CLEAN AIR NEWSLINE

November 2006 Edition

In this issue:

Winterize your home to save money AND clear the air
If you burn, know the law
Today's electric fireplaces look nice and heat efficiently – no kidding
Pierce County’s Public Works workhorses get a diesel retrofit
2007 Clean Air Calendars are here (and free!)
How was September’s air?

Keep your home warm and your money in your wallet

Imagine dollar bills slipping out your windows, through your door, up your chimney and out the roof. If you have not winterized your home, this is not an imaginary scenario.

What does winterizing have to do with air quality? Well, the more insulated your home, the less energy you need to heat it. The less energy burned, the fewer air toxics and greenhouse gases your home emits, whether from an oil or gas furnace, gas or wood-burning fireplace or wood stove, or even electric baseboard heaters or heat pumps. So get ye to your local hardware store and spend an hour or two this weekend winterizing your home! Your time will be paid off quickly in both comfort and fuel savings.

Start by simply sealing leaks around ducts, fans and outlets, and adding insulation to your attic and crawlspace. If you are ready to make a more substantial investment, consider storm windows or replacement windows; if this is not possible, at least install temporary shrink-wrap storm window kits. And keep your furnace maintained for both safety and efficiency, including regular changing of filters. If your furnace is 15 to 20 years old, consider a high-efficiency replacement. Your investment could pay itself off in just a few years in energy saved. Additionally, you could qualify for federal income tax incentives for energy efficient products and technologies passed by Congress as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Visit www.energytaxincentives.org for guidance.

Your local utility offers tips on how you can make your home or business more energy efficient. Many offer seasonal rebate programs and incentives, as well. For more information and links to a variety of resources, visit www.pscleanair.org/actions/energy/default.aspx .

Don't get burned by the law
If you burn, be air aware

With winter at our doorstep, our region is already experiencing chilly temperatures, stormy weather and air inversions – prompting an increased use of fireplaces and wood stoves. Smoke from these devices contains fine particles, which can harm our health and that of our family and neighbors. In fact, in wintertime, smoke from these fires can contribute up to 80 percent of the fine particle pollution in our neighborhoods.

To help keep the air in your neighborhood healthy to breathe, keep these tips in mind if you use a fireplace or wood stove:

1. Scrap uncertified wood stoves
If your wood stove isn't EPA-certified, we strongly recommend replacing it with a cleaner-heating, more efficient alternative. Uncertified wood stoves are no longer legal to sell or purchase in Washington state due to the significant pollution they generate – which is roughly twice as much pollution as certified stoves. Plus, they are unlawful to use during air-quality burn bans. If you replace your uncertified stove, contact your local metal-scrap yard for disposal. View this earlier article for more information: www.pscleanair.org/news/newsroom/newsletters/2006/03_Mar.aspx#Scrap

2. Minimize smoke, save money
Generating excess chimney smoke (defined by the Department of Ecology as 20-percent opacity or more) is not only un-neighborly, it’s against the law. Plus, it’s a sign you’re not getting the most out of your fuel. www.pscleanair.org/images/wood_smoke_opacity_DOE.gif For tips on how to minimize smoke, increase the heat you get from your wood and limit your impact on your neighbors, visit www.pscleanair.org/actions/woodstoves/basics.aspx .

3. Burn responsibly
Know the laws that govern burning with wood, including observing burn bans and burning only what is legal to burn. www.pscleanair.org/actions/woodstoves/law.aspx

4. Observe burn bans
When the Clean Air Agency calls a Burn Ban, wood burning in fireplaces and uncertified wood stoves is prohibited unless they are your only adequate source of heat. You can use pellet stoves, EPA-certified wood stoves and natural gas or propane fireplaces during a Stage I Burn Ban, which typically is the type of ban called.

To find out Burn Ban status, call our hotline at 1-800-595-4341, visit our Web site at www.pscleanair.org or sign up for e-mail notification at www.pscleanair.org/news/agencynews.aspx . If you receive this newsletter directly, you are already signed up to receive e-mail notification of air quality alerts.

For more about home heating choices, please visit us at www.pscleanair.org/actions/woodstoves/default.aspx .

Not your Grandma’s electric fireplace

Gone is the cheesy, rolling, transparent-orange-plastic log with a couple of night-lights inside, cardboard brick backdrop and faux-plastic log grate. Today’s generation of electric fireplaces are more than a holiday decoration you pull out once a year. They are among the cleanest heating units on the market, providing physical and aesthetic warmth to any room. All you need is a wall and an outlet.

