Efficiency First

Former St. Elsewhere star emphasizes the importance of ‘low-hanging fruit’ in home energy conservation

Celebrated actor and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. has been translating his green lifestyle into family entertainment with the revival of Living With Ed, a reality series now showing on the Planet Green television network. The show touches on a wide range of topics – from eco-friendly gardening and interior design to electric cars and home energy conservation – and has even featured an energy audit of model Cheryl Tiegs’ Bel Air estate. In a recent Q&A posted on the Planet Green Web site, Begley summed up the value of energy audits while answering a question about what kind of green businesses are most needed:

I think the key is to provide services that people need at the very ground level – the low hanging fruit so to speak. Solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars – all good things but not ground level things. What people really need these days is a home energy audit – one that can create a game plan for energy efficiency in each home. It looks at insulation, windows, ducting, lighting, HVAC, etc., and creates a full plan to bring each house up to a high level of energy efficiency. If I were to start a business, it would be doing home energy audits and doing the work that follows from them.

And here’s what Begley had to say to a viewer who was troubled by the high cost of residential solar, wind and geothermal systems:

Please don’t focus on energy PRODUCTION technologies. Try instead to focus on the low hanging fruit of energy and resource CONSERVATION. A kilowatt SAVED is so much cheaper than a kilowatt PRODUCED. I always recommend starting with a home energy audit – it will create a great game plan of things to do where you will get your fastest and largest return on investment. I didn’t get solar electric until 20 years after I started this stuff!

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

More information about Living With Ed, including broadcast schedules and video clips from the show, is available here: www.planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/living-with-ed/