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Confront Carbon at Home

Team Focus at UC Davis has revamped their spreadsheet for anyone who would like to conduct a more extensive carbon reduction project. The spreadsheet builds on the fundamental logic of the original tool, but is condensed to one sheet and easy to use.

This project was selected as the winner of the 2007 Network Challenge at the Net Impact Conference in Nashville. Congratulations to Davis Net Impact for their winning idea and leadership role on this initiative!

Through the Confront Carbon at Home project, you will save money on your electric bill and reduce your residential CO2 emissions while learning about practical carbon footprint reduction. Our goal is for the Net Impact network to collectively reduce its residential carbon footprint by 2,000 metric tons. This is a way to help our network make a tangible impact on our environment!!

Your time commitment on this project can be as slight or as extensive as you wish, varying from a few hours to a dozen or more – it all depends on how robust an energy audit you want to conduct and how many efficiency measures you choose to implement. The best thing about it is that even the most extensive of efforts can be mostly completed over a couple weekends or a few days of holiday break.

To encourage more exhaustive efforts – and make this more fun! – Team Focus has decided to implement an award system for non-UCD participants that carry their projects through to the end:

  • “Most Carbon Abated” (Personal)
  • “Most Money Saved” (Personal)
  • “Highest Average Carbon Abatement” (Chapter)
  • “Highest Average Money Saved” (Chapter)
  • “Most Participative Chapter” (Chapter, percentage of Chapter participating)
  • “Most Focused Chapter” (Chapter, how engaged in Focus the Nation, see below)
  • “Most Creative Solution Implemented” (Personal)
  • “Most Valuable Participant” (Personal, InCircle group activity & final report nominations)

There are three simple steps you can take to get started:

1. Join the “Focusing on Climate Change Solutions” (FCCS) member community group and read up on past postings by Daniel MacDonald, UC Davis Chapter Leader, and other members of Team Focus which summarize the project.  As well, your can “pledge” to participate through our January 31, 2009 “Confront Carbon at Home Reporting Date” event.

2. Obtain last year’s utility bill data, such as electricity (kWh) and natural gas (Therms). We will ask you to enter this information into the “Confront Carbon at Home” excel spreadsheet. If you have any questions, please e-mail cch@netimpact.org.

3. Implement efficiency measures. We recommend conducting a home energy audit though utility programs, online tools, or personal knowledge to maximize your efforts.

Details about Confront Carbon at Home can also be found at the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center website, as well as the Focusing on Climate Change Solutions group in Net Impact's member community.

We will continue to provide updates on this program!

Now it’s time to rally, flex our Net Impact Network muscle, and tangibly reduce our carbon footprint - while saving you money on your utilities!