Pack a Waste-Free Lunch

Over the past few years, we have posted a number of times on Green Universities, environmentally friendly back to school supplies, and the energy consumption comparison of desktop versus laptop computers.

This year as millions are getting ready to return to school, we look to our friends at the Department of Energy with a fun blog post on packing a waste-free lunch.

Enjoy their post - Make School Lunches Healthy and Green.

National Geographic’s Energy Quiz

We know you love Energy Quizzes as much as you love funnel cakes at the State Fair.  Well, we have found another great energy quiz for you; this one is from National Geographic and is called "What You Don't Know About Electricity."

It’s a 12 question quiz with questions about the history of electricity to utility style math questions (quiz tip: 1 kilowatt of power consumed for 1 hour equals 1 kilowatt hour of energy).

Here’s a link to the quiz.

New Energy Conservation Programs Launched In Virginia

This past spring, Dominion Virginia Power received regulatory approval to launch a new set of energy conservation programs to help customers conserve energy and save on energy costs.  The following new programs are being offered to residential and business customers in Virginia through qualified contractors participating in Dominion’s Contractor Network:

Residential Programs

• Home Energy Check-Up
  This program provides qualifying customers with an easy and low-cost home energy assessment. Customers receive a personalized report showing projected energy and cost savings that could be realized by making energy improvements. Customers receive incentives based on recommended measures implemented on the day of the check-up.
•  Duct Testing and Sealing
  This program provides incentives for qualifying customers to test and seal poorly performing duct and air distribution systems. Benefits include reduced air leakage and improvement in indoor air quality.
• Heat Pump Upgrade
  This program provides qualifying customers with rebates for residential heat pump upgrades. Qualifying equipment must have a better Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio and Heating Seasonal Performance Factor ratings than current minimum national efficiency standards. Rebate amount is dependent on the SEER rating of the new residential heat pump.
• Heat Pump Tune-Up
  This program provides qualifying customers with an incentive to tune-up existing heat pumps to achieve maximum operational performance. A properly tuned system should increase efficiency, reduce operating costs, and prevent premature equipment failures.

Business Programs

• Duct Testing and Sealing
  The Commercial Duct Testing and Sealing program promotes testing and general repair of poorly performing duct and air distribution systems in qualifying non-residential facilities.
• Energy Audit
  As part of this program, an energy auditor will perform an on-site energy audit of a qualifying commercial customer’s facility. The customer will receive a report showing projected energy and cost savings that could be realized by making recommended energy improvements. The customer may receive incentives based on the recommended measures implemented.
• Distributed Generation Program
  This program provides qualifying customers with an incentive to curtail load by operating customer-owned backup generation when called upon to do so up to 120 hours per year.

How to find a qualified contractor?

A list of qualified participating contractors is available at www.dom.com/contractorsearch. Contractors interested in joining the network can visit www.dom-vendor.com for additional information and to register. 

To learn more about the new and existing programs visit www.dom.com/savenowVA or call 1-(866) DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).