The Recovery Act continues to fuel Idaho. One of our largest industries, microchip maker Micron, has been granted five million dollars for development and production of LED lamps, fixtures and control systems. According to the Micron team they are ready to begin production of some fixture types.
There is six million dollars of Energy Efficient Conservation Block Grants awaiting federal approval that will be made available to Idaho jurisdictions under a competitive process. The grants must be used for energy efficiency planning and projects. A solicitation is expected to be issued by the Office of Energy Resources within the next few weeks.
The Idaho K-12 Energy Efficiency Project is moving forward. In September, ten engineering firms were trained on scoping audit protocol by contractor Jim Volkman of Portland’s Strategic Energy Group. Audits will begin in October. Next up for the program will be RFQs for installation of smart software for a sample of statewide buildings and a separate RFQ for selection of service providers.
On October 20, 21, and 23 the Idaho Energy and Green Building Conference will be held in Boise at the DoubleTree Riverside. The 23rd annual conference draws A&Es as well as building officials and city and state leadership. For information on the conference agenda and registration log onto www.idahocities.org.