ENERGY ' CONSERVATION The Complete Book ofInsulating, edited by Larry Gay, $7.95, March 1980, from: The Stephen.Greene Press P:O. BoxlO00 Brattleboro, VT 05301 I'm impressed! I've spent a lot of time in attics, and an equal amount of time trying to describe the properties of different insulating materials to homeowners, <,ind have always wanted to be able to_suggest a readable text to help them weigh the advantages and disadvantages.of products so_they cottld choose we'll. No book till this one did an adequate job of that (emphasis here on the •readability). Most of us are trained to respond tq advertising, Advertising never stresses or-even mentions-in-passing the disadvantages of hs product, and yet there is no perfect, best insul~tion. Larry Gay • explains this problem and provides enough information in doing so ta enable people to make the best choices-giv.en their cir_cumstances. This goes for weather stripping, caulking (weep-holes for storm windows or no weep-holes?-it depends), vapor bar- · riers, insulating difficult places, etc. I highly recommend this book to homedwellers, contractors and insulating crews. It would make an excellent textbook for Residental Conservation Services trainees. -CC The Complete Energy-Saving Home Improvement Guide, 1979, $1.95, from: •Arco Publishing, Inc. 219 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003 If you've seen any of the government en-: ergy conservation informational material available·, this little book will look familiar. Most of it is reprinted from In the Bank . .. or Up the Chimney?, Project Retrotech, Home Heating in an Emergency, and others. Sections on weatherization are straight from Project Retrotech, the basic guide for most CSA.and DOE weatherization programs. When I was actually doing a· lot of weatherization, I found Project Ret- • rotech to be an unwieldy guide, basically because it's so nit-picky. Having to calculate the heat-loss through each surface of a house when you're inspecting several houses a day was a real bore. Besides, the_ calculations often provided far more abstrac;:t information than most people are interested in. But if you're doing one house, your own, you may find the calculations.interesting, and if you follow the guide closely, you will most certainly acquire a inore intimate knowledge of your .house, its joists and rafters, than-you've had before (unless you built it). The rest of the information in this book is pretty good although I'd do a lot more reading and talking to people be(ore I'd in:vest in either a wood stove or a solar device or attempt to install either. One other caution:·the illustrations in this book referring to installing ;such products as rock wool, fiberglas, and 'cellulose, are deceptive. Always wear a mask to protect you from inhaling-any of these materials! -CC @THE OREGON MODEL Through approval of the·Renewable Energy Development and Conservation Act Initiative in November, 1980, Oregon voters will enact Article XI-D of the Oregon Constitution, providing financial resources to catalyze the Oregon transition to a renewable energy future. The Renewable Energy Development and Conservation Act provides an opportunity for democratic energy planning that other states could follow. Unique in tHe United States, Article XI-D of the Oregon Constitution allows citizens to elect the Oregon Energy Development Commission (OEDC). The three-member non-partisan OEDC elected statewide can: 1. Develop conservation and renewable energy sources (solar, wind, hydro, bio- , mass, alcohol fuels, geothermal, co-generation). Coal and nuclear energy will not be . financed from this source. 2. Lend low-interest money for conservation and renewables to individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, consumer-owned utilities and local governments (but not to.private utilities like Portland General Electric and Pacific Power & -Light). • • • 3. Sell power to consumer-owned utilities. The Act guarantees local control over energy development through small-scale , energy production and citizen participation in the state financing of renewable energy. The OEDC will appoint six citizen advisory committees: Cons'ervatibn and Environ~ ment; Fisheries Resources.; Consum~rs and Agriculture; Labor and Business; Utilitirs; and Local Governments. . 1 For years the renewable energy community has questidne~ where and when the capital would be available for cons~rvation , and renewable energy. The Federal government, financial institutions, big business and private utilities have spent insignificant monies to develop homesite and commuRAIN Residential Conservation Service Hand1;,ook, April 1980, $2.00 from: Environmental Action Foundation 724 Dupont Circle Bldg. Washington, DC 20036 If the president's National Energy Conservation Policy Act (part of that "moral . equivalent of war") is to have subs.tantial impacts on energy use in our communities, more of us are going to have to: 1) read it, 2) understand it, and 3) help to ifI1-plement it in creative, comprehensive ways. In order to read it, you can obtain a copy from your state congressperson. You c~n get a copy of the final regulations from the ad-, dress above. But understanding it will not be so easy. For help with that, and the implementation phase, get a copy of thi's booklet, the Residential Conservation Ser1)ice (RCS) Handbook. RCS, the latest acronym to come down the pike, refers to a program which will require major utilities to offer their residential customers energy audits and assistance with realizing the changes recommended in the audits. Furthermore, each state can develop its own state energy plan in order to assure the best RCS programs for that state. It's probably too late_for most of you to affect your plan before it goes ~o DOE for approval (the , deadline is June 1980), but there is an amendment procedure to intervene. There is also the ongoing monitoring that you can become involved in, , About half of the book is about RCS; the other hal( is a reprint from the Feb./ Mar. Energy Consumer. This is a list of Resources for Community Energy Projects, a state-by-state breakdown of available programs and key people with energy information, and is a very valuable resource in itself. -CC ' nity renewable energy and conservation options. Enormous sums of money leave the country-$93 billion last year-to buy foreign oiL Oregon, a net importer of energy, is dependent on out-of-state sources for all its petroleum products, natural gas, coal and a • large part of its electricity. Yet, Oregon has . more renewable energy potential from a greater variety of sources than any other state. The formation of the Oregon Energy Development Commissio1n provides a· working tool for energy planning and the necessary funds to develop renewable energy and conservation in the immea,iate 't future. Petitioners and money donations are needeq immediately by the initi~tive sponsors, Oregonians for Utility Reform (OlJR), POB 36771 Eugene, OR 97403, Thanks to Kathy Ging for this information.
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