Indigo Raffel
of Conservation Consultants, Inc. (CCI), whose stated mission is "Responsible Energy Use in Homes and Other Buildings", spoke to our group on Dec 13, 2006.CCI
does energy audits and consulting for homes and other buildings. It should be noted that CCI's building has aLEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
"Gold" rating, the highest green energy rating.Indigo stated the necessities required to sustain life are energy, water, food, and air. She considered three aspects to address in energy use, cost, comfort, and health. Pennsylvania is, unfortunately, first in the nation in acid rain, and third in mercury emissions. The acid rain problem is due to the high use of coal fired electric generation plants; the mercury emission is due to many companies being "grandfathered" in past legislation. Indigo suggested legislative remedies for the acid rain and mercury emission problems. She also suggested managing our personal energy use satisfactorily as the most immediate action we could take.Indigo reviewed several aspects of green building design and retrofitting, many of which can be done quickly and at low cost. Examples are replacing appliances with energy star appliances, using compact fluorescent lighting in place of incandescent lighting, replacing furnaces with high-efficiency furnaces, and using a sealer called Mortite, which seals air leaks but is removable. Other actions that can be taken are using programmable thermostats, caulking, and using electric outlet gaskets.
Indigo stated that a concept to keep in mind in water usage is that you pay for water three times, at intake, for heating, and at disposal. Any savings for the expense of water usage are then accumulated for all three processes.
More information can be found at CCI's website,
