Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium are pictured above on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will hear an update on the progress and next steps in the Blankenship Field revitalization project and an update on energy savings projects.
The update on the Blankenship Field project, which includes the installation of synthetic turf, will be given by Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director. [Read more…]
Before and after photos of Lacey’s attic insulation (see other photo below).
As winter sets in, Make Oak Ridge Energy Efficient, or MORE2, is helping Oak Ridgers lower their home energy use and their electric bills.
Mary Kate Lacey, a retired licensed practical nurse, rents an Oak Ridge home that she hopes to someday own. After taking part in MORE2, she said her home is more comfortable now than in the last five years and that her electric bill is reflecting energy savings.
“My heat pump just doesn’t run all the time now like it used to,” she explained. “And my utility bill is already a little lower than in earlier years.†[Read more…]
Make Oak Ridge Energy Efficient, or MORE2, will be hosting a public meeting for interested applicants Thursday, September 22, from 3-4 p.m. at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.
MORE2, funded by the Tennessee Valley Authority, kicked off in April and began retrofitting the homes of Oak Ridge residents with no-cost energy upgrades, such as new HVAC units and water heaters. [Read more…]
Cindy Snow (left), ORAU procurement manager, and Angela McConnell (right), ORAU contract specialist, were presented a 2016 EPEAT Sustainable Purchaser Award by Green Electronics Council CEO Nancy Gillis (center) during the organization’s recent awards ceremony. The award recognizes ORAU’s excellence in the procurement of green electronics. (Photo by ORAU)
ORAU has won an award that recognizes excellence in the procurement of “green” electronics, or those electronics that have been manufactured to conserve energy, eliminate environmentally sensitive materials, and increase recyclability, a press release said.
ORAU won the EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Sustainable Purchaser Award from the Green Electronics Council.
ORAU was among 10 corporations that received a three-star rating, the highest possible rating, indicating procurement of electronics in all three categories (personal computers and displays, imaging equipment, and televisions), the press release said.
The Green Electronics Council works with manufacturers, governments, trade associations, and environmental advocacy groups to evaluate and endorse environmentally responsible products. The EPEAT tool provides companies with a simplified way to purchase environmentally trustworthy electronics and to quantify their energy consumption reductions. [Read more…]
The “Make Oak Ridge Energy Efficient (MORE2)†Program will be hosting a kickoff event for Oak Ridge residents on Tuesday, April 26, from 4-6 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Social Room. The event is an opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about this new program for qualified, low-income residents in the community, a press release said.
Information on other energy-saving programs will also be available for those who do not qualify for the MORE2 program.
The City of Oak Ridge is kicking off the MORE2 program to perform “whole-home, deep energy retrofits” for 229 qualified residents in homes that are at least 20 years old. The project goal is to reduce electrical energy usage in all-electric homes to improve the quality of life for lower income residents and homeowners by significantly increasing the efficiency and comfort of their homes.
Attendees at this event will receive energy-saving items and informant about low- to no-expense energy-saving practices that can immediately improve energy savings in homes. [Read more…]
Gary M. Gilmartin
Oak Ridge officials could start accepting applications at the end of this month for a program that will modify homes with high electrical consumption, with a goal of saving energy.
The modifications are possible under a $2.9 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority Extreme Energy Makeover Program. There is no local match required. TVA announced the grant award in September 2015.
Under the program, officials will use energy retrofits to reduce electrical consumption by 25 percent and save a total of 1,000 megawatt hours per year for older homes. The energy retrofits will be offered to 229 qualified residents in Oak Ridge homes that are at least 20 years old.
The targeted implementation date is April 1. [Read more…]
The National Nuclear Security Administration dedicated the nation’s largest federally owned wind farm on Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. The NNSA also oversees work at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Photos courtesy NNSA)
Pantex wind farm complete
Retired Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, the new administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration, dedicated the nation’s largest federally owned wind farm Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
Klotz, who is also the U.S. Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security, was joined at the ceremony by Kevin Knobloch, DOE’s chief of staff; NNSA Production Office (NPO) Manager Steven Erhart; Siemens Government Technologies President and Chief Executive Officer Judy Marksl and Texas Tech University Associate Vice Chancellor Russell Thomasson.
The mission of the NPO is to ensure the safe, secure, and cost-effective operation of the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.
The NNSA said Pantex will now be powered largely by the Pantex Renewable Energy Project, or PREP, an 11.5-megawatt, five-turbine wind farm that has been under construction since August on 1,500 acres of DOE-owned land adjacent to the Pantex Plant. [Read more…]
Knoxville-based Fiveworx has licensed an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technology called CoNNECT that will help consumers reduce their utility bills by analyzing their home energy usage. CoNNECT inventors (from left) Olufemi Omitaomu and Budhendra Bhaduri talk with Fiveworx CEO Patrick Hunt. (Photo courtesy ORNL)
Knoxville-based Fiveworx has licensed an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technology that will help consumers reduce their utility bills by analyzing their home energy usage.
The ORNL technology, called Citizen Engagement for Energy Efficient Communities (CoNNECT), enables utility customers to easily monitor their energy consumption in a user-friendly Web-based platform. Fiveworx will apply the CoNNECT tool toward its mission to help utilities increase participation in their energy efficiency programs while reducing their marketing costs.
“Our goal is to motivate consumers to do five or more things to save money on their utility bills,” said Fiveworx CEO Patrick Hunt. “By combining principles of behavioral economics, consumer segmentation, big data, and predictive analytics, we help utilities give their customers a truly personalized energy savings plan that they’ll embrace and use to adopt energy efficient measures and behaviors.” [Read more…]
