NH Energy News

Have you heard of the ESC? Do you know what an ESPC is? Well now there is a way for municipalities, schools, and other entities to take advantage of the energy dollars they are already spending!

According to its website, “the Energy Services Coalition (ESC) is a national nonprofit organization composed of a network of experts from a wide range of organizations working together at the state and local level to increase energy efficiency and building upgrades through energy savings performance contracting”. Now, New Hampshire has a chapter! The New Hampshire chapter of the ESC is meeting on March 11^th at 2pm at the Grappone Center (70 Constitution Avenue) in Concord. The mission of this chapter is to grow ESPC in NH.

What is an ESPC? According to the ESC website, “energy savings performance contracting enables building owners to use future energy savings to pay for up-front costs of energy-saving projects, eliminating the need to dip into capital budgets”.

To learn more about the ESC, visit the website at https://energyservicescoalition.org/.

For more information on the NH chapter, contact the acting co-chairs, Karen Rantamaki at karen.rantamaki@das.nh.gov and Dean Angeledes at dean.john.angeledes@jci.com.

There are so many lighting upgrade projects every year that we thought it would be useful to remind folks about the right way to dispose of light bulbs. Following is a nutshell of information on the major types of bulbs.

1. Incandescent light bulbs

Typically do not contain hazardous chemicals, so they can be thrown away with regular trash. You do need to be careful of broken bulbs however, so it’s a good idea to wrap in some sort of padding for safety.

2. Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) and other fluorescent bulbs

Unlike incandescent bulbs, fluorescent bulbs contain a small amount of mercury and it’s actually against NH law to dispose of them in the trash. Although there is only a fraction of the amount of mercury versus those ‘old school’ thermometers, broken fluorescent bulbs can be damaging to the environment if they enter landfills or the water supply.

To dispose of fluorescent bulbs properly, recycle them.

Homeowners should check with their city/town recycling centers for acceptance of fluorescent bulbs. Virtually all components of a fluorescent bulb can be recycled.

NH State Agencies should utilize the statewide contract for processing/recycling:

https://das.nh.gov/purchasing/Docs/Notices_of_Contract/8002433%20Recycle%20Lamps.pdf

3. Light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs

These bulbs are 90% more efficient than incandescent and contain no hazardous chemicals. This makes disposing of LED light bulbs easy. While you can safely throw them away in a trash or recycling can, these bulbs have recyclable components. So consider taking them to your recycler to make sure they’re put to good use.

4. Halogen light bulbs

Halogen bulbs are often used outside, where people use them as floodlights and are a more advanced form of incandescent bulbs. They are stronger and designed to withstand higher pressure than incandescent bulbs. You can safely dispose of halogen bulbs along with your regular trash. Alternatively contact your recycling center to see if they accept halogen bulbs

5. Other Specialty Lights (Specialty Mercury Vapor, Metal Halide, LPS, HPH)

Similar to fluorescent bulbs mentioned above, these types of lights contain mercury, so to dispose of properly, recycle them.

NH State Agencies should utilize the statewide contract for processing/recycling: https://das.nh.gov/purchasing/Docs/Notices_of_Contract/8002433%20Recycle%20Lamps.pdf

We recently caught up with Jason Smith, Chief, Inland Fisheries Division, NH Fish & Game, to learn about some energy efficiency projects he has overseen in some of the state’s six fish hatcheries. If you aren’t familiar with hatcheries, they are places where artificial breeding, hatching, and rearing through the early stages of the fish’s life occur. Once the fish reach the length of about 10 inches, they are loaded into tanks that are affixed to flatbed trucks and released into NH’s many waterways.  NH Fish & Game raises the fish for two reasons:

• To ensure that New Hampshire has plentiful and a wide variety of fish levels that sustain, enhance and restore healthy fish populations.
• To be certain that New Hampshire waters have fish populations that support a diversity and desired levels of fishing, which is enjoyed by NH natives and visitors alike.

Continue reading “No More Fishing in the Dark”