Bend kicks off Energy Challenge Week

The Bend Energy Challenge Week is in full swing. Agencies based at the Environmental Center are holding events and sharing helpful tips that can save you and your family money.

The Challenge is a nationwide energy-saving competition with a $5 million prize that the city could win.

The challenge runs until next year, but this week, the campaign has two goals in mind: To see how much energy we actually use, and to understand that saving energy is not about expensive upgrades to your home, but changing some of our daily routines.

A “Solar Speed Dating” session was held Wednesday evening at Bend Parks and Rec as one of many events happening throughout the week to educate people on solar paneling.

Lindsey Hardy of Bend, an Energy Trust of Oregon board member, says each station is set up to educate homeowners about what solar means.

“We’re trying to make solar less scary, it’s really not as expensive as people think and it’s a really good way to save energy,” Hardy says.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore will be selling LED lights until the end of October that will offer buy one get one free deal. Hardy says, by replacing eight LED lights that are on for four to five hours a day, you can save up to $80 each year.

They also urge washing your clothes with cold water, as 90 percent of the energy used is spent heating the water.

Jim Guild and Nunzie Gould are both contractors for Saginaw Sunset, a new development plan on Bend’s West side. Twenty new energy-efficient homes will be built.

It’s part of the 15 th annual Green Tour that will take place Saturday.

Guild says he’s at a point in his career where he wanted to do more long-lasting things that met the needs for people here in Bend and those who would like to come live here.

Everything from exact location, to where the sun hits the new development has been planned to detail. Solar paneling, cork floors, a deck made of recycled plastic bags and a stone counter top made of recycled glass and concrete are just some of the energy saving features. The house focuses on natural light and LED lights.

Guild says it runs on solar and electric energy. When energy is not used, it’s stored. And if the house “went off the grid,” the backup battery contains enough energy to power the house for roughly three days on its own.

“Temperature changes that we have during the day and the night, we actually do have the best place for solar rays in the Northern Hemisphere,” he says. “If you’re going to take advantage of the tax incentives or the cash incentives, it has to be 75 percent efficiency or higher.”

Saving energy comes down to personal choice. Guild says we have to better stewards for a whole world that’s in trouble.

“This climate change, I think for anyone to deny this problem is foolish in the least,” Guild says.

There’s no lawn at the model home, and the plans they do have outside are natural to the environment, so no over-watering is necessary.

For more information on the challenge and the Green Tour, visit bendenergychallenge.org.

For information on the new development, visit: http://saginawsunset.com/