CONCORD, N.C. --

CONCORD, N.C. -- In an effort to be more competitive with other utility providers, Concord will now offer rebates for customers who install high efficiency heat pumps in their homes.

Concord City Council members approved the rebate program unanimously at their meeting on Thursday, following some debate over the programs merits. Concord will offer a rebate of $400 per unit for efficient heat pumps installed in new or existing homes.

The cost of power has been going up, said Electric Systems Director Bob Pate. People have been seeing increases. Were not unlike Duke and co-ops and Electricities. They have heat pump programs.

The program rebate resembles what Power Agency cities such as Monroe, High Point, and Gastonia are offering their customers, according to Concord officials. Union Power does not offer a rebate but they offer to finance the total replacement cost of a more energy efficient heat pump. Duke Energy offers a rebate program for higher efficiency heating and cooling equipment.

The program is a way to help lower the customers cost with an added benefit of helping to lower the citys peak demand during the summer, city officials said.

Approximately 56 percent of the energy use in a typical American home can be attributed to heating and cooling, making it the largest energy expense in the home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Heat pumps are considered a good energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners for climates with moderate heating and cooling needs, according to the Department of Energy.

Heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool space into a warm, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer.

They move heat rather than generate it. The most common type of heat pump is an air-source heat pump, which transfers heat between your house and the outside air. Households that heat with electricity can reduce their electricity use by 30 to 40 percent by using a heat pump, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. High efficiency pumps also dehumidify better than standard central air conditioners, lowering energy use while increasing cooling.

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Concord rebate plan turns up heat on utility competitors

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pythagoras Solar, provider of the industry's first solar window to simultaneously deliver energy efficiency, high power density and optimized daylighting, today announced its participation and contribution of solar window technology to the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) Building Technology Showcase, a first-of-its-kind research and demonstration building for sustainable technologies in the City of Boston's Innovation District. Pythagoras Solar is one of 35+ partners contributing a combined total of $2.7 million in advanced building energy technologies and services for the new "living laboratory."

"We are delighted to incorporate Pythagoras Solar's innovative solar window technology into our facility," said Fraunhofer CSE Building Energy Efficiency Group Leader Kurt Roth. "Building-integrated solar PV is an important technology for commercial construction, and we're excited to enter into a partnership with Pythagoras to benefit from and help refine the technology's energy production potential as well as impacts on lighting, heating, and cooling."

"Pythagoras Solar is excited to contribute its technology to the Fraunhofer CSE Showcase to help raise awareness for sustainable innovations and in particular solar window technology," said Udi Paret, VP Marketing and Business Development, Pythagoras Solar. "We are proud to have our technology demonstrated alongside industry leaders, such as Guardian Industries. Together, we can show that products that truly stand to change the way buildings are built are available today. Forward thinking building developers and architects can now see our solar windows in action firsthand and better understand how they can turn facades into energy generating assets."

Pythagoras Solar's Photovoltaic Glass Unit (PVGU), or solar window, provides significant and simultaneous benefits including energy efficiency, optimized daylighting, and high density solar power generation in a standard double-pane window form factor. This PVGU is easy-to-install, designed to meet advanced building codes and standards, can be optimized for a variety of uses and offers attractive economics with a typical ROI of 3-5 years. The first products are designed for curtain wall and skylight applications. Currently, Pythagoras Solar is shipping products for commercial projects and starting to deliver on a full pipeline of projects across the United States.

"In addition to making the Building Technology Showcase the premier research and demonstration laboratory for clean energy technologies, we are committed to making the building a venue where everyone -- from seasoned architects and construction executives to students still deciding their future career paths -- can visualize the performance and potential of the technologies incorporated into the building," said Nolan Browne, Managing Director of Fraunhofer CSE. "Our goal is to present the information in innovative ways that engage visitors and create demand for these energy-saving systems and sustainable products in the market."

For more information please visit http://cse.fraunhofer.org/bts.

Industry Partners Contributing to the Showcase:Controls and Building Management:Siemens Cimetrics OutSmart Power Systems

Interior Products / Systems:Dorma ThyssenKrupp Elevator nora systems, Inc DuPont Curava Artaic

Envelope:Guardian Industries Pythagoras Solar Roxul Cooley Group Dow Corning Erie Architectural Products

Solar Energy Systems:Schueco USA TIGI

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Pythagoras Solar Announces Solar Window Technology Contribution to Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems ...

