateSmart Loan Program has announced that ground mounted solar photovoltaic systems  are now an eligible measure under the ClimateSmart Loan Program, provided that the system is located on the residential property.  The ClimateSmart Loan Program is a voluntary mechanism for commercial and residential property owners to obtaining financing for renewable energy and/or energy efficiency improvements to properties in Boulder County.

Interested in participating in Boulder County’s ClimateSmart Loan program to fund energy efficiency improvements to your home?  The County is gearing-up for its second round of loans, with mandatory homeowner workshops running from July 28th through September 1st throughout Boulder County.  You can learn more about the upcoming workshops or the ClimateSmart Loan program by visiting Boulder County’s ClimateSmart Loan Program here or by visiting the Center for Resource Conservation here.

Populus is a Boulder-based, full-service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus is your partner in high-performance design solutions, specializing in energy efficiency codes, green building certifications and LEED for Homes™ training.  Contact Populus at news@popboulder.com.

David Neiger, Principal at Populus Sustainable Design Consulting presented regarding high performance remodeling to the Boulder County GreenBuilding Conference at the University of Colorado on July 17th.  View the video: