This spring, Energy Savings Solutions, a free public workshop series taught by industry experts, will provide practical information on building-scale energy efficiency to complement the Grass Valley Energy Action Plan. The goal of the series is to educate and inspire community members to take action to reduce their energy consumption while saving money and benefiting the environment. Attendees will leave the workshop with practical, cost-effective strategies for conserving energy and water at their home or business while maintaining comfort.
The workshops will take place on Tuesday, April 2nd; Wednesday, May 1st; and Monday, June 3rd from 6:00-7:30pm at the Grass Valley Courtyard Suites. The free educational workshop series will focus on three core areas of energy efficiency: water heating efficiency, building efficiency, and heating and cooling.
The workshops will be lead by engineers and industry experts with decades of experience in energy efficiency.
One workshop leader, Gary Klein, of Gary Klein and Associates, Inc., is an energy conservation expert with 25 years of experience working at the California Energy Commission. His broad scope of knowledge includes regional water budgets and distribution on the macro-scale to plumbing and water heating on the building level. The water efficiency workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2nd (RSVP here).
Another workshop leader is Ray Darby, a licensed mechanical engineer and the owner of Sustainable Energy Group, Inc. Darby is an expert in energy efficiency and solar energy and has worked in the field since 1980 in areas ranging from R&D to the construction of solar and energy efficient building installations. The building and lighting workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1st. For more detailed event information, visit the Energy Savings Solutions Facebook page.
Energy Savings Solutions is the product of a collaborative effort of community members, businesses, and industry experts. The primary organizer of the series, Renata Langis, is a Nevada City local who works at Sustainable Energy Group, Inc. (SEG), a solar contractor based in Grass Valley. Through the course of working at SEG and learning about a broad range of cost-effective energy efficient upgrades to buildings, she was inspired to organize public workshops to engage a larger audience in discussions about energy efficiency.
In November 2018, the city of Grass Valley approved the Energy Action Plan (EAP). The plan includes an analysis of energy use within the city limits and the development of guidelines to advance energy conservation efforts and promote renewable energy adoption in Grass Valley.
“The GV Energy Action Plan is a community-oriented, multi-year plan to reduce Grass Valley’s natural gas and electricity usage by 29% and 36% respectively, and will save the community over $10 million over the course of 15 years,” says Simone Cordery-Cotter, an AmeriCorps CivicSpark Climate Fellow at Sierra Business Council. Cordery-Cotter is one of the leading coordinators of the Energy Action Plan working group in Grass Valley.
Shortly after the plan was approved, Langis got involved with the Grass Valley Energy Action Plan working group. The working group is a grassroots coalition of local businesses, non-profit organizations, and community members who are working to help raise awareness about the EAP and help implement the plan. Members of the group include representatives from Sierra Business Council, the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Energy Group, Nevada City Climate Change Coalition, and California Solar Electric.
For more information about the Energy Savings Solutions Series, please contact Renata Langis at (530) 588-3220 or rnlangis@gmail.com or visit the Facebook page.