CROSSVILLE Students in the building construction technology program at Tennessee Technology Center at Crossville have completed the 2015 Energy Star Concept Home and are ready to show their work to the community.

A dedication is set for noon Friday, followed by an open house during the weekend, coinciding with the annual Home Builders Association of Cumberland County Home Show.

"We know this is the first net-zero home in the county," said Steve Lane, instructor. "It may be the first in the state."

Net zero home means that, over the course of a year, the home will produce more energy than it uses. That's accomplished through a combination of energy generation with solar panels and energy efficient technology and building practices.

A 4 kilowatt solar system has been installed at the home's location across the street from the TTCC campus on Miller Ave. That will stay at the site and allow TTCC to be a Generation Partner with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

"We're the first Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) facility to be a Generation Partner," explained Lane, who said TBR and TVA lawyers had to work out several points in the standard contract that would allow a state facility to take advantage of the program.

As a Generation Partner, TTCC will sell all of the power produced by the solar panels back to TVA at 12 cents greater than the current energy price.

The solar array will allow students at TTCC to learn how to install and care for solar panels. They can also change the tilt of the array and perform experiments.

Another unique feature is the geothermal heating and cooling system, donated by Water Furnace. One was installed in the classroom and the other in the student-built home. TTCC students are training on installing, de-installing and servicing the geothermal units.

The city of Crossville partnered with TTCC to dig 300 linear feet of trenches about five feet deep. Tubing was buried in the trenches and coolant is circulated through the tubing to provide a heating or cooling source for the home.

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TTCC students build net-zero energy home

You get home from work on a Tuesday evening. Sensing your arrival, your home turns on the lights in the living room and kitchen. You stop by the bathroom and step on your Internet-connected scaleit absorbs your day's activity levels from a clip-on fitness monitoring device, then logs them on a website along with your sleeping activity and health history.

After making dinner, you sit down in front of the TV and tell it you want to buy a series you heard about on the way home from work. It responds to your voice, and in a few seconds downloads the entire first season over a gigabit connection. The series automatically downloads to your tablet, too, so you'll have it available on the go tomorrow.

We've been sold on such technological visions for years, but they always seem to be "three to five years" out. The tech we do get never seems to work quite as seamlessly as the futurists suggest. And yet we're still making remarkable technical progress; networking in general, and the Internet in particular, have only begun to transform our homes. Here are five basic technologies that will soon prove crucial to our networked livesand none are mere fantasies. The core technologies exist; shipping products exist. They just need to make it into more homes before the effects are truly felt.

A lucky few communities have already managed to line up gigabit home Internet connections: Google's projects in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas, EPB's network in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Sonic.net's plans for San Francisco.

Gigabit fiber connections remain the technological equivalent of Evil Knievel stunt-jumping a row of buses. Such speeds are more entertaining than practical for most, but content on the Internet will only continue to grow in size and quality. The Internet connection provides the baseline bandwidth that makes all of home network uses possible.

But getting gigabit Internet into the house does little good if you can't share it. To that end, groups like the Wireless Gigabit Alliance are already at work transitioning gigabit connections to WiFi. By focusing a concentrated signal from router to connected device, or "beamforming," the IEEE 802.11ad WiGig specification will allow data transmission speeds of up to 7Gbps. Qualcomm plans to start making 802.11ac chips soon that will give mobile and desktop devices access to 1.3Gbps WiFi speeds.

Faster WiFi can't come soon enough: a lot of our personal Internet business is currently conducted through smartphones (thus 3G and 4G connections). Carriers are straining under the load, capping data and throttling "unlimited" connections. We can expect more carriers producing devices with technology that makes offloading to WiFi as seamless as possible.

Another new standard, 802.11u, streamlines the process of switching between 3G and WiFi. Instead of presenting users with a long list of inscrutable SSIDs, 802.11u lets devices see and automatically connect to active WiFi, thus offloading activity from the cellular data connection. Of course, this requires public, trustworthy WiFi, like the one managed by the city of Chattanooga. They're rare today, but will likely become a necessary supplement to the cellular networks struggling to keep up.

There's a lack of transparency in the power usage of most homes. Power comes in, it gets used, and you get a bill. The "how" and "how much" of what happens in between are difficult to determine. But a range of technologies and devices are setting themselves up to make the whole life-cycle of energy more visible and easier to control.

