Tag Archives: energy conservation

Start A Green Habit to Honor Earth Day 2013

Earth

  Celebrated each year on April 22, Earth Day is a good time to make a new commitment to do your part for the earth. I know that some people scoff at the idea that a single day can make any kind of difference, but “Earth Day” is a misleading name. It’s not a single day to think about the earth. Rather, Earth Day is your reminder to make a commitment to help the earth throughout the year. That’s how I think of it! If you observe Earth Day 2013, you certainly won’t be alone. According to earthday.org, more than one billion people around the world are expected to … [More]

The Critical Step in Making the Business Case for Commercial Solar

It can be intimidating to begin the process of convincing the decision-makers at your business that it’s time to add solar power. However, as someone who’s gone through the process, I can tell you that if you’re successful, the end results are well worth it!   So, how do you begin? That’s a good question with a long answer. I’ve noticed that several websites, such as Triple Pundit and Green Impact, have recently published summaries of a new white paper that covers five steps to take in order to make your case for solar. The free white paper, created by Alta Energy, is called “Making the Business Case … [More]

Q&A with a Justin Krum A Solar Power Brainiac

I recently had the opportunity to talk solar with Justin Krum, President and CEO of 1st Light Energy, our partner for solar installations. With 1st Light Energy, Extra Space Storage has completed nearly 100 solar installations at our storage properties in six states. With these solar panels, 1st Light Energy has helped us not only save energy, but also lower our operating costs. And we’re adding even more solar panels as you read this!   Justin wants to help others realize that solar energy puts more choices in the hands of homeowners and business owners. Consumers really don’t have to completely rely on utility companies for power! In … [More]

Daylight Harvesting – Better for the Environment, Better for You!

  Recently the New York Times reported a compelling fact: “Enough sunlight falls every hour to meet the entire world’s energy needs for one year.” That is a lot of essentially free energy  that’s being wasted! This presents an opportunity to find ways to use the sun and its energy to decrease our impact on the earth’s natural resources. One way of doing this is using the sun to naturally light our homes and work spaces. Research and studies have proven there are many benefits of daylight. These benefits include: Energy conservation Increased productivity Lifting of spirits Spaces appear larger Improved concentration Quickened learning speed At Extra Space … [More]

Tankless Water Heaters: Conversation Killer but Energy Saver

  Some of you may remember the awkward moment on Ashley’s Hebert’s season of The Bachelorette when contestant Ryan Park talked about tankless water heaters on what turned out to be his final date with Ashley. Though that topic of conversation seemed to be the nail in the coffin, he did bring up some good points. (Go to minute 6:20 to watch the drama unfold)   A traditional gas-fired storage-tank water heater uses natural gas to heat water. As the water temperature drops, the system kicks on the heat to bring it back up to the appropriate level. This is an ongoing process – always happening whether you … [More]

Brightening up Storage with Solar Muscle

  You might have heard that Extra Space Storage is going green. So, I’m trying not to hit you over the head with a big green bat, but I’m excited to tell you more about our progress with solar power. As the second-largest self-storage company in the U.S. with facilities in 34 states, we take our commitment to sustainable energy seriously, as you’ve probably figured out.   See the Power in our Infographic Last year, we created a solar power infographic to help shareholders, customers and all interested eyes visualize our journey down the bright solar path. You can take a look at it here. Since we created … [More]

Energy Efficiency Initiatives at Extra Space Storage

  Keeping track of almost 900 self storage facilities nationwide, I’m so busy it sometimes seems like I’m bouncing around like a beach volleyball in the Olympic Games! Yet, it’s nice to take a moment to set back, enjoy a long deep, breath, and take stock of accomplishments. At Extra Space Storage, we’ve come a long way toward being more sustainable as a company. In keeping with our commitment to corporate responsibility with energy management, we’ve implemented several sustainability programs in the last few years.   Our major initiatives are the energy efficient programs we’ve installed in the majority of our ~900 properties. These include a variety of … [More]

Less Energy Destroyed – LED Lighting

Last month I talked about the different things Extra Space Storage is doing to reduce its consumption of electricity. This week I want to highlight a kind of lighting that we use at our facilities to reduce energy consumption – LED lighting. Even though LED doesn’t stand for Less Energy Destroyed, it might as well. LED lighting is at the cutting edge of lighting technology. Only until recently has this type of lighting become more widely used and recognized. LED lights outperform incandescent light bulbs and compact fluorescents (CFLs) in the following areas: Life Span Environmental Impact Light Output And when I say outperform, I mean SIGNIFICANTLY outperform the … [More]

Saving Energy One Retrofit at a Time

Did you know in December of 2011, our country used over 54 million tons of coal to generate electricity? That’s more than 108 BILLION pounds of coal. That’s right, I said BILLION!!!! That’s insane!!!!! And this is only one source of many that generates electricity for our country. At Extra Space Storage we understand the importance of energy conservation. This is why we take a focused approach to decrease our energy consumption and to shrink the size of our carbon footprint. One of the many ways we try to reduce our energy consumption is through lighting retrofits at our properties. T8 Light BulbsOur first area of focus with … [More]

Spend Less Heating Your Swimming Pool with Solar

I believe it’s comforting to know that no matter where you live on Earth, you get sunlight at least part of the year. And it’s nice that the sunlight can be helpful to the old wallet. Right now, I have spring fever and want to jump into a sparkling swimming pool that’s just the perfect temperature. Heating a swimming pool to that great temp is expensive, but going solar saves money and is more sustainable than other heating methods. When I started researching solar pool heaters I had many questions, so I decided that the best way to write this post would be to ask questions and then … [More]