Multi-Unit Residential -May'10

by Tim Rainey

Now that the Chicago area is well into the summer season, it is a great time to consider applying a brick sealer. Many potential clients ask me why they should consider a paver sealing on their existing brick paver surfaces. Protection is the key word here. For years people have painted the outside of our home for protection. It is equally important to protect your brick pavers with a brick sealer.

• Brick sealing provides a protective coating over the brick surface. This will help to prevent dirt and stains from penetrating into the paver and make it easier to perform a brick cleaning in the future.

• Paver Sealer provides protection from the suns destructive UV rays. Brick sealing helps to prevent that dull bleached – out look that occurs when pavers have not been protected with a paver sealer.

• Brick Sealing enhances the color of the brick surface. A paver sealer will bring back the bricks beautiful gray, brown, buff and red colors that have dulled over the years.

• Brick paver sealer helps to seal in the joint stabilization sand. This will help to seal out weeds and ants, while also sealing the joint sand in place helping to maintain a more stable walking surface.

Keep in mind that the dog days of summer in Chicago translate to hot dry weather and the best time to apply a brick sealer. It is important for the pavers to be fully dried out before any sealer can be applied. A professionally applied brick sealing will provide long lasting protection from the elements and potential spills while beautifying your existing brick surface for years to come.

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The City of Evanston and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) on Monday launched a campaign to slash electric bills through CUB Energy Saver, a free online service that can show households how to save an average of about $200 a year and actually reward them with free or discounted items from local and national businesses.

Standing with Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, CUB Executive Director David Kolata said Evanston residents who sign up for CUBEnergySaver.com will get mailed a free money-saving Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulb and qualify for periodic drawings to win a month of free electricity. Plus, the consumer group promised to give the city five CFLs for every Evanston resident who signs up for CUB Energy Saver, up to 10,000 bulbs.

The Evanston household that saves the most electricity through CUB Energy Saver by the end of 2010 will win up to 50 CFLs plus a month of free power, Kolata said.

CUB Energy Saver is the first free online service of its kind in the nation in that it allows Commonwealth Edison customers to visit a website, www.CUBEnergySaver.com, obtain recommendations for curbing energy consumption that are tailored to each household, and earn points that are redeemable with hundreds of local and national businesses. The first 10,000 ComEd customers who join CUB Energy Saver are eligible for this points program.

“As Evanston families try to cut costs at the height of air conditioning season, CUB Energy Saver can help reduce their energy bills in ways never before possible,” Kolata said. “It’s a win-win for our pocketbooks and the planet.”

“Evanston loves a good idea, and there’s no better idea than one that saves money and helps the environment,” Mayor Tisdahl said. “CUB Energy Saver proves that it pays, literally, to be energy efficient.”

A pilot version of CUB Energy Saver has been showing participants how to cut their energy usage by an average of about 6 percent, for savings of roughly $200 a year.

CUB Energy Saver only needs a consumer’s e-mail address, home address, and ComEd account information to build a household’s money-saving plan of action. CUB Energy Saver users who connect with their ComEd account will receive monthly e-mails updating them on how their actions are directly impacting their power bills, along with suggestions on how to improve.

Those who connect to the rewards program will earn 100 points immediately and are eligible to earn more points for ongoing energy reductions. Points can be redeemed for rewards from major retailers and brands such as Nature Made®, Treasure Island, CVS/pharmacy, Huggies, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Local reward partners include The Olive Mountain, LuLu’s, and Happy Husky Bakery.

As part of the campaign, CUB also will give free “Utility Bill Checkups” from 10 a.m. to noon, and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday Sept. 7 at the Levy Center, 300 Dodge Ave. People can bring in their electric, natural gas, and telephone bills and a CUB expert will give money-saving tips. CUB’s phone advice has been showing consumers how to cut their bills by hundreds of dollars a year. People who bring their electric bills can also get help signing up for CUB Energy Saver.

Kolata said the state-of-the-art CUB Energy Saver website is the result of a partnership involving the nonprofit CUB and two New York City-based companies: Efficiency 2.0 and RecycleBank.

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Triple-Pane Window

Jason Bogovich, Energetics, (202) 997-6312

Anne Haas, PNNL, (509) 375-3732

New Department of Energy Volume Purchase Program offers builders, manufacturers opportunity to transform market to more energy efficient windows and low-E storm windows

Builders, agencies and volume buyers in search of more energy efficient products at cost-effective prices will have a new place to look starting today.  The U.S. Department of Energy will launch the Highly Insulating (R-5) and Low-E Storm Windows Volume Purchase Program and Web site with an announcement at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, have been working with window industry professionals for the last 12 months in an effort to bring manufacturers and distributors of high performance, energy efficient windows together with homebuilders, weatherization agencies, educational institutions and others capable of purchasing large volumes of these windows.

With a reasonably low minimum order requirement of 15-20 windows, purchasers will be able to peruse the new program’s Web site to select a Highly Insulating (R-5) or Low-E storm window from more than 30 manufacturers who have met the requirements of the program.  Buyers interested in pricing and specifying more efficient windows simply need to access the program’s Web site and begin their search.

“The volume purchase program brings new and emerging technologies to the mainstream market at competitive prices,” said Graham Parker, project manager for PNNL.  “High performance windows are ready to enter the market at just the right time,” said Parker, “when the nation is trying to address energy efficiency, job creation and savings for consumers.”

While double-pane, low-E, R-3 (U-factor 0.3) windows have typically been considered the standard of energy efficiency for more than a decade, triple-pane windows (typically R-5/U-factor 0.2) can reduce average heat loss through the window by more than 30 percent, when compared to R-3 windows in residential buildings situated in northern climate zones. In situations where full window replacement is not an option, low-E storm windows can be used to reduce heat loads by up to 20 percent, allowing them to pay for themselves in just five years in a climate such as Chicago’s.

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