For example, the Nest Learning Thermostat received a lot of buzz last fall for its ability to adapt automatically to users' habits and temperature preferences. Leave the house at 8AM everyday? The Nest detects your routine and learns to stop heating or cooling the house unnecessarily. Come home for an impromptu lunch, nap, or Skyrim session? The Nest detects that too, and starts warming or cooling the house to your ideal temperature.

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Feature: The five technologies that will transform homes of the future

The city of Tybee Island recently used an energy grant to install a geothermal heating and cooling system underground next to city hall. Now the city is in line to receive an additional $90,000 from the state for the heat pumps needed to make the system work, but not everyone digs the idea.

City Councilman Paul Wolff said the system which uses the constant temperature of the Earth to heat and cool will reduce costs by about 40 percent. That will be in addition to the reduced energy use from other grant-funded improvements, including the installation of foam insulation, efficient lighting and programmable thermostats, Wolff said.

The only cost to the city would be about $525 worth of staff time to prepare the request for proposals and move out the old heat pumps, he said.

But council member Wanda Doyle said city halls current heat pumps should not be replaced until necessary and the systems installation and use will likely take more staff time than Wolffs projections.

I have never seen a number of how many staff hours have been spent that were never included in the grant, she said.

The original $300,000 grant was used to make improvements to city hall and three other city buildings. The energy savings derived from the improvements are supposed to be invested in a fund that will pay for additional projects such as the geothermal systems completion.

So far, about $2,100 saved during the first quarter of the fiscal year has been invested, said City Manager Diane Schleicher.

The council will vote on whether to accept the grant during tonights meeting.

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Geothermal, showers on Tybee agenda

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

From the company that brought you the first full line of smart grid-enabled appliances, GE is now launching additions and enhancements to its innovative suite of Brillion home energy solutions and laying the foundation for an energy-saving connected home.

Weve leveled the playing field by providing a product that communicates a homes continuous real-time energy consumption to consumers without a smart meter, said William Paul, product manager, home energy, GE Appliances. Our new Whole-Home Sensor connects to the consumers electrical panel and allows them to understand their energy consumption without waiting for their electricity provider to install a smart meter.

Whole-Home Sensor: The new Whole-Home Sensor, an integral part of home-energy solutions, is being used in several utility test pilots, including test homes in Warner Robins, Ga., as part of Flint Energies recently announced pilot project. It will be available broadly in the second quarter of this year.

The sensor sends consumption data from large 240-volt applications, such as a panel box or pool pump, to the homes Nucleus energy manager, which then communicates that data to a consumers existing smartphones or personal computers helping them make smarter energy choices.

Knowledge of whole-home energy consumption provides consumers with insights into their electricity costs before the bill arrives; offers them feedback on electricity-intensive activities, such as water heating; and allows them to quantify the benefits of their personal energy-efficiency efforts.

Smart-Plug Controls: On a more granular level, GE is also adding Brillion-enabled Smart Plugs, which act as sensors for electronics and non-smart devices that plug into standard 120-volt outlets. These sensor plugs communicate with the Nucleus energy manager, enabling consumers to track electrical usage by the outlet for most 120-volt appliances and devices.

These sensors turn any standard 120-volt consumer good into a smart home capable device. The sensors can be moved from device to device, enabling the consumer to perform an audit of their electrical appliances and electronics or to monitor them continuously for ongoing feedback providing critical insights to help consumers reduce energy consumption.

Energy data and energy monitoring are GEs first steps toward a fully connected home, Paul said. We fully expect to expand our products beyond energy, bringing more convenience and control elements to the consumer. The beauty of having built-in communications features in our products means that we can also add functionality that makes peoples lives easier.

More Connected Communications Features: GEs Brillion-enabled thermostats help consumers easily adjust heating and cooling schedules from their Nucleus software interface and alter household temperatures and operating modes remotely from their iPhone.

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GE Unveils More Brillion™ Ideas for Consumer Energy Savings

CLINTON The Clinton School Board will meet tonight, with the board to consider the approval of the schematic design of the new middle school and the design and development of an innovation classroom at Clinton High School.

The Clinton Middle School Design Team has forwarded their recommendation to the board for approval of the schematic design and also is seeking approval to authorize moving into the design development phase.

Also the district and Clinton High School have been working on development plans with FRK for the past six months to remodel an unused space at Clinton High School into the new innovation classroom. The renovation is paid for through personal donations, company donations, grants and capital improvement funds.

The board also will consider approval of a change order to install a new roof top unit for heating and cooling for the remodeled administration center at a cost of $49,425. This will leave the contingency for the remodeling project at $5,307, according to the district. The Estes construction manager on the project states that the project will come in at the original budget projection.

