Programs

TCAT is currently collaborating with other community groups and institutions on three exciting programs to help reduce our County's carbon footprint: The Thurston Energy, the Cool Thurston Campaign, and the South Sound Climate Action Series.

Thurston Energy

Thurston Energy is a grant-funded collaboration between TCAT and the Thurston Economic Development Council (EDC), which is housing Thurston Energy staff through the 2-year duration of the grant. The program’s goal is to retrofit the existing built environment within the county employing three strategies. These strategies are summarized to include, but not limited to:

1. Focus on a neighborhood by neighborhood strategy to promote energy evaluations; coordinate with vendors, contractors, and financial institutions to complete retrofit projects; provide workshops on the no cost/low cost weatherization strategies for home owners; work with lifestyle groups through the Cool Thurston Campaign; and provide information on the funding, tax benefit and rebate potential of energy efficient investments.
2. Implement a similar program for commercial areas/ centers, providing even more detailed and focused weatherization and energy conservation recommendations.
3. Work with vendors to develop and implement an equipment replacement program to promote energy efficient technologies for homeowners when HVAC, domestic hot water systems and other systems are replaced and/or upgraded.

The program provides homeowners and businesses with a one stop approach for energy evaluation, advice, selection of contractors, attractive financing, utility rebates and project monitoring.

Thurston Energy has a wide base of support and partners, and seeks to be a community effort. Please visit www.thurstonenergy.org for complete program information.

Cool Thurston Campaign

The Cool Thurston campaign is a way each individual can take action in the fight against climate change by working together to lower our own contributions to greenhouse gasses, and then transferring this knowledge to our communities and workplaces. The heart of the program is forming EcoTeams that follow David Gershon's workbook called "Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Plan to Lose 5000 Pounds." EcoTeams can be made up of neighbors, friends, colleagues, or any other grouping of individuals - or just one household. You start by calculating your carbon footprint using a simple on-line calculator (see Resources for EcoTeams). Each person makes a plan for losing at least 5000 pounds based on easy steps outlined in the book, and then meets with an EcoTeam four times to work out together how to take these steps.

In the meantime, participants make friends, build community, learn a lot, save on energy bills, and make more cool lifestyle changes than they could alone!

For more information, go to the Cool Thurston website. http://coolthurstoncampaign.ning.com/

South Sound Climate Action Series

Starting in December 2008, The Thurston Climate Action Team partnered with The Evergreen State College to offer the South Puget Sound Climate Action Series at TESC. These symposia have brought elected officials, agency directors and staff, sustainability experts, activists, and stakeholder companies together to discuss critical issues involved with the climate change action agenda for Thurston County. Each session has been attended by an average of 50 people split evenly between government officials and community leaders. They have successfully raised elected officials' awareness of climate change issues, and helped move the climate action agenda higher on their list of priorities. Topics have included cap and trade, financing energy efficiency programs, climate friendly transportation, and climate action plans.

For more information, see the South Sound Climate Action Series web site. http://www.evergreen.edu/sustainability/climateactionseries.htm