LAWRENCE, Kan., April 28 -- The city of Lawrence issued the following news release:
The cities of Lawrence and Manhattan are locked in a head-to-head competition to win $100,000 toward an energy efficiency or renewable energy community project. As part of the competition, the city and Lawrence Chamber of Commerce are reaching out to businesses to encourage involvement in programs that can result in thousands of dollars in savings for local businesses and home owners alike.
How can local businesses participate in the Take Charge Challenge?
1. Schedule an Efficiency Kansas energy audit- Sign up your business and encourage your employees to do an Efficiency Kansas energy audit (www.efficiencykansas.com/). Efficiency Kansas is a practical, low-cost loan program that helps Kansans make cost-effective, energy-efficiency improvements to homes, rental units, or small businesses. Energy audits are available through Efficiency Kansas at a discount for only $100 through September (normally $600). An Efficiency Kansas energy auditor will analyze your home or business energy use and energy loss, and provide a custom Energy Conservation Plan detailing cost-effective improvements that can be made. Low-cost financing is available to make improvements that can save thousands in energy use in the future.
To demonstrate how easy an audit is to complete, Commissioner Mike Amyx recently completed an audit of his barber shop at 842 1/2 Massachusetts. He'll have the results back soon and is available to discuss the process and his overall experience.
2. Complete a lighting retrofit of your business - Ditch those energy hog T12s for T8s and save money. Replacing T12 lamps to T8 lamps results in energy savings of up to 40-percent. Make sure to register your lighting switches at www.takechargekansas.org for the changes to calculate into Lawrence's overall score for the Take Charge Challenge.
3. Sign up for one of Westar's energy efficiency programs - Westar offers several options for businesses to take charge of their energy efficiency.
* Send building maintenance staff to a June or July Building Operator Certification training through Westar.
* Invite Westar to present energy-savings tips to employees at staff meetings.
* Businesses can sign up for a free WattSaver thermostat through Westar which can provide a savings of up to 20% on annual heating and cooling bills. Homes or businesses who sign up receive a free programmable thermostat which is professionally installed by a representative from Westar. By participating in WattSaver, you'll have the satisfaction of playing a role in managing resources by reducing energy use at peak times and have the convenience of managing home or businesses temperatures through any computer connected to the Internet. Sign up to participate in WattSaver at www.westarenergy.com/wcm.nsf/content/wattsaver.
"Participating in the Take Charge Challenge is easy whether you're a homeowner or business," said Eileen Horn, county-city sustainability coordinator. "The more people that get involved, the more money we save as a community and we inch ever-closer to winning the Take Charge Challenge."
For complete information on the Take Charge Challenge, visit www.lawrenceks.org/takecharge. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
Megan Gilliland, 785/832-3406.
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