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Welcome to the January 2009 Edition of the City of Fort Wayne’s Green City email newsletter.
Upcoming Events:
January is Radon Awareness Month
To get a free Radon test kit for your home, contact Meghan McNulty with the American Lung Association of Indiana at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call 317-819-1181.
Recycle Your Christmas Tree Into Mulch
December 26, 2008 through January 16, 2009
For locations and more information, visit:
http://www.acwastewatcher.org/
Fort Wayne City Utilities will host a screening of highlights from the public television documentary "Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure", followed with a community discussion.
January 28th at 7PM at the main branch of the Allen County Public Library in downtown Fort Wayne.
More information at the bottom of this email.
Green ABCs, hosted by April Langschied of Waynedale Green Alliance will include interactive classes on greener-living Saturday’s from 10-11am on 1/31/09 through 3/7/09 at the Franke Park Nature Lodge. Cost is $6, register below using code 148302-S1 or call 427-6011:
https://register.fortwayneparks.org/
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This edition of the Green City email newsletter contains:
*Green Tip of the Month
*Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency
*The Case for Solar Hot Water by Gary Washington
*City Utilities Hosts Community Forum on Infrastructure Needs
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*Green Tip of the Month
Happy New Year! Some of us decide that this calendar flip is the time to set some new goals for our future. This year, consider a resolution to lower your personal carbon emission.
Change your incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient CFLs. Seal the air leaks around your doors and windows with easy to install peel and stick insulation. Unplug your electronics when not in use, or plug them all into a power strip and turn off the strip all at once! These and other small changes will help you reduce your own personal contribution to global climate change. Thanks for all you do!
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*Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency
On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.” This bill extended tax credits for energy efficient home improvements (windows, doors, roofs, insulation, HVAC, and non-solar water heaters). Tax credits for these residential products, which had expired at the end of 2007, will now be available for improvements made during 2009. However, improvements made during 2008 are not eligible for a tax credit.
The bill also extended tax credits for solar energy systems and fuel cells to 2016. New tax credits were established for small wind energy systems and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Tax credits for builders of new energy efficient homes and tax deductions for owners and designers of energy efficient commercial buildings were also extended.
For more information and a detailed list of tax credits, visit:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits
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*The Case for Solar Hot Water by Gary Washington
Using the sun to heat your hot water for your home is easy. It can be installed in about two days and gives you 25 years of free hot water. Most families use about 20 gallons of hot water per person per day. This is 30% or more of the entire energy bill for your home. The sun doesn’t shine every day in Fort Wayne, Indiana but it shines enough to supply 70% of your hot water need, giving the average household a huge savings over the life of the collectors. It also reduces you carbon footprint by about 20%.
Here’s how harnessing solar energy works. The sun comes up every day. Sometimes it’s blocked by clouds but it still gives off radiant heat. The collectors absorb the heat and put it into your hot water tank using a small circulating pump. The pump is turned on and off by an automatic thermostatic controller. When the sun goes down at the end of the day the controller moves to standby and waits for the sun to come up in the morning. The process is repeated again and again so you can have enough hot water for showers, dishwashing, clothes washing and kitchen work.
There are several working installs around the Fort Wayne area. They are supplying hot water for domestic usage as well as space heating. Plus, this product qualifies for federal tax credits mentioned in the above article.
For more information on solar products, visit:
http://www.solarusagenow.com/
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*City Utilities Hosts Community Forum on Infrastructure Needs
Fort Wayne City Utilities will host a screening of highlights from the public television documentary "Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure." The screening, followed with a community discussion, will take place at 7:00 PM on January 28, 2009 in the auditorium of the main branch of the Allen County Public Library in downtown Fort Wayne.
"Liquid Assets" tells the story of essential utility systems: drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. These complex and aging systems—some in the ground for more than 100 years—are critical for basic sanitation, public safety, economic development, and a host of other necessities of life. The documentary highlights communities from across the United States, providing an understanding of hidden water infrastructure assets, demonstrating watershed protection approaches, and illustrating twenty-first century solutions.
"Over the next couple of decades, Fort Wayne will be making enormous investments in our utility systems," said Kumar Menon, Director of City Utilities. “In order to protect our environment and ensure that our utilities can serve the community for years to come we must invest now. We see this event on January 28 as a beginning of ongoing discussions about the need to invest in improving our utility infrastructure."
The “Liquid Assets” documentary can be seen locally on WFWA PBS in February. Check local television listings for the date and time.
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Thank you very much for being a subscriber to our Green City email newsletter. We hope this has been helpful and informative to you.
We will contact you once per month with the email newsletter, as well as on Air Quality Action Days to alert you when air conditions indicate you need to take action.
If you would like to suggest topics or articles to include in monthly email newsletters, please email
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Please pass this email newsletter on to your friends and family, so that everyone can share in the knowledge and have an impact on reducing energy consumption.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Harter
Program Manager
Energy & Environmental Services
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Visit the City’s Energy & Environmental Services Website: http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/energy
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