BOTHELL, Wash. - Puget Sound Energy, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County and Bonneville Power Administration are hosting a tour of a new, high-performance manufactured home, July 31, in Bothell, just north of Seattle. The prototype home incorporates some of the latest energy-saving features and technology, including a ductless heat pump, heat pump water heater, efficient lighting, triple-glazed windows, foam sheathing on exterior walls and added insulation.

What: Tour new, super-efficient manufactured home
When: Thursday, July 31 at 10 a.m.
Where: 18903 129th Ave NE, Bothell, WA 98011 (Holly Hills Area)
Who: Meet the new homeowners, project sponsors, builder and vendors

"Manufactured homes built to this new high-performance spec have durability and performance features that could change opinions about factory-built homes and be an integral part of our super-efficient 21st century utility system," says Christopher Dymond, senior product manager with Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, an alliance of more than 140 Northwest utilities and energy efficiency organizations.

While the prototype may represent the manufactured home of the future, the Norahun family is simply excited to call it home. "We can't wait to see our new home for the first time and learn more about its unique features," says Tesfaye Norahun. "We're so happy that we'll finally have a home to call our own, but also that it won't cost us a lot of money to run and maintain."

The Norahuns are purchasing the home through Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County's affordable homeownership program. "We are excited to be a part of this project as is fits very closely with our commitment to being a responsible, sustainable and affordable home builder," says Kirk Utzinger, Habitat Seattle-King County CEO.

BPA, NEEA, Northwest electric utilities and other partners are collaborating with nine Northwest-based manufactured home builders to demonstrate the benefits of a higher standard for newly constructed manufactured homes and assist each manufacturer in their design. A manufactured home built to an advanced high-performance specification can save up to 50 percent on heating and cooling costs when compared to typical manufactured homes.

"Beyond more affordable electric bills for the homeowner, the goal is to establish a new minimum building standard for manufactured homes," says Bob Stolarski, director Customer Energy Management, Puget Sound Energy. "Which means buyers will get a higher quality, more comfortable and more energy efficient home."

There are about a half a million manufactured homes in the Northwest and more than 200,000 in Washington state. Since about 20 percent were made before the current construction standards (pre-1994 HUD), a more energy-efficient option could help PSE, BPA and other Northwest electric utilities meet future energy conservation goals. Estimates suggest that an uptake of high-performance manufactured homes in the thousands could translate to long-term energy savings of 20 average megawatts -- enough electricity to power nearly 15,000 Northwest homes for an entire year.

"This new high-performance home creates a "good/better/best" option in the manufactured home market," says Mark Johnson, residential energy conservation specialist at BPA. "And a new minimum building standard could deliver tremendous energy savings for decades to come."

The entry of new, super-efficient models could also reinvigorate a relatively stale manufactured home market. "Manufacturers and retailers are excited about these new homes," says Brady Peeks with Northwest Energy Works, Inc., an organization under contract with BPA that's helping manufacturers systemize