GreenerLiving Program

Residents Learn How to Green Their Homes

By Suzanna Sanborn

Bethesda Green hosted the fourth and final workshop in its pilot GreenerLiving program on December 5 -- and the program was such a success, we’ll be bringing it back in the New Year! The workshops met every other Saturday from October 24 to December 5. More than 75 people attended at least one of the four workshops, where they learned from experts about energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy alternatives for the home. Most hailed from Bethesda, but some of our neighbors from Chevy Chase, Rockville and as far as Frederick participated as well.

Our primary expert is builder and architectural designer Ralph Smith of Smith Design/Construction, who conceived and developed the program and volunteered his time to lead all four sessions. Ralph has more than 30 years of home design and building experience and is a LEED-Accredited Professional (U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and BPI-certified Energy Auditor.

With a different theme each week, most sessions included a guest speaker – ranging from energy auditors and solar consultants to experts in government tax incentives and other financing initiatives from the Montgomery County Department of Environment Protection.

In the introductory session, Ralph introduced the basic concepts of how our home energy use impacts the environment, how we can track it automatically using a new web site, and simple ways to begin to reduce consumption, save money and help the environment.

In the second session, we learned how to perform a do-it-yourself home energy audit as well as what to expect from a professional audit. Guest auditors Michael Whelan and Suzanne Parmet of Live Green in Chevy Chase showed us photos of results from real-life audits and discussed the resulting remedies. We learned how much you can expect to pay for an audit, what credentials your auditor should have, common issues that are discovered in homes and how they can be fixed. Our experts shared sample costs of home energy audits and the resulting work done, as well as calculated energy savings, return on investment and payback periods. They even brought a “blower-door” device and turned it on to show us how this key energy audit tool works!

The topic of the third session was heating and cooling systems and solar power. From radiant heat to forced air, we learned the pros, cons, relative cost and efficiency of the most common types of heating and cooling systems. We were joined by solar expert Chip Voehl, who shared the main criteria to consider when planning and purchasing a solar photovoltaic or solar hot water system and discussed typical costs. Debbie Parrish showed us pictures of the system she had installed in her Rockville home and told us about the process, the costs and the resulting energy savings from a consumer’s point of view.

The program concluded with the fourth session, on tax credits, loans and other incentives available from the federal, state and county governments, as well as your utility. Susan Kirby, from the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection discussed what the incentives can be used for, what they’re worth, where and how to apply for them and what else may be available in the near future.

If you’re kicking yourself for missing all of this valuable expertise and the opportunity to share GreenerLiving stories and experiences with your friends and neighbors, don’t worry – you’ll have another chance in 2010. Just email us at GreenerLiving@BethesdaGreen.org and we’ll contact you as soon as the next series of workshops is scheduled! Or call 240-396-2440 x-102 for more information. All workshops are held at Bethesda Green’s offices at 4825 Cordell Avenue, second floor.