Today, electric fireplaces feature full wrap-around hardwood mantels, glass fronts, real iron grates and life-like, optical-illusion flames. But perhaps the biggest improvements have come in the level of technology, heating efficiency and low price point. With prices at under $300, these units are popping up at a variety of local home improvement and hearth products stores.

These next-generation electric fireplaces are air friendly, efficient as well as good looking. To find out more, check out our Web site at www.pscleanair.org/actions/woodstoves/electricity.aspx . And for other clean-heating alternatives, check out www.pscleanair.org/actions/woodstoves/choices.aspx .

Can a storm-drain cleaner really be clean? Its emissions can!

Many of the Public Works trucks and equipment servicing Pierce County are much cleaner these days – or at least their tail-pipe emissions are – thanks to recent retrofits to their diesel exhaust systems.

Diesel exhaust is a significant source of fine particle pollution, as well as a combination of more than 40 substances that are listed as hazardous pollutants. Because of their microscopic size, these fine particles can become trapped in the small airways of the lungs when they are inhaled. They are linked to heart and lung disease as well as being a contributor to cancer risk.

By partnering with our agency’s Diesel Solutions® program, Pierce County Public Works has been able to install diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) on 17 of their fleet including several yard-dump and asphalt-patch trucks, an aerial-bucket truck and a storm-drain cleaner.

What is a DOC? A DOC is a device that uses a chemical process to break down pollutants in the exhaust stream into less harmful components. More specifically, it is a physical device with a porous ceramic honeycomb-like structure that is coated with a material that catalyzes a chemical reaction to reduce pollution. DOCs reduce emissions of harmful diesel particulate matter by at least 20 percent. DOCs also reduce emissions of hydrocarbons by 50 percent and carbon monoxide by 40 percent.

To find out more about the Clean Air Agency’s Diesel Solutions® program, visit www.dieselsolutions.org . To see what types of projects are happening in your community, check out our quarterly project status sheet www.pscleanair.org/programs/dieselsolutions/ds_project_status.pdf .

FREE!
2007 Clean Air Calendars, while supplies last

For the past several years, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has produced its wall calendar to update constituents on the agency’s work done on their behalf. The calendar features lovely color photographs of areas around Puget Sound, along with monthly clean-air and climate-protection information and tips.

Thanks to sponsor contributions, we’ve been able to increase our supply so we can share this information with an even broader audience.

To request a free calendar, e-mail communications@pscleanair.org with your name and mailing address. (If you signed up last year, you should have already received yours in the mail.) One per person, please, while supplies last.

Monthly air quality data summary: September*

As with August, September was a good month for air quality. For the month, there were no days in either the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” or “Unhealthy” categories. Eight days were in the “Moderate” category and 22 days in the “Good” category.

Precipitation (Sea-Tac Airport) totaled 1.43 inches for the month, only slightly below the normal rainfall of 1.63 inches. The airport average temperature for the month was 1.2 degrees above normal – the sixth straight month of above normal temperatures.

For data summaries of air quality monitored throughout our four-county region, click to www.pscleanair.org/airq/aqsumm/06-09.aspx .

* Because of the time it takes to review data for quality assurance and process data for reports, our air quality discussions in each “Newsline” edition will be two months previous. Thus, our report for this edition is for September 2006.

About the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency

The mission of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is to ensure that people in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties have clean, healthy air to breathe. Our job is to provide air quality management services on behalf of cities and counties for their citizens. We do this by adopting and enforcing air quality regulations, sponsoring voluntary initiatives to improve air quality, and educating people and businesses about clean-air choices. To learn more about our work, visit us at www.pscleanair.org.

About the Clean Air Newsline

Clean Air Newsline is a monthly electronic newsletter to provide air quality information to the residents of King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Subscribers receive the latest on air quality news, trends and projects that affect our local communities and the air we breathe. Feel free to pass the information along to others.

We also use the Newsline as needed to send timely and important messages about burn bans, Smog Watches and early calls to action when air quality deteriorates.

If you would like to subscribe, you can do so at www.pscleanair.org/news/email_list.shtml. Be sure to select Clean Air Newsline to be added to the e-mailing list.