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Green Star E-News
In this issue: * Shining Stars ================================== Congratulations to our Newest Green Star & Air Quality Awardees! Welcome to our New February Enrollees! Green Events in March ================================= Anchorage Recycle Blog -- www.adn.com/recycleblog. This blog is filled with interesting information and commentary about local recycling issues. It offers a great opportunity to comment on Anchorage’s new recycling programs. Feel free to submit questions, comments or suggestions about anything that has to do with recycling and sustainable living. The Municipality hopes to make this a place for everyone to go to for information concerning recycling and resource conservation. ================================= Please attend a FREE half-day seminar about lighting. Lighting upgrades in your home and workplace are one of the easiest ways to reduce energy use and save money. This seminar will build on information presented at previous workshops to provide more opportunities for you to benefit from new lighting technologies. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008 Only 50 seats are available so RSVP early to Brown’s Electrical Supply Company at 272-2259. The following topics will be covered at the seminar. EPACT 2005: New Regulations and What the Future Holds. Energy Star: Why Choose Quality/Name Brand Products. LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Financial Advantages of Going Green. Daylight Harvesting Controls: Explore the use of natural daylight to meet room lighting needs and how it will reduce energy consumption while providing appropriate light levels. A Simplified Daylight Harvesting Control display will be available. PowerLux: See how converting quad CFLs in typical, CFL down lighting applications can reduce high temperatures, stop air leaks and save 40% more energy. Product examples and literature will be on hand. Sponsors of this event include Brown’s Electrical Supply Company, Green Star, Alaska Building Science Network, Alaska Center for the Environment, Municipal Light & Power, PowerLux, and Philips Lighting Company. ================================= Popular Science magazine has rated Anchorage one of the 50 greenest cities in America. In its February edition, Anchorage was highlighted for its innovative plan to replace all of its streetlights with energy-efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) and induction lights. The project will save taxpayers millions of dollars a year when fully implemented. The City’s plan includes upgrading its 16,000 streetlamps to either LED or induction bulbs, depending on the results of computer simulations designed to find the type of light that helps humans see best and disturbs wildlife the least. The swap should be complete by year’s end, and the initial $5 million investment is expected to save up to $3 million in energy costs annually. In addition, this project is looking beyond simply switching to new technology. Since Anchorage usually spends a good part of the year buried under highly reflective snow, it doesn’t make sense to keep the street lamps on at full power when moonlight can do the job. The fix? Install Citywide dimmers. Look forward to a public roll-out of the streetlights during the week of March 17th. Watch for information about locations to view the new lights and provide your opinion in the Anchorage Daily News. This is just one project that helped earn Anchorage the rank 0f 32 on the greenest cities list. Over the last three years, Mayor Begich has launched a number of high-profile sustainability efforts including hosting the first U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Change Summit, retrofitting City Hall building for energy savings, and establishing cardboard recycling collection centers to assist local businesses. Currently in the works is a more comprehensive recycling program for the City. For the full story, see: http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-02/americas-50-greenest-cities?page=1 ================================= In the past six months, Green Star has received a whole host of outstanding Green Star Achievements Reports (the application document for earning a Green Star Award). The field of applicants represents a wide range of business types, from large oil and gas support companies, to the military, to state and federal governmental entities. Each has made an extra effort to implement an impressive menu of initiatives and to document each initiative for review by the Green Star Award Standards Committee. We hope that each reader, as an individual and as a member of a business, will consider the efforts of these and other Green Star Awardee organizations when making decisions about what businesses and organizations to work with, patronize, and support. Driven Auto Body “The water-borne paint actually performs better than solvent-based paints. It is what the high-end car manufacturers use,” says Kevin Stalder, owner of Driven Auto Body. “Even with its higher quality performance, it is still less expensive to use, partly because it spreads better and dries more quickly.” Driven Auto Body also installed new lights in its body shop area, replacing 32 old 400-watt sodium and metal halide lamps in its shop area with T-5 fixtures and lamps. This retrofit is saving the company about $200/month in energy costs. Newly installed ceiling fans also have increased energy efficiency and air leaks in the walls were sealed. Most recently, Driven Auto Body installed double glass doors between the parts area and the shop to reduce heat loss. Roof repairs are next on the list of energy-efficiency upgrades. Pioneer Natural Resources Auto shut-down of equipment -- The visualization room (used by geoscientists and loaded with high-tech equipment) is now automated to wind down after a specified period of no use. This saves power and extends the life of expensive lighting in the room. Improved look and placement of bins -- Pioneer purchased recycling bins that match the ConocoPhillips bins (Pioneer leases space in the ConocoPhillips building) so that all employees can easily identify recycling bins anywhere in the building. The Green Team also removed superfluous trash cans from offices and conference rooms. In some cases there were as many as three trash cans in a 100 sq. ft. room. This eliminates the need for plastic bags in the cans and additional pick-up by cleaning staff. This also eliminates the placement of recyclables in the trash rather than in proper recycling containers. U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright
Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitors Center The center is proud of the fact that it diverts 80% of its waste by weight from landfilling through reuse, recycling and composting. A series of topic-specific bulletin boards line the wall above the center’s recycling station with topics ranging from information about what is recyclable to the benefits of using kenaf to make paper and the downside of drinking bottled water. The Green Star coordinator at the center has perfected the use of gentle persuasion to ensure that all staff members are thinking about the impacts of their actions. He provides information, offers services, and requests participation in numerous activities, such as paper use reduction, recycling, clean-up, and reuse. Some of the initiatives include:
And all hard copy award documents were submitted on one-sided scrap paper! Now that’s walking the walk! Alaska Railroad Corporation
The U.S. Department of Energy calculates that 38 percent of the average building’s energy losses are due to air leaks cause by leaky walls, windows, and doors. The remainder of the heat loss is conducted, radiated and convected out of the building because of inadequate or improperly installed insulation, structural defects and design flaws. Infrared imaging has helped the Railroad to identify these problems, often not detected by the naked eye. Easy fixes have already been made in many buildings and a plan has been developed to continue with more extensive upgrades and repairs. AES Recent increases in awareness of waste prevention has led to a decrease in use of Styrofoam cups at just two buildings by 6,000 cups monthly. Further increases are expected as employees put their reusable mugs and water bottles to use. In addition, the number of dumpsters of pallets sent for disposal (burning) has dropped by half from 120 cubic yards to about 60 cubic yards. These efforts are just the tip of the iceberg of the many continuing initiatives that each of the organizations highlighted in this article is implementing. ================================= This is a tip for the hospitality sector but it really applies to almost all business sectors as beverage and snack vending machines are ubiquitous, turning up in offices, schools, manufacturing facilities, government agencies and more. Vending machines use electricity 24 hours a day, even if no one is around to use them. A standard vending machine uses approximately 3,500 KWh of electricity annually. To put this into perspective, a modern residential refrigerator uses 450-800 kWh annually. Two approaches to reducing vending machine energy use include: 1) installing devices that reduce the energy use of current machines, or 2) replacing current machines with Energy Star-qualified products. Energy Star has rated new and rebuilt refrigerated beverage vending machines. An Energy Star-rated machine uses 50% less energy than a traditional vending machine. The Davis School District in Utah, worked with Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottlers to install more than 200 Energy Star-qualified vending machines over a two-year period. Once complete, the school district will save more than $33,000 annually in electricity costs. Visit http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=vending_machines.pr_vending_machines for details about Energy Star vending machines. If replacing the entire machine is not an option, consider using a device to lessen its energy use. A VendingMiser reduces the energy consumption of cold drink vending machines by using an occupancy sensor to power down the lights and compressor. A temperature sensor powers the machine back up as needed to keep drinks cold. The device is invisible to users since the light comes on when an occupant is detected. Energy savings can be an average of 35-40%, saving roughly $55 to $130 per machine annually. At a cost of about $165 per unit, the payback period is one to two years. More than 3,300 units have been installed in the Seattle area alone. Along with the VendingMiser, the manufacturer, Bayview Technology, also makes a SnackMiser for non-chilled snack machines, and a CoolerMiser for glass-fronted display coolers, and a PlugMiser for use with any device that can have power cut when occupants leave the vicinity. Visit www.vendingmiserstore.com for more information about these products. The University of Michigan used both approaches to save almost $20,000 annually. The University replaced 132 vending machines with Energy Star-qualified units and saved about $150/machine annually. In addition, all machines are controlled by VendingMiser units. This was a total annual energy reduction of 224,400 kWh. ================================= FoodServiceWarehouse.com is a recent donor to Green Star, supporting our current efforts to assist the hospitality and restaurant industries. FoodServiceWarehouse.com was founded in 2006 to provide businesses with a wide selection of high-quality foodservice equipment and supplies from the world's best-known brands. The site offers a wide range of articles, research materials and products for the conscientious foodservice operator, including monthly tips about “greening” your food service operations and equipment. ================================= Green Star could not exist without the generous financial and in-kind support of many individuals and leading local businesses and organizations. To become a Green Star individual member or corporate sponsor, please call 278-7827 or visit our web site http://www.greenstarinc.org. A huge thank you to our 2007 sponsors! Platinum ($10,000+): BP, ConocoPhillips, GCI, Municipal Light & Power, Rasmuson Foundation, Total Reclaim, Inc., University of Alaska Anchorage, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gold ($5,000-$9,999): Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage Media Group, Chugach Electric, University Center Silver ($2,500-$4,999): REI Bronze ($1,000-$2,499): Best Buy Green ($500-$999): Anchorage School District, Clear Channel Radio, Dan Miller Graphics, Frames Etc., Lockheed Martin Alaska Office, Peppercini’s, Supporter ($250-$499): Alaska Communication Systems, Subway Contributor (up to $250): Alaska Mountain Bike Source, Alaska Mountaineering & Hiking, Alaska Rock Gym, Alutiiq, Inc., Anchorage Guest House, Bear Tooth Grill, Carolyn Foundation, Cellular One, Chain Reaction Cycles, Choffie’s Kitchen, Chugach Optional School, Egan Civic & Convention Center, Food Service Warehouse, Free Spirit Wear, Girdwood Ski & Cyclery, Great Harvest Bread Company, Hartig Rhodes Hoge & Leskisch, The Imaginarium, Kaladi Brothers Coffee, Kroeker Consulting, McDonald Waste, Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, Odom Corporation, Pacific Environmental Corporation (PENCO), Paramount Cycles, Pepsi-Cola Bottling Group, Princess Tours, Sacks Café & Restaurant, Skinny Raven Sports, Snow City Café, Studio One Pilates, Sunshine Sports, The Bicycle Shop, USKH, WeBike Bicycle Repair ==================================
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