Archive for the ‘energy’ Category
September 3rd, 2010
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The Carolina Raptor Center has been a favorite destination for students, teachers, Charlotteans, and volunteers alike for nearly 30 years! It is a great place nestled in Latta Plantation off Beaties Ford Road and you have not been, do yourself a favor and go see what it is all about.
Their mission is to promote environmental stewardship through education and the role raptors play in our ecosystem. The Raptor Center is all about promoting sustainable habits that support animals and humans alike.
That’s why when given the opportunity to do an energy audit at the center we jumped at the chance to volunteer.
Jim Warren, the CRC’s Cheif Operating Offiicer, invited us along with CPCC’s 3D Modeling class to come uncover ways to help their facilities save energy. The plan is to come up with the most effective measures to help save energy and utility costs so those funds can be used to help fulfill the CRC’s mission.
Once the work scope and materials needed are complete a small army of volunteers will go to work making the buildings more energy efficient, comfortable, and healthy (That’s Energy Tight’s Mission).
Owly, a 26 year old tenant at the Carolina Raptor Center gets the thermal treatment
5 Things Volunteers Can Do at the Carolina Raptor Center?
- You can work in the raptor “ER” helping injured raptors become healthy enough to be released back into the wild.
- You can be a part of the transport or raptor ambulance team and respond to calls by the public regarding injured raptors that need to be picked up and taken to CRC.
- You can educate the public about birds of prey and how they play a role in conservation as a docent volunteer or an exhibit volunteer.
- Help us take care of our many resident birds by cleaning cages, feeding them and performing health checks.
- Are you handy and enjoy working outside? We can always use help repairing aviaries and performing other general maintenance around the property.
Join the volunteer program and help make energy efficiency at the Raptor Center
5 Energy Tight Tips to help you save like the CRC
- Ceiling fans require far less energy than air conditioners, and help you feel cooler at higher temperatures. You can feel as cool at 82ºF under a fan as you would at 77ºF in still air.
- Close window coverings during the day to block solar heat.
- During the hottest times of day, don’t use your stove, oven, dishwasher, or clothes dryer. Your air conditioning will use too much energy trying to cool your home.
- Let food cool before you set it in the refrigerator, so the fridge doesn’t have to work harder to maintain cold interior temperatures.
- In most homes, heating water is the third-highest energy cost. Lower your water heater temperature setting as low as possible to save money each month.
Posted in "Carolina Raptor Center", "Energy Audit", "Energy Tight", "Thermal Imaging", City, Environment, Mecklenburg County, Outreach, energy
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Duke Energy has a new program to promote energy savings through the use of compact fluorescent lighting. Call (800) 943-7585 to receive up to fifteen light bulbs – free – for your home. You must provide your account number, and delivery takes 4-6 weeks.
photo: James Willamor
“Slowly, Wall Street South is starting to rise again.
Charlotte, which gained the nickname for its large cluster of financial firms, was slammed by the global credit crisis and recession. Its unemployment rate more than doubled, to the double-digits. Two stalwarts of its economy were battered: Wachovia Corp. was taken over by a San Francisco bank, while Bank of America Corp. was forced to seek a bailout and picked an out-of-state lawyer to succeed longtime chief executive and local resident Ken Lewis, raising fears about the bank’s future in Charlotte.
Though the damage remains, the banking sector has since stabilized. More important, Charlotte’s economy, as Boston’s did nearly two decades ago, has begun to diversify so it is no longer so dependent on a single industry. (…)
“If we’ve seen the worst already, then we are in good shape going forward.”
Charlotte’s struggles mirror the challenges Massachusetts faced in the late 1980s, when it was hit hard by its heavy reliance on defense and technology when the Cold War ended and the minicomputer industry collapsed. Though Boston remains a key center for the financial sector, its strength in other sectors — life sciences, health care, and higher education — helped to soften the blow of the latest economic downturn.
The financial crisis provided a similar wake-up call for Charlotte, pushing city leaders to broaden the local economy so it won’t be as vulnerable in the next downturn. And in another parallel to Massachusetts, Charlotte wants to be as big a hub for the alternative energy industry as it is for banking.”
photo: James Willamor
“Slowly, Wall Street South is starting to rise again.
Charlotte, which gained the nickname for its large cluster of financial firms, was slammed by the global credit crisis and recession. Its unemployment rate more than doubled, to the double-digits. Two stalwarts of its economy were battered: Wachovia Corp. was taken over by a San Francisco bank, while Bank of America Corp. was forced to seek a bailout and picked an out-of-state lawyer to succeed longtime chief executive and local resident Ken Lewis, raising fears about the bank’s future in Charlotte.
Though the damage remains, the banking sector has since stabilized. More important, Charlotte’s economy, as Boston’s did nearly two decades ago, has begun to diversify so it is no longer so dependent on a single industry. (…)
“If we’ve seen the worst already, then we are in good shape going forward.”
Charlotte’s struggles mirror the challenges Massachusetts faced in the late 1980s, when it was hit hard by its heavy reliance on defense and technology when the Cold War ended and the minicomputer industry collapsed. Though Boston remains a key center for the financial sector, its strength in other sectors — life sciences, health care, and higher education — helped to soften the blow of the latest economic downturn.
The financial crisis provided a similar wake-up call for Charlotte, pushing city leaders to broaden the local economy so it won’t be as vulnerable in the next downturn. And in another parallel to Massachusetts, Charlotte wants to be as big a hub for the alternative energy industry as it is for banking.”