CONTACT:
Charles Accurso – Digestive Healthcare Center Robert Ross – Easy Energy USA   Phone: 877-883-5781

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10th 2013


Digestive Healthcare Center and Easy Energy USA Celebrate Savings Concluding the 2012 EPA’s ENERGY STAR National Building Competition  

Competitors together have saved more than $50 million on utility bills and prevented nearly 290,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions

[ Milford, PA ] – Digestive Healthcare Center, with the help of Easy Energy USA, has successfully crossed the finish line in EPA’s 2012 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. In its third year, the competition featured over 3,000 teams from across the country racing to improve energy efficiency, lower utility costs and protect health and the environment. Together, competitors cut their energy costs by more than $50 million.  

Digestive Healthcare Center has reduced its energy use by 24.9 percent and prevented 44 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the course of the year, equal to the amount of 4,933 gallons of gasoline consumed. Additionally, Digestive Healthcare Center was formally recognized for placing first among all Medical Office Buildings.   The winner of the competition was Demarest Elementary School, in Bloomfield, New Jersey, which reduced its energy use by more than 52 percent.   From improvements in operations and maintenance to upgrades in equipment and technology, the competitors together saved more than 3 billion kBtus of energy and more than $50 million on utility bills annually. The competitors also prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by more than 43,000 homes per year.   “The impressive results of the third-annual National Building Competition are proof positive that any building can take simple steps to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings where we all work, play, and learn,” said Jean Lupinacci, chief of ENERGY STAR for commercial buildings and industrial plants. “All of the participants in the Energy Star National Building Competition are finding more and more ways to cut energy use, saving thousands of dollars and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Congratulations to Easy Energy USA for helping to lead the way.”   The 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition measured energy performance over the entire 2012 calendar year. Competitors tracked their building's monthly energy consumption using EPA's online energy tracking tool, Energy Star Portfolio Manager. 

Demarest Elementary School won the competition by demonstrating the largest percent-reduction in energy use, adjusted for weather and the size of the building. A professional engineer or architect verified reductions in energy usage. Last year, the University of Central Florida won the competition, reducing the energy use of an on-campus parking garage by more than 63 percent.

Energy usage of commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, costing of more than $100 billion per year. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with EPA’s Energy Star program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.

More information on the 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition, including top overall finishers and top finishers by building category, an interactive map of competitors, and a wrap-up report: http://www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings

What if I told you that there was a fifth energy source that was cheap, clean, and renewable? It’s also readily available to the public and has the potential to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels drastically. Believe it or not, this fifth fuel is really energy efficiency.  Energy efficiency sounds boring to many people, but when you think of it as a completely new source of energy, there’s a different package entirely. 

The most important part of creating a warm, comfortable home is insulation. By insulating, you’re putting a cozy thermal blanket around your home. Thus making your home warm and comfy. But where do you start? There are plenty of questions you want make sure you have answered before you start insulating anywhere. You should know what the recommended R-values are for where you live, what kind of insulation you want, where do you need insulation, how to or where to find a professional to install it. 

As with most things, it is better to be proactive rather than reactive. When it comes to your HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems, you want to be proactive about maintaining it. Especially because when an HVAC system breaks down, it can be costly to repair or replace. The best part of maintaining your HVAC systems is not only the money you’ll save, but the time as well. This means less time without heat and/or cooling, and less money replacing parts.

When you have regular maintenance for your HVAC systems, you’re making sure you have a well ventilated, heated, and cooled home. A well maintained HVAC system has an extended the life and help with the overall comfort of the home or building.

The best way to maintain a HVAC system is to consider hiring a service company to do so.  By doing so, you’ll ensure that your filters are replaced, evaporator and condenser coils are cleaned and treated, and that the ductwork is inspected for leaks. All this adds up to cleaner indoor air and a more comfortable home without hurting your pocket.

So before summer rolls in, make appointment to give your HVAC systems a check up! It’ll help me sure you have a cool and comfortable summer.

best,
danielle p.

Ventilation in a home is important. Without it, pollutants would build up that would greatly affect the health of the home dwellers.   The premise of ventilation is to exchange air between outside and inside the home. Now, there are two main ways to ventilate a home. One is naturally; the other is mechanically. 

New homeowners are looking for more and more energy efficient homes listed on the market. There’s no doubt as why they are. When heating and cooling bills add up to 70% of annual operating cost of home, you don’t want to be spending more than you have to. With energy costs continuously on the rise, the best investment you can make is energy efficiency. 

Spring is on the horizon! And with it, spring cleaning.  Before you start your spring cleaning venture, here are a couple of hints and tricks to help get your residence or commercial building clean of the winter grime.

       It’s March, ladies and gentlemen. That means it’s going to be wet and probably cold outside. If it’s cold and wet outside, you’re probably going to want to stay warm and dry inside, right? As much as we humans love being warm, you know what else does? Mold. Mold loves moisture, which there’s plenty of in March. It also loves warm temperatures, oxygen, and some source of organic nutrient source. Luckily for mold, there’s plenty of that in your home. Which can have negative effects for us.

We are told that solar can reduce our heating bill; especially if we have electric heat. I beg to differ. Yes, it’s true that electric heating and hot water heating requires an enormous amount of kWh per hour. For instance, it requires 15kW to heat and provide hot water for a 1,500 square foot home per hour. Compare that to a solar set up though. A 15 kW solar array at 200 Watts per panel would require 75 solar panels on your roof or lawn and four solar inverters plus the installation, maintenance and insurance costs. This comes at an enormous   cost—even with the 30% federal subsidy. In the winter, you’re lucky to get four hours of solar power. That leaves the remaining 20 hours to still require utility power. All assuming you don’t cook, do laundry, watch TV or turn on a single light. 

For some, detoxes appear harsh and unappealing when you have to fast for a week straight, drinking only strange elixirs of lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Luckily, there are options for a lighter, less intense detox that are far gentler.