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Community Energy Opportunity Finder
The Rocky Mountain Institute recently developed the Community Energy Opportunity
Finder (Energy Finder www.energyfinder.org) web site to provide the means by which
communities can significantly improve their energy usage, and in doing so, reduce
their environmental impacts while creating local jobs and savings. It demonstrates
that green energy is not just an environmental idea; it?fs a means to build local
economies.
The Energy Finder is a free, interactive, web-based tool that enables
communities to explore untapped opportunities for economic development,
pollution prevention, and risk reduction through energy efficiency. It helps
any community estimate these benefits and provides details to get them
started on their own energy projects.
Since approximately 40% of the energy consumed in the U.S. is for the
building sector, and about 90% of that energy comes from fossil fuels
(coal, oil and natural gas), increasing energy efficiency can go a long
way toward saving money and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
More specifically, the Energy Finder allows a community to:
- Determine how much energy it can save by making energy efficiency improvements;
- See how community members can reduce utility bills in both residences and businesses, thereby freeing up money for community development and local re-spending;
- Enhance local, regional and national security by relying on efficiency and distributed, right-sized energy solutions;
- Better preserve the environment, both on a regional and global basis;
- Show residents who have never been involved how to participate in community affairs; and
- Find city- or county-specific recommendations for energy efficiency projects.
The Energy Finder was designed to be user-friendly. Once the required
information has been entered into Energy Finder, it will provide city-specific
recommendations for ways to reduce energy consumption and generate estimates.
The Energy Finder survey creates a community profile, or scenarios that will
help you evaluate your community's energy savings potential. When starting the
survey you will enter a step-by-step "data entry" process to collect current and
projected data on your community's energy use and physical characteristics.
There are eight sections to the survey, each which will require some time to
complete. However, you can take your time completing them as the data you enter
will be saved as you go from step-to-step. This allows you to do as much work as
you want now and return later to pick up where you left off. To get started
you will need:
- A computer with Internet access and basic home office software programs, including
Adobe Acrobat Reader and Microsoft Excel;
- A team of two or three people working closely with the community's utility
providers and town hall or county offices. This team should expect to spend up to a
week collecting the survey information;
- To gather information from municipal utilities and local government offices
regarding energy prices and usage, development rates and square footage of all commercial,
residential, and public buildings in your community.
Based on the data you enter, The Energy Finder performs a series of calculations,
and presents you with the potential dollar savings, emissions reductions, and the jobs
that can be created by implementing community-wide energy efficiency programs.
Energy Finder is located at www.energyfinder.org. For more information or help using
Energy Finder, contact the Rocky Mountain Institute at 970-927-3851 (www.wmi.org) or
email: outreach@mri.org.
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