Over 30 residents spent a good part of Saturday afternoon at the community centre here to learn how use solar power, how to use new technology and grants to cut costs, and how to lower their carbon footprint.
The Eden Mills Going Carbon Neutral project held a free two hour public workshop.
It specifically offered tips to enable people to:
– Learn how to convert the sun’s power to hot water or electricity in a home;
– find out about current grants and incentives that might make green technologies one of the best investments to make; and
– lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while lowering energy bills every month.
The workshop focused on two approaches to using solar energy – solar hot water and photovoltaic collectors.
The workshop was geared to assist homeowners in determining the potential for solar energy use in home hot water heating and electricity generation.
The workshop was coordinated by Charles Simon, with guest experts Douglas Prest and Steve Dyck.
Prest is a licensed professional electrical engineer of 28 years of experience who has been involved in the renewable energy field for the past seven years.
Steve Dyck was bitten by the solar thermal bug 12 years ago. Prior to starting his renewable energy business he worked as an industrial project manager in engine development for Exova – the home of the National Solar Test facility.
Organizer Linda Sword said in an interview this is the seventh of an ongoing series of information sessions designed to help citizens make informed decisions about making changes to reduce the production of green house gases, and to build a carbon neutral lifestyle.
“We’re given a lot of advice in these workshops,” she said, and noted that those who missed attending can still find the information. All seven workshops are posted on the group’s web site, www.goingcarbonneutral.ca.
Eden Mills made headlines around North American when it announced three years ago that it would try to be the first village to become carbon neutral, meaning it had zero negatived affect on their environment. The group has just completed its third survey and has received major cooperation. Sword said that 78% of the residents in the hamlet in January have completed their survey. The first year was a baseline, and the group is using the second year to make improvements for the third year.
