Join Us for Bus Buddy ‘Coffee Stops’

This month Clean Energy Durham we will be holding coffee stops along the Bull City Connector route. The 1^st will be Wed. 1/16/13 from 7am-9am in front of Ninth Street Bakery, 136 E. Chapel Hill St., Downtown Durham. Please join us and invite others to join us for a free cup of coffee and answers to transit-related questions.  Check out the flyer for more information.

The Bus Buddy Program is a neighbor to neighbor transit education resource in different neighborhoods. With Bus Buddies in various neighborhoods volunteering their time to speak to their neighbors and friends about transit services and developing a transit network.

DeDreana

Bike Commuting in Winter — Not Just for the Hardcore

Winter bike commutes can be fun, even magical! Let our pros show you their tips and tricks in this FREE Workshop by the Durham Bicycle Coalition!

Bike Commuting in Winter – Not Just for the Hardcore
Saturday, December 15th, 3:00 – 4:15 pm at the Durham Bike Co-op, 715 S. Washington St. (Entrance in the Back of the Building)
FREE, Open to the Public

Experienced bike commuters will offer tips on gear, safety, maintenance, and more to help you enjoy your bike commute in winter. Meet other commuters and ask the questions that will help keep you rolling year-round! Questions? Email Casey. Thank you to the Durham Bike Co-op for hosting this event!

Stay for a fun, free social bike ride after the workshop! The Holiday Lights Bike Ride starts at 5:00 pm from the Co-Op – some sort of bike light recommended, but no big worry if you don’t have one – there will be safety in numbers! Read more and visit the workshop Facebook link.

Celebration of 5 Years of Clean Energy Durham Volunteers Energizes Community

More than 135 volunteers and other Durham residents came together for an afternoon of recognition, energy quizzes and games, fabulous Durham delectables, bike blender smoothies and prizes to celebrate five years of Clean Energy Durham volunteers.

In five years, over 300 volunteers have taught their neighbors and shared hands-on energy savings knowledge to over 2,000 homes in neighborhoods throughout Durham.  While Clean Energy Durham designed the model, it is the terrific, community-minded, caring people of Durham who made this happen and continue to do so.

-Judy Kincaid, Executive Director

At the event, which was held at at BuildSense, a downtown Durham certified green design, construction, and renovation firm, awards and gifts were given to twelve volunteers for their special contributions:

• BILL TRIPLETT was awarded the ENERGY MENTOR AWARD
• DIANA PERONIS was awarded the SUPER SUPER TRAINER AWARD
• KAREN ANDERSON was awarded the ALMOST FULL-TIME VOLUNTEER AWARD
• CATHY STARKWEATHER was awarded the CREATIVE NEIGHBORHOOD LEADER award
• MELVIN WHITLEY was awarded the LEADERSHIP MENTOR award
• NINNA GAGNON was awarded the BICYCLE MENTOR award
• IRIS FISHER was awarded the NEIGHBORHOOD LEADER’S LEADER award
• MARK MUNDAY was awarded the SUPER SUPPORTER AWARD
• MATT GREENWOLFE, JOY GREENWOLFE, JIM GUDAITIS and ED COX were awarded the CLEAN ENERGY DURHAM FOUNDATION award for creating and being a member of the original group that eventually grew into Clean Energy Durham.

Tribute was also paid to Judy Kincaid, acknowledging her long-standing contributions to Durham and to helping Durham residents achieve energy savings.  She is retiring at the end of 2012.

Sponsors of the event included the following:  Mark Munday; BuildSense; The Herald Sun; Durham Catering; Judy Whisnant, Attorney At Law; Chuck and Jean Wilson; B & J Custom Printers; Common Ground Green Building Center; Craig and Patti Morrison; Steve Schewel and Lao Rubert; Reyn Bowman; Mike Freemark and Anne Slifkin; Clear Vue Glass; Jenny Warburg; Green Horizon; Southern Energy Management; and Rep. Paul Luebke and Carol Gallione.

See our media coverage on WUNC 91.5

Love Our Volunteers Event

Join us in celebrating and recognizing five years of Clean Energy Durham volunteers this Sunday, November 18^th, from 3-5 pm at Clean Energy Durham’s Love Our Volunteers Event—BuildSense/Studio B Architecture at 502 Rigsbee Avenue in Durham!  Free to invited Clean Energy Durham volunteers, and just $10 for everyone else. Admission includes fabulous food & drink and a raffle ticket for great prizes like gift certificates to local restaurants.  There will be silent auction items, bike blender smoothies, games, awards, and fun for the whole family.

Clean Energy Durham Helps Build Local Communities

Check out the recent press we received at a workshop we conducted in Northeast Central Durham.  Kudos to our two volunteer trainers, David Charters and Jim Wisner, for doing such a great job!

Judy Kincaid Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Our very own Judy Kincaid was honored with the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) Lifetime Achievement Award for her work as Clean Energy Durham’s founding Executive Director.  She has spent many tireless hours building the organization with the mission of helping to move America toward cleaner and safer energy by creating and educating organizations of neighbors helping neighbors.  Judy, we are proud of all you have done—you deserve this award!

Check out media coverage, here, here, here in the Durham Herald Sun.

-Clean Energy Durham Staff

Energy Star Qualified Product Tax Holiday – Nov. 2-4

The first weekend of November once again brings us the annual tax holiday on certain Energy Star Qualified products.  During Friday-Sunday, November 2-4, these products will be exempt from both state and local sales taxes:

1. Clothes washers;
2. Freezers & refrigerators;
3. Central air conditioners & room air conditioners;
4. Air-source heat pumps;
5. Ceiling fans;
6. Dehumidifiers; and
7. Programmable thermostats.

This list is all-inclusive.  For more details.

The SmartCommute Challenge is Here!

Click here to take the SmartCommute Challenge today!

Don’t miss your chance to GoSmart by trying a new commute AND be rewarded with great prizes! The SmartCommute Challenge is September 1^st – October 15^th. Try carpooling, taking the bus, biking, walking, or vanpooling to work:

• You will save gas (and money)!
• You will improve the air quality in the Triangle!
• You can track your trip to win prizes!

If you are already a SmartCommuter – get rewarded! Take the Challenge and keep up the good work!

Prizes? The SmartCommute Challenge is giving away more than $4,000 in cash plus tons of other prizes like Whole Foods gift cards, Kindle Fires, a bike from REI, and gift cards for other great retailers across the region.

DeDreana

Clean Energy Durham Turns 5!

Staff members celebrate. From left: Lenora Smith, Dan Curry, Judy Kincaid, and Tom Higgins.

Clean Energy Durham is 5 years old today—hooray!!!

Andrew’s Parting Thoughts

On September 7^th, I was offered the position of being the Community Outreach Intern at Clean Energy Durham throughout my sophomore year at NCCU, thanks to a grant from the State Energy Office.  My first impression was WOW!!!!  Coming into this internship position, I knew very little about saving energy.  I had to catch on quickly because I hit the ground running.  I had to read articles, books, blogs, and documents pertaining to saving energy and why it is so important.

This internship gave me an opportunity to enter the world of clean energy.  In today’s world, everyone wants to “go green” and energy efficiency is a constantly growing market.  This internship not only introduced me to the world of saving energy, but it also increased my skills in communication.  As the Community Outreach Intern, I have had to communicate well with the people in neighborhoods around Durham.  This internship has also increased my time management skills.

This internship has been a blessing to have in my life.  The things that I’ve learned from Clean Energy Durham will stay with me, no matter what industry I may choose in the future.

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew!   We will miss you, and good luck!