Green Energy News | April 7, 1997

April 7, 1997 – Vol.2 No.1

ENERGIES... week of April 7, 1997

DID YOU KNOW THAT REFRIGERATORS use about 10% of the total energy consumption in industrialized countries? The same is probably true for your home. SAES Getters S.p.A of Milan, Italy would like to see that percentage reduced. By using their newly developed COMBOGETTER(tm), as a key element in Vacuum Insulating Panels (“VIPs”), a 20% reduction in refrigerator energy use is possible.

VIPs have been developed to be used in place of traditional foam insulation panels and can have three times the insulating values of foam. Further, by regulation, VIPs are CFC-free and must hold up against deterioration for 20 years. The key to an efficient VIP is a near absolute vacuum. The COMBOGETTER absorbs nitrogen, water vapor, and other gases to maintain that vacuum, thus high insulating values in the VIPs.

A getter (as produced by SAES Getters) is a metal alloy component used to maintain vacuums in all kinds of devices such as cathode ray tubes and lamps as well as in the production of semiconductors.

Some 60 million refrigerators are produced worldwide each year. COMBOGETTERs have already been integrated into new appliances built by Bosch-Siemens and Norfrost.

THANKS to the Alliance to Save Energy, winter disaster victims in the U.S. may be able to rebuild their homes - in a more energy efficient manner - with loans from the Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) program secured through the U.S. Federal Housing Administration. Under the program, people whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by flood, tornado, blizzard, or torrential rain in presidentially declared disaster areas can borrow up to 5%, or $4000, of the property value to rebuild with energy efficient appliances, equipment and materials. No additional down payment or income is necessary.

The Alliance pressured the government to expand the EEM program in light of the havoc raised by a particularly nasty winter in the U.S. Homes built to be energy efficient can save 20 to 30 percent on utility bills, probably more than enough to meet the payments for the additional amount borrowed. Those affected should contact their local or state FHA or HUD office.