Going green and saving green

Do you want to help save the planet? Cure Sally Struthers: "Sure, we all do!" But oh, how much better it is when we can both go green and save some green too. A new database wants to add some financial as well as altruistic incentives for you to get more energy efficient. It's available at http://www.greenmadesimple.com/ .

The site contains a variety of information on using renewable energy resources and conserving energy in the home, but I want to focus on the financial incentive database, which is on the left side of the front page. Choose the kinds of incentives you're looking for (you can choose from Appliances, Lighting, Cars, Energy Audit, Solar, or Financing) and enter your zip code.

I chose all the categories and entered WRAL's zip code -- 27606. I got back 23 results. Some of these results were duplicates (looks like Duke Energy's multistate programs all got lumped under North Carolina) but once I got past that I was very surprised at the variety of programs available. There's a federal tax benefit for "advanced vehicles," for example, though there's some fine print in there about how many purchased vehicles are actually covered. On the other hand other incentives are much more straightforward, including the "Progress Energy Carolinas Energy Efficiency Financing Program", the "Duke Energy NC Weatherization Program", and rebates from Lowe's for appliance purchases.

Each listing from the database search has a brief overview, but click on the name of the offer for a lot more details, including external links, contact information, and application instructions.

Once you've gone through the incentives database, you might want to check out the projects tab, which contains case studies from visitors about how they're saving energy in their own homes. There's not much here yet, but the article on solar-powered hot water is a must-read.