City of Houston helping to lower your energy bills

I received this e-mail and thought I would pass it along. There is a minimal fee for the workshops and there are several dates still left.

Sign-up and learn how to cut your energy bills before the summer heat rolls in.

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Learn how you can save money on your electric, gas and water bills while you help clean up the Houston environment and reduce CO2 emissions. This workshop series by Greener Living in Houston in collaboration with the City of Houston is being offered in three locations in March. You will learn what changes to make to your home and habits to reduce your energy bills. We'll talk about how to save electricity, natural gas, gasoline, water and to recycle. I thought I knew all about that, but learned a lot more.

Energy efficiency could be a big part of the climate solution say Princeton professors Socolow and Pacala in their famous 2006 article on climate wedges in Science Magazine. They say the technology needed to protect the climate already exists, we just have to use it. For example, the common incandescent light bulb wastes 95% of the electricity it uses in producing heat. Replacing one bulb with a compact florescent bulb can save you $50 over the life of the bulb.

We can cut our energy use by 10% to 30% using no cost techniques says Houston environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn. For example, turning down your hot water heater to 120 degrees might save you $50 per year. By investing in caulk or insulation, you can save more.

When you have finished this 4 session series you will:
• Have saved at least $30 and learned how to save much more;
• Have learned many energy saving techniques;
• Planned to make additional changes in order to save energy;
• Know where to look for additional information on how to save energy;
• Know where to buy energy saving products;
• Have seen and touched energy saving products
• Have seen a demonstration(s) of energy saving product installation
• Know how to calculate a carbon footprint
••And if you finish the optional fifth workshop you will know how to organize an energy saving group in your neighborhood.

Three workshops series will be offered (the same series in three different locations):

Tuesday evenings March 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 at Zion Lutheran Church, 3630 Beauchamp Street in the Heights from 6:30 to 8:45 pm. Your facilitator will be Betina Wolfowicz who teaches Environmental Science at HSPVA.

Monday evenings: March 9, 16, 23, 30 and April 6th at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, 1900 Bering Drive in the Memorial area from 6:30-8:45 pm. Your facilitator will be Caleb Crow, Program Manager with the Clinton Climate Initiative. Mr. Crow is an energy efficiency engineer and solar electric installer. Childcare will be provided at no cost courtesy of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church to participants in the Energy Saving workshops; however, preregistration is required no later than the Wednesday prior to each class. Please contact Karen Van Horn at 713-782-8250 or Karen@emersonhouston.org for childcare reservations.

Saturday mornings: March 14, 21, 28 and April 4 and 11 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer near River Oaks from 9:30 to 12 noon. Your facilitator will be Debbie Antoon who teaches Sustainable Gardening for Urban Harvest.

Workshop size is limited. To sign up, email Nancy Edwards needwards@comcast.net or phone 713-661-9737