Portland, U.S.A. – On October 8, Energy Forward opened voting for college football fans in Idaho as part of the “Are You Fan Enough” campaign, encouraging Northwest residents to look for the “Most Efficient” sticker when shopping for new TVs. Energy Forward is an initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) in collaboration with Northwest utilities, Energy Star and retail partners.

By entering “Are You Fan Enough” on Facebook or at Best Buy and Sears retail locations, consumers have the chance to win one of four ultimate VIP college football tailgate packages or an Energy Forward 47-inch TV. VIP tailgate packages include 10 tickets to see the winner’s favorite college team play a home game in Idaho, Montana, Oregon or Washington and a tailgate party featuring Energy Forward TVs and an Energy Forward RV catered with food, refreshments and Snuggies. The Idaho Matchup of Moscow vs. Boise launches with voting on Facebook at http://bit.ly/areufanenough starting 12:01 AM MDT on October 8, 2012 and ending at 11:59 PM MDT on October 22, 2012.

“The ‘Are You Fan Enough’ campaign is a fun way to help consumers learn about TVs that are engineered to provide the best performance while also saving energy–a winning combination for any sports fan,” said Ty Stober, market transformation initiative lead at NEEA. “The Northwest Power and Conservation Council estimates some of the biggest energy savings over the next 20 years could come from more Northwest residents choosing super-efficient televisions.”

Consumers can enter “Are You Fan Enough” by “rushing” to the campaign Facebook page at http://bit.ly/areufanenough or by scanning a QR code located in electronics departments at Northwest Best Buy and Sears locations. Entrants can vote for a tailgate party at one of two universities located within each of the four Northwest states.

Voting for each of these matchups will last two weeks during the months of October and November. At the end of each of the four voting periods, one winner who voted for the team that received the most votes in each state matchup will be randomly selected to win a grand prize VIP tailgate package. Every entrant will also be entered to win additional prizes, including one of four Energy Forward TVs or additional game tickets.

The goal of Energy Forward is to accelerate market adoption of advanced energy-efficient televisions by incentivizing retailers to stock and sell TVs that are engineered to be the most efficient of Energy Star.

These TVs are at least 20 to 35 percent more efficient than other energy-efficient products and are marked with a “Most Efficient” sticker at Best Buy, Costco, Kmart, Sam’s Club, Sears, Target, Walmart and independent electronics stores throughout the Northwest. According to the Northwest Power & Conservation Council, a region-wide shift to the most efficient TVs has the potential to save enough energy to power more than 290,000 homes each year.

“Northwest utilities are the real heroes here,” continued Stober. “They are leading not just the region, but the entire nation by collaborating on energy efficiency efforts like Energy Forward.”

Since the Energy Forward TV initiative launched in the Northwest in 2009, TVs are now almost 60 percent more efficient.

Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington residents can vote in any one of the four state matchups. Voting in the “Are You Fan Enough” campaign will continue in Washington and Oregon during October and November.

“Are You Fan Enough” scheduled sweepstakes voting periods:

• The Montana Matchup:  Missoula vs. Bozeman launches at 12:01 AM MDT on October 1, 2012and ends at 11:59 PM MDT on October 15, 2012.
• The Idaho Matchup: Moscow vs. Boise launches at 12:01 AM MDT on October 8, 2012 and ends at 11:59 PM MDT on October 22, 2012.
• The Washington Matchup: Seattle vs. Pullman launches at 12:01 AM PDT on October 15, 2012 and ends at 11:59 PM PDT on October 29, 2012.
• The Oregon Matchup: Eugene vs. Corvallis launches at 12:01 AM PDT on October 22, 2012 and ends at 11:59 PM PST on November 5, 2012.

“Are You Fan Enough” winner announcement dates:

• Montana Matchup winner is drawn - October 17, 2012
• Idaho Matchup winner is drawn - October 24, 2012
• Washington Matchup winner is drawn - October 31, 2012
• Oregon Matchup winner is drawn - November 7, 2012

“Are You Fan Enough” grand prize games and ultimate tailgate parties:

• Montana game is October 27, 2012
• Idaho game is November 3, 2012
• Washington game is November 10, 2012
• Oregon game is November 17, 2012

For more information on “Are You Fan Enough”: bit.ly/areufanenough.

Image Courtesy of  Aspen Photo / Shutterstock.com

The article “Are You Fan Enough” Campaign Continues appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Milwaukee, U.S.A. – In celebration of Earth Day, Johnson Controls, the global leader in delivering solutions that increase energy efficiency in buildings, released its Top Earth Day Champions list to highlight organizations saving the carbon equivalent of 45,000 acres of pine forests through energy efficiency and renewable energy projects at their facilities.

Carbon emissions from building energy use are predicted to grow faster than any other sector in the next 25 years, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, making building efficiency critically important for the protection of the environment.

“These organizations have already made significant environmental improvements while at the same time attacking energy waste and reducing operational costs,” said Dave Myers, president of Johnson Controls Building Efficiency. “We recognize those who have committed to making their organizations more sustainable, their facilities more efficient, and their occupants more comfortable. Importantly, each one of these projects will also have strong financial paybacks.”

Here are the 2012 Top Earth Day Champions and the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emissions they are saving annually through projects with Johnson Controls.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tenn. tops the list with its annual reduction of 49,135 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. In 2008, ORNL replaced a natural gas steam plant with a wood gasification biomass system, reducing its carbon footprint and cutting fossil fuel consumption by 80 percent.

