Take Your Clothes To ZIPS Dry Cleaners

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Posted on July 13th, 2011 by Nick

  

We showcase companies and area businesses that are helping our environment. This month’s feature is ZIPS Dry Cleaners.

The following information was provided by Zips:

Reduce, Recycle and Re-Use At ZIPS!

Eco Fact: Did you know that Americans throw away more than 100 billion plastic bags each year? This includes trash bags, grocery bags, packing bags, etc. To help reduce waste, their stores are now using environmentally-friendly, biodegradable plastic bags on all orders. These bags are made from specially formulated polymers that degrade over a relatively short period of time, reducing waste volumes in landfills.

Eco Fact: Did you know that 3.5 billion hangers end up in landfills every year? As a dry cleaner, ZIPS cannot stop using hangers, but please don’t throw them away. Instead, return them to ZIPS for re-use. Their stores have specially designed blue recycle bins for hangers in the lobby for your convenience. Or simply give them to one of their friendly counter associates. If you want, you can re-use the rubber bands that you get from ZIPS to bundle the hangers together when you return them to your local store.

ZIPS Dry Cleaners believes in their part to help the environment. As a result, they have switched the plastic bags that are used to cover the cleaned clothes to an environmentally friendly, biodegradable source. These bags degrade over time, reducing the amount of waste landfills.

For more information about zips, you can visit their website and subscribe to their email newsletter, the ZNEWS. Similar information is shown on ZIPS TV in every store.

Tags: Dry Cleaning, Washington DC, zips

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Energy Audits for DC Residents

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POSTED ON JUNE 24TH, 2011 BY NICK

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DC residents gets free energy audits, Energy Audits, energy efficiency, energy usage control, Free Energy Audits, Home, Home Energy Audits in DC, Solar Energy thermal image, Washington DC, weatherization, windows

Calling all DC Residents!!!!

Guess what? If you are a homeowner in the District of Columbia, and your home is a:

• Single-family or townhouse (no condominiums or co-ops)
• 4,000 square feet or less

You can get a free home energy audit from DC’s Department of the Environment (DDOE).

The program promotes energy efficiency assessments for single family homes in the District. Based on a home energy rating system, auditors will suggest specific cost-effective, energy efficient improvements that should be done to reduce the home’s operational costs and improve comfort.

Such improvements and ratings may help you qualify for lower rate mortgages or energy efficiency home mortgages. Your energy rating should also help sellers be more attractive to home buyers.

What is a home energy rating?

The Home Energy Rating is a standard measurement of a home’s energy efficiency. An energy rating allows a homebuyer to easily compare the energy costs for the homes being considered. A homeowner who wants to upgrade the home’s energy efficiency can use the energy rating to evaluate and pinpoint specific cost-effective improvement needs.

Home energy ratings involve an on-site inspection of a home by a residential energy efficiency professional, a home energy rater. DDOE has selected Elysian Energy, LLC to conduct the Home Energy Ratings. As a rule, home energy raters come from either the housing or energy fields. Their backgrounds include experience as home inspectors, appraisers, energy auditors, low-income Weatherization contractors, and energy efficient homebuilders and designers.

The home energy rater inspects the home and measures energy characteristics such as: insulation levels, window efficiency, wall-to-wall ratios, the heating and cooling system efficiency, the solar orientation of the home, and the water heating system. Diagnostic testing, which may include a blower door for air leakage and duct leakage testing, is often part of the rating.

The data gathered by the home energy rater is entered into a computer program and translated into points. The home receives a point score between 1 and 100, depending on its relative efficiency. An estimate of the home’s energy costs is also provided. The home’s energy efficiency is then equated to a STAR rating ranging from 1 STAR for a very inefficient home to a 5 STAR for a highly efficient home. Along with the rating sheet, homeowners receive a report listing cost-effective options for improving the home’s energy rating.

