By banding together in solar cooperatives, residents are negotiating better prices for home solar installations, supporting each other through the process, and becoming more empowered solar advocates.
Blog Archives
This Green House
Plugging-in Off the Grid
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has designed a 3D-printed single-room building and a 3D-printed vehicle that can wirelessly share energy with each other.
TAGS: 3D printing additive manufacturing innovative technology Oak Ridge National Labratory off-grid off-grid house
Knoxville Homes Get an Energy Makeover
The Knoxville Extreme Energy Makeover project is working to weatherize 1,278 homes by September 2017. They aim to reduce energy spending by at least 25 percent for each home weatherized.
Vaughn’s Diesel
A Tennessee man has built his own biodiesel fuel processor and now uses cooking oil to run his farm equipment and truck.
Communities Find Solutions to Stormwater
To help reduce polluted stormwater from overwhelming nearby waterways, Appalachian cities, towns and universities are deploying green infrastructure and other creative methods.
Increasing Homeowner Access to Energy Savings
Financing programs are helping homeowners invest in upgrades that make residences more comfortable while lowering electric bills and reducing a home’s carbon footprint.
South Fork Sharestead
In six years, Jonathan Towers has transformed his average American home into an energy-efficient, food-abundant powerhouse. By retrofitting the house to be energy efficient and maintaining a strong commitment to energy conservation, their utility bill has dropped 75 percent.
Smoke in the Hills: Wood Stoves in Appalachia
Some cherish wood heat as a renewable, inexpensive energy source that offsets fossil fuel use, but wood stoves have been under fire in recent years for smoke pollution. Despite their smoky reputation, wood stoves can be an efficient, low-impact heating source when operated and maintained correctly.
Families Win Energy Savings
A plastic tube winds through the Dunlaps’ front room to a door covered in red plastic sheeting. It’s the first step in a process to make this drafty home warmer and more efficient through smart investments in air-sealing and insulation.
Crowdfunding Solar in West Virginia
In a state known for coal, solar energy emerges through a grassroots “barn-raising.” This innovative program relies on energy efficiency and a collaborative spirit to harness the sun’s power for community nonprofits.
