Energy Conservation
The purpose of the Energy Conservation program is to lower energy costs, improve availability and conserve demand through a regional approach considerate of individual community need.
Energy efficiency and conservation are the least expensive most cost effective measures to meet sustainable energy goals. The leadership of the Aleut companies, the A-Team, have set a goal of reducing fossil fuel usage in the Aleut region by 80%, energy efficiency and energy conservation are key in meeting this goal. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA) partnered with the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC) and other organizations to provide the Energy Savers Tips for Rural Alaska which was published and distributed to every rural household in 2009. The 2011 updated version, Energy Savers Tips For Alaska can be downloaded (http://www.akenergyauthority.org/Efficiency/Energy_Savers_Tips_2011.pdf).
Energy Efficiency for Public Buildings Booklet Released
Folks may remember that SWAMC and its energy task force put together a home energy efficiency guide entitled Energy Savers Tips for Alaska. As a follow up to this, we contributed to another energy efficiency booklet recently produced by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. A Guide to Managing Energy Use in Public & Commercial Facilities provides public facility, commercial building, and small business owners with a starting point for addressing energy use in existing facilities and recognizing energy efficiency as an energy source. Managing a facility from an energy standpoint allows owners to have control over operations and costs, which is vital because over the life of a building 50 percent of costs go to operating the facility, including energy costs, maintenance and repairs. This guide addresses target savings that can be captured through routine maintenance, energy policy creation, energy assessments and project for implementation. We encourage building owners and operators to check it out today!
Weatherization and Energy Conservation Education and Home Energy and Safety Review in the Aleutian Islands
Beginning in 2010 APIA was funded by the DOE to provide weatherization training and energy conservation and efficiency and safety measures in 4 Aleut communities. To increase the human capacity for implementation of a Tribal Weatherization Assistance Program, four project objectives were identified.
Objective 1: Identify and hire three part-time local community members that desire to learn weatherization techniques as Energy Technicians.
Objective 2: Train Energy Technicians in methods of weatherization assistance and energy conservation.
Objective 3: Develop an active listing of regional residential homes that require weatherization.
Objective 4: Energy Technicians will perform weatherization on identified regional residential homes.
ESTIMATED TOTAL ENERGY SAVED: 25,016 KwH/yr.
If the total energy saved by installing these products is a 25% reduction (electrical and heating, both of which are usually produced by combustion of diesel fuel), and the average Alaska home produces 32,000 pounds of CO2 each year, so we have saved about: 66 homes x 16 tons of CO2 each year x .25 = 264 tons of CO2 each year.