FIVE STAR + (PLUS)      = EXTREMELY EFFICIENT
FIVE STAR                            = VERY EFFICENT
FOUR STAR + +                   = EFFICIENT
FOUR STAR                           = GOOD
THREE STAR + +               = ABOVE AVERAGE
THREE STAR                       = AVERAGE
TWO STAR + +                     = BELOW AVERAGE
TWO STAR                             = FAIR
ONE STAR + +                      = POOR
ONE STAR                              = EXTREMLY POOR

One of the major differences between a home energy rating and an energy audit or Weatherization assessment is that the rating is a recognized tool in the mortgage process. Home energy ratings are valuable to the housing industry and can be utilized in a variety of ways. The information derived from the home energy rating provides important information about a home’s performance and the economic analysis necessary to support lending decisions.

Sign Up Here for your “Free Home Energy Audit”

In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) extends, expands, and simplifies the federal income tax credits for homeowners who make energy efficiency home improvements. The law extends the consumer tax benefits for another year, through 2010; triples the total available tax credit from $500 to $1,500; and increases the tax credit to 30 percent of the cost of each qualified energy efficiency improvement. The law also removes the cap on geothermal heat pumps and solar water heaters through 2016

More green info? Also enjoy some very cool videos at sobukaTV for more emerging green news. Sobuka can also help you find a green contractor in your area. Search with your zip code and also find out which rebates you may qualify for in your area.

Tags: Dc residents gets free energy audits, Energy Audits, energy efficiency, energy usage control, Free Energy Audits, Home, Home Energy Audits in DC, Solar Energy thermal image,Washington DC, weatherization, windows

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DC Bike-Sharing Program Expansion

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Father’s Day »

Posted on June 7th, 2011 by Nick

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Program is Getting 10x Bigger!

Washington DC’s SmartBike, the first bike-sharing program in the USA, is about to be supplanted by a much bigger and better bike-share. It will be based on Montréal’s Bixi and grow the number of bikes and stations almost ten-fold!

Bike-Sharing is Awesome
SmartBike has only 120 bikes and 10 stations, but the new version of the project will have about 1,100 bikes and 114 stations all around the district and in the neighboring Arlington County.

by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada. View full article here.

If you live in the Washington DC area, commuting on a bike sounds like a good idea to avoid traffic during the weekdays and even the weekends. Think about how much money you can also save and how you can reduce your carbon footprint.

Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be around K street or Logan Circle, and we may have bike rush-hour traffic like this…

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to go green, a nice energy audit will send you in the right direction. The insight you gain from it will give you plenty of ideas for a little green remodeling, so you can become part of the solution. Sign up for an energy audit through Sobuka by typing in your zipcode and selecting contractors in your area. 

Tags: bike, Washington DC

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Greening your home: Part 5 of 5

« Greening your home: Part 4 of 5

In the News: The Energy Savings and Industrial Act of 2011 »

POSTED ON MAY 25TH, 2011 BY NICK

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“While some of you may have previously absorbed this commentary, we thought that its relevance is worth revising as it relates to our domestic current affairs. We hope you enjoy these and more upcoming new write-ups. So in case anyone missed this, here is Greening Your Home: Part 5 of 5″:

Shopping continued from 4 of 5…..

Skip the bag and you save the river:

The District of Columbia law on disposable carryout bags changed on January 1, 2010 where district businesses that sell food or alcohol must charge you 5 cents for each disposable paper or plastic carryout bag. This was proposed as one of several initiatives aimed at cleaning up the Anacostia river.

Greening your home can save you money with an energy audit:

Energy audits can include a variety of tests to check the energy efficiency of your home or business. Here is how:

1. Air leak testing of rooms, Infra-red camera scans of walls, appliance efficiency inspections, furnace and water heater efficiency testing.

2. Check the insulation levels in your attic, exterior and basement walls, ceilings, floors, and crawl spaces.

3. Check for holes or cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures, switches, and electrical outlets that can leak air into or out of your home.

4. After getting an energy audit, you will know exactly where to start on your journey to a greener future.

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to go green, a nice energy audit will send you in the right direction. The insight you gain from it will give you plenty of ideas for a little green remodeling, so you can become part of the solution. Sign up for an energy audit through Sobuka by typing in your zipcode and selecting contractors in your area.

 

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