4CORE Kicks off Community Energy Coordination with Zero Waste Workshop

GARY LISS FACILITATES A SESSION ON THE BENEFITS OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

 

The Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency (4CORE) signed a contract today with the Governor’s Energy Office (the GEO) to develop a local strategy for saving energy and creating jobs in rural, agricultural and mountainous regions of southwest Colorado. The grant, totaling $265,000, will fund 30 months of work with local citizens, businesses and government stakeholders. 4CORE will work with partners in Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, and San Juan counties to help boost the local economy and increase energy security.

The grant is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and finances local community energy coordinators (CECs) who will facilitate efforts that help towns, counties, residents and businesses become more energy efficient and benefit from conservation. 4CORE will kick start their new role with a workshop presented by Gary Liss on Zero Waste that will help identify energy efficiency opportunities for southwest Colorado. The public is invited to this free workshop, which will take place April 15^th from 8:00 to 11:30 AM at the Durango Public Library.

Gary Liss will provide an understanding of the application of zero waste principles to real world problems with waste. Gary Liss is a leading advocate of Zero Waste and has helped more communities develop Zero Waste plans than anyone else in the United States. Zero Waste Businesses have diverted over 90 percent of their waste from landfill and incineration. The workshop is intended to inspire participants and initiate the formation of an energy efficiency action plan for Southwest Colorado.

“4CORE’s coalition is expanding to the entire five county region with the goals of developing a regional energy action plan, reducing energy bills, and creating jobs,” Aileen Tracy, director of 4CORE, said. “4CORE has asked Gary Liss to conduct a public work shop in order to begin work with multiple, diverse partners in all five counties to bring the economic benefits of energy strategies to local businesses and our communities.”

Job creation is a focus of these efforts and could include strategies such as training in building science or energy efficiency specialties, providing grant opportunities for local businesses to implement efficiency measures, or creating a demand for these services through consumer education.

4CORE is partnering with the Montezuma Climate Action Network (M-CAN) to inventory existing energy use. “We anticipate this project will further efforts to bring together stakeholders and gain consensus on developing a collaborative energy blueprint here in southwest Colorado,”  Jimbo Buickerood, M-CAN Steering Committee Member, said. “Working with 4CORE will help us plan for our economic and energy future by providing an inclusive process to develop and implement this strategy.”

Components of the regional plan could include residential and commercial building audits and retrofits, education and training for contractors on energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities, attracting new energy efficiency and renewable energy businesses to the community, identifying opportunities to reduce energy related impacts of transportation, material conservation programs, and water conservation plans. 

For more information or to register for the Zero Waste Workshop, visit www.fourcore.org or e-mail [email protected].