The board also will consider approval of a contract between the Clinton School District and Clinton Community College to provide a program in construction trades for the 2012-2013 school year.

The board also will approve the contract between the district and CCC to provide the automotive technology program for the upcoming school year.

The Boundary Task Force, led by Jeff Reed, also will make its recommendation for boundary changes. If approved by the board, the changes would be put in place for the 2012-2013 school year.

The task force has been meeting since November to examine current and future enrollment patterns for the four elementary buildings. The recommendation will only affect the elementary schools.

Also on the agenda are a presentation by Clinton High School Principal Karinne Tharaldson Jones and members of the Clinton High School Family and Consumer Science Department about how a Childhood Development curriculum may impact course opportunities and provide an extended vocational strand to CHS students.

The board will consider a bid from Hartz Lock for a cost of $55,734 to replace all doors and door frames at Whittier Elementary School through the use of a $100,000 Harkin Fire-Safety grant and the adoption of a service delivery plan to address special education concerns as presented to the district.

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Clinton Middle School design on agenda tonight

LOS ANGELES -The concept is simple: Make a modern, prefabricated home with the lowest environmental impact -- and price -- possible.

It's called the C6, and it premiered in two locations this month: Palm Springs, where it was part of a Modernism Week prefab showcase open through Sunday, and the TED Conference in Long Beach, Calif., running through March 2.

Starting at $179,000, the C6 prefab from Santa Monica, Calif.-based LivingHomes is half the price of the company's other models. It's the first production home designed to achieve LEED platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, and it's the first to incorporate a range of products certified by Cradle to Cradle, the environmental rating program founded by sustainability gurus William McDonough and Michael Braungart. The cost, $145 per square foot, includes 34 tons of carbon offsets.

"When we started in 2006, we wanted to bring homes to a class of consumers who value design, health and sustainability in the products they buy," said LivingHomes chief executive Steve Glenn, citing Prius-driving, Whole Foods-shopping, iPhone-wielding, Patagonia-wearing consumers as his target. "Production builders haven't historically targeted those people. LivingHomes does."

To accomplish that goal, LivingHomes has devised a formula: Collaborate with architects to create standardized homes that integrate environmental sustainability and use factory production techniques to build homes cheaper and faster than traditional construction, Glenn said. In the case of the C6, the design was inspired by California real estate developer Joseph Eichler, who from 1950 to 1974 built tract homes centered on courtyards accessible through multiple points. In the C6, living spaces at both ends of the house open with sliding glass doors onto a miniature courtyard, aiding air flow and the blending of indoor and outdoor space.

Three modules fit together to make a 1,232-square-foot house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 9-foot ceilings. It takes less than two months to construct the C6 at the factory and one day to install on-site.

Other benefits besides speed: The paint is VOC-free, and the cabinets and carpet are free of formaldehyde and urea. LED light fixtures and "smart" controls for heating and cooling aid energy efficiency. An abundance of clerestory windows and skylights reduces the need for electric light. (A 4-kilowatt photovoltaic array is part of the zero-energy C6 on tour but is not included in the price.) To save water, the house also has low-flow fixtures and gray water-ready plumbing.

Many of the building materials have recycled content, including Trex decking, Andersen double-pane windows and Caesarstone quartz counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. McDonough designed a 100 percent recycled and recyclable doorknob for the house. His Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute has certified other products used in the C6, including the Owens Corning insulation in the ceiling, floors and walls, and Mosa bathroom tiles.

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Prefab's new eco promise

(ARA) - When it comes to home improvement, you can spend money in two basic ways: on things that make your home look better and things that make it function better. Under the first category, you'll find all the things you want to do, like replacing narrow casement windows with a lovely bay window. Under the second, falls all the things you must do, like replacing those drafty windows with something more energy-efficient.

When "want to" and "have to" meet, they create the opportunity to make a smart buying decision - and choose an upgrade that will look good and improve the livability of your home. The key to making smart home improvement decisions is to recognize these opportunities and take full advantage of them.

Here are a few "have to" improvements that have the potential to turn into a good-looking, energy-efficient, enjoyment-enhancing "want to."

Replacing the hot water heater.

You probably don't care what a new hot water heater looks like sitting in your garage or basement - or wherever it resides in your home. But the right replacement water heater can help your house achieve a lovely shade of green. High energy-efficiency water heaters can help reduce energy usage, thereby trimming your energy bills and your home's environmental impact. Solar water heating systems take the beauty a step further by using the power of the sun, collected through low-profile solar panels on the roof, to heat water - at a monthly savings that's about 80 percent less than the cost of traditional heaters.

Getting some light in here.

Do you really need a bunch of scientific studies to tell you that a home filled with natural light just feels better? Probably not. Illuminating your home with natural light is a smart buying decision on multiple levels. First, you don't pay to power the sun. Second, natural light delivers a host of mood-enhancing benefits. If you have the wall space, by all means add some windows.

But for rooms where a window is impossible (like a powder room) or where you don't want to sacrifice privacy (like a master bathroom) a tubular skylight is a good alternative. Some, like Velux's Sun Tunnel products, are easy enough to install that a seasoned do-it-yourselfer could accomplish the task. They cost less than traditional skylights and bring natural light to hard-to-light areas like closets, hallways and other small spaces.

Getting some air in here.

Just as natural sun is good for your mood, ventilation can be good for your health. An Energy Star qualified venting skylight is a great way to passively vent stale, moist air from inside your home, especially from baths and kitchens. While some skylights are "fixed," those that do open can be controlled by a remote to open when you want fresh air and close when you want to retain warmth. They can also close automatically in case of rain. In addition, they introduce free light into your home. Adding blinds - also remote-controlled - can help you better control the amount of sun a skylight admits into your home. And blinds are not just functional - you can get them in colors and patterns to complement your decor while increasing energy efficiency. Compared to other venting solutions, a skylight is a relatively low-cost, great-looking way to address ventilation issues while adding drama to a space. Log on to http://www.veluxusa.com to learn more about skylights.

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How to turn must-do home improvements into things of beauty

JACKSONVILLE- You walk past it every day, giving it no attention until you're too hot or too cold. Your thermostat. There are programmable ones out therebut many are hard to operate. Nest Labs says it has a solution with its Wi-Fi Learning Thermostat.

I ordereda Nestlast year and tested it in my house for seven weeks. I'll have the results for you but first a little background on the Nest.

The Nest was developed by former Apple executives. The thermostat looks like no other. It's ahigh tech orb-like device with brushed steel.

After I took off my old thermostat, I hooked up the wires to install the Nest. It's a relatively simple process that took me about 30 minutes. Plug it in and the Nest comes to life.

The first thing you do is have the Nest sniff out your homes Wi-Fi. It's very easy to use by turning the outside wheel and tapping on its glass. To raise the temperature, turn theouter ringto the right, to lower it, to the left. When the leaf appears it means you're saving the most energy. But the best feature is the Nest learns every time you adjust the temperature. After a week it sets a schedule. "We had to build this feature to learn your habits, to basically learn your inputs. It solves this core problem of helping people build a schedule to help people save energy and make them more comfortable," says Nest co-founder Matt Rogers.

You can change the schedule anytime you want at home or by an app on your iPhone or iPad. It also has an auto-away mode. Sensors in the thermostat know when you're home. When the Nest doesn't detect anyone in the house for two hours it adjusts the temperature.

Cool device. But it cost $249. So has it saved me money since I started using it since January 7th? My first monthly bill showed I used an average of 63-kilowatt hours of energy per day. But I installed the Nest halfway through the billing period. The real test would come during the next bill. I found I used about two fewer kilowatt hours per day. That's a 26 cents a day savings or an average of $7.80 a month or $93 a year. Was all thatdue to the Nest? That's still too early to tell.

JEA's Conservation & Efficiency Specialist Brian Pippin says the high tech thermostat will likely save you money for one reason, it programs itself. "If you spent $100 for a programmable thermostat that you did have to program and you did it incorrectly, no savings there. If you bought the Nest for $249and it programmed itself, it may take a year and a half but at least you're getting your investment back."

Heating and cooling account for almost 46% of the electricity usage in your home with the rest going to water heating, appliances, lighting andotheritems like computers. If you adjust the temperature just one degree on your thermostat, it will save you 5% on your heating bill. The Nest claims to save its users 15%-30% on their bill.

At a$93 dollar a year savings, it would take about two and a half years to make back the cost of the $249 Nest. My test lasted only 7 weeks. Plus, there are variety of other factors that go into energy usage like the outside temperature and how warm or cool you like your house. The jury is still out if the Nest will feather bank accounts but one thing is certain, it sure does look cool on the hallway wall.

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Can The Nest Thermostat Save You Money?