The Champions earned a spot on the list by making their facilities more efficient using a variety of measures, including: utilizing building management systems to optimize energy and operational efficiency, installing distributed generation and renewable energy technology, using more efficient lighting, and updating heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Since January, 2000, Johnson Controls energy performance contracting projects have saved nearly 18 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to that saved by 3.5 million acres of pine forests, and generated savings of $6.5 billion in North America alone. With performance contracting, savings in energy consumption from facility upgrades pay for the project over the term of the contract.

If the savings are not realized, Johnson Controls pays the difference between the value of the measured and verified consumption and the guaranteed consumption under the contract.

The article Top Earth Day Champions in Reducing Carbon Emissions appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Verizon employees across the globe will join millions of people in more than 128 countries and territories to support Earth Hour on Saturday (March 31). From 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time, millions of square feet in more than 600 company locations will go dark, helping to raise awareness of energy-efficiency opportunities.

During the event last year, Verizon in just one hour saved 45,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough energy to power approximately 10 homes for a year. Throughout all of 2011, Verizon reduced its energy usage by 2.34 percent – the equivalent of powering 20,600 homes for a year.

Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour is an event in which millions of people participate by turning off their lights at businesses and homes for one hour to support action on climate change and on creating a cleaner, safer and more secure future.

During the global event, now in its sixth year, the lights will be dimmed on global icons including the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, Buckingham Palace in London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Taiwan’s 101 Financial Center in Taipei and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

In addition to darkening numerous floors in Verizon office buildings and technical sites in 40 different countries, Verizon also will dim lights and signs outside its major office sites including the Pearl Street building in Manhattan; a twin office complex in Irving, Texas; an entire campus in Basking Ridge, N.J.; and company sites in Dortmund, Germany; and Reading in the United Kingdom.

“Verizon is proud to once again demonstrate our commitment to the environment this year during Earth Hour,” said James Gowen, chief sustainability officer for Verizon. ”In 40 countries around the world our buildings will darken, and thousands of our employees will also participate from their homes. Together with our customers and suppliers, we can deepen the connection between our business interests and those of society.”

Verizon’s Sustainable Business Practices

Earlier this month, Verizon announced a partnership with VIA Motors to develop and demonstrate plug-in electric vehicles using VIA’s proprietary technology and to evaluate the technology for possible wide-scale use in Verizon’s fleet. The company also operates an extensive fleet of alternative-energy vehicles including hybrid vans and trucks, and natural gas and electric vehicles.

Last year, Verizon announced a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop innovative ways to reduce energy use in the communications industry. Verizon and NREL are now working together to identify ways to make Verizon’s networks, data centers and office buildings more energy efficient.

Verizon has been named to several lists for sustainability, corporate ethical standards and social responsibility, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Newsweek Global Green 100, Maplecroft Climate Innovation Inde, FTSE4Good Index, Ethibel Sustainability Index and Calvert Large Cap Value Fund.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/earthhour

The article Verizon Joins Earth Hour to Raise Awareness of Sustainable Business appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Simple Energy has announced its integration with the Green Button, a White House coordinated initiative that will provide more than 10 million PG&E, SDG&E, and Southern California Edison customers with their personal energy data and allow them to view the information across a variety of platforms.

The Simple Energy Customer Engagement Platform transforms this personal energy data into an online game that allows users to compete with friends and win prizes for increased energy efficiency.

Households in the service territories of California’s three largest utilities can now download their energy usage data online with one click, accessing the past year of their energy data. This data can then be seamlessly integrated with the Simple Energy platform, which helps users to understand their energy use with actionable insights and an easy points system that scores them against their Facebook friends.

“We are excited to be able to work with the Green Button initiative to provide millions of customers across California with a social, fun and simple way of understanding their own energy data,” said Yoav Lurie, CEO and co-founder of Simple Energy. “By allowing people access to their energy usage data in a meaningful way on platforms where they are already spending their time such as Facebook, we make saving energy into an easy and enjoyable experience.”

Simple Energy is the first social energy application to go live to the public, with easy data uploading now available to over 15 million homes in California and Texas. The platform is available as a web application, by email and on Facebook, with a mobile application going live this month. Soon, Simple Energy will be available to more users around the country.

The Simple Energy platform normalizes customer’s energy usage, allowing participants to compete with their friends across the country — similar to a golf handicap. In addition, players can form teams in order to compete on behalf of a cause that they support, such as a school or community organization. Finally, the program follows strict privacy guidelines, comparing normalized scores among users without revealing any personalized, individual details about actual energy use.

For Simple Energy’s utility partners, the portal product that allows for seamless integration with their consumer energy data comes standard with the Green Button export and download integration feature. This standard integration will allow utilities that decide to work with Green Button to instantly offer their customers a social, fun and simple way to understand their own energy data.

In addition, the Simple Energy portal product also supports third-party API integration with any outside vendors that utilities may opt to include. The Green Button uses a voluntary industry standard supported by efforts of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, NAESB’s ESPI, that was developed for this more sophisticated use case.

The launch of the Green Button initiative follows the completion of an energy efficiency program piloted in San Diego, where the Simple Energy platform succeeded in more than doubling energy savings among participating residential customers during a three-month period.

“The amazing results from San Diego clearly demonstrate that the Simple Energy approach to motivating people to save energy really works,” explained Lurie. “People are naturally social and they like competing to win points and prizes. This is an intuitive way for people to easily save energy.”

The article Simple Energy Customer Engagement Platform Integrates With Green Button appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.