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BLUER Business Awards Program Announced
The BLUER Business Award will recognize businesses operating in the Borough of West Chester and surrounding area that have taken the initiative to:
- Conserve energy through building improvements/design (e.g., upgraded lighting systems, energy audits, conservation programs, IT energy management, etc.) and/or policy changes (e.g., car share, car pooling, work-from-home programs, etc.);
- Convert to renewable, cleaner energy sources (e.g., wind, solar, biodiesel heating fuel, geothermal, etc.); and/or
- Reduce waste by reducing purchasing/packaging, reusing materials, and/or recycling aggressively.
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Free Energy Audit for Borough Businesses
Did you know? The West Chester Area School District has teamed up with West Chester Borough and the local energy management firm Practical En-ergy Solutions (PES) to help YOU cut energy consumption and costs! The District won an EPA “Climate Showcase Communities” grant, and as part of the grant program, a team of the District’s high school students have been trained to conduct commercial energy audits. The students, known as the West Chester Student Conservation Corps, will be conducting four free au-dits of West Chester Borough businesses this fall, with the technical sup-port of PES. Want to be considered for a free audit? Submit your business by November 30!
Submit your business for a free energy audit by the Student Conservation Corps! Email Dianne Herrin: DHerrin@practicalenergy.net or call 610.430.1382 for more information!
Chester County Adopts Greenhouse Gas Recommendations
The 23 recommendations, all with adjacent suggestions, that the task force delivered to the commissioners last month, and which were presented to the public in late June, include, among other goals:
- using LED lights in all outdoor lighting at all county government buildings,
- encouraging municipalities to adopt model ordinances that take aim at environmentally unfriendly homeowner association restrictions,
- buying fuel-efficient cars for county use, and
- requiring tree planting and woodland restoration in county land-preservation projects.
The report, which can be viewed on the county's Web site, sets goals for reducing greenhouse gases that pose a threat to the air quality and economic stability in the county. "We have to demonstrate to businesses and private (enterprises) that they can save money by going green," Aichele said.
Read the rest of the Daily Local News article
E Bradford Solar Farm Tour
The East Bradford Township Green Committee cordially invites you to attend a Solar Farm Tour. Tour the second largest solar farm in Pennsylvania at the Ingram’s Mill Water Treatment Plant.
The tour will be on Thursday, May 6th and everyone should meet at the township building no later then 6:30 pm. as we will car pool to the plant because of limited parking.
Because of security regulations you will be required to have your drivers license with you at all times and we will have to provide a photo copy to them. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE!
Please RSVP to Tenley Adams by Tuesday, May 4th so that we know how many people to expect.
PennEnvironment Clean Energy Meeting
On Sunday March 28th at 3 PM at the West Chester Borough Hall, Rep. Barbara McIlvaine-Smith briefed PennEnvironment members and volunteers on how they can help build a clean energy economy and tackle global warming. Learn what’s going on at the local, state and federal level on clean energy and how you can get involved.
Rep. McIlvaine-Smith joined by Dianne Herrin of BLUER, to discuss the work West Chester is doing to reduce global warming pollution.
Please click here to RSVP.
Energy Breakfast in Oct, 2009
BLUERs first business outreach event was held at Penn Oaks Country Club in October, 2009. Paul Spiegel of Practicle Energy Solutions gave a presentation about the need for energy use analysis and gave several examples of common sense changes that can save a facility thousands of dollars and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example - having your heater and air conditioner active at the same time is probably not an efficient use of ones energy.
See the video of this event on YouTube thanks to the fine production efforts of the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce.
Borough Approves Wind REC Purchase Through 2012
On December 16, 2009 the Borough Council unanimously approved the motion to "Consider the Renewable Energy proposals opened November 17, 2009 and accept the Community Energy three-year proposal for purchase of wind energy."
The Community Energy proposal is a 3 year plan to cover increasing amounts of municipal electric use with Renewable Energy Certificates. The amount of RECs purchased will cover 20% in 2010 (1,400 RECs at $1.96/REC), 40% in 2011 (2,800 RECs at $2.58/REC) and 60% in 2012 (4,200 RECs at $3.56/REC). In 2012 we will reopen bidding for at least the next 2 years to cover 80% and 100% respectively.
A REC is the equivalent of 1000 kWh of electric energy generated/used.
