BLOWER DOOR TEST DEMONSTRATION

EcoBilt, along with Pete Moncada of Watt Not, had the pleasure of performing a blower door test demonstration this past week for the AP Environmental Science students from Pinewood Prep. The test was done at the teacher's house in Charleston giving the students a "hands on" idea of how residential energy audits are performed. After the test was concluded, we explained the results to the students which were surprisingly favorable - so much so, the house could easily meet Earthcraft House (www.earthcrafthouse.com) energy threshold standards. Good work, Mr. Neuman!! It is good to see individuals practicing what they preach.

Feed-In Tariffs

This is a great article on feed-in tariffs for Solar PV in Gainesville, FL that was brought to our attention.  Long story short,through this feed-in tariff, "The local power company is required to buy renewable energy from independent producers, no matter how small, at rates slightly higher than the average cost of production. This means anyone with a cluster of solar cells on their roof can sell the power they produce at a profit."

As evidenced in the article, this type of incentive can jump start a struggling renewable energy economy in any state of the country regardless of any other incentives that are in place. This can make any state in the US, like South Carolina on the local and state level that does not have very attractive incentives a much more popular candidate for solar PV.   

Wind Energy FAQ

Wind energy is becoming a popular topic among rural landowners with a mountain top or field that is consistently exposed to wind. Like any other relatively new technology, questions arise. How reliable are wind turbines? Who should buy a wind turbine? Is noise a problem with the turbine? And the ever so popular, Will I save money on my energy bills? To help answer these questions, we found a FAQ section on the American Wind Energy Association website. Enjoy!

Rainwater Harvesting

Through our relationship with AET Solar and MII Energy, EcoBilt is proud to announce going forward with the addition of rainwater harvesting to our service mix. For more information, call us directly or visit:
http://miienergy.com/rainwaterharvesting.html

Solar Thermal for Dummies

With the popularity of Solar Thermal growing everyday, we get a
lot of questions surrounding how solar thermal works, the pros
and cons of different system types, as well as, cost/payback
details. That said, we have found the following article to be a
great overview for those interested in Solar Thermal pondering
the same questions. Feel free to contact us if we can go into
further detail- otherwise, we hope the article will serve as a
primer to help getyou started....
http://www.homepower.com/basics/hotwater

EcoBilt/AET Solar reach dealership agreement

EcoBilt is pleased to announce our new dealer status with Alternate Energy Technologies (AET) Solar out of Jacksonville, FL. This relationship will allow EcoBilt the ability to more effectively serve clients in the Southeast through AET Solar products. Feel free to check out their website at http://www.aetsolar.com .

Collared Greens!!!

We encourage any/all readers to check-out www.collaredgreens.com. Collared Greens was started by Randy Ashton out of Sun Valley, Idaho providing high-quality "green" clothing and apparel. As a byproduct of their business, CG has also initiated a conservation effort which they call CG/24 which helps to support the environment, as well as, other sustainable businesses around the US. Kudos to Randy for what he has done! Keep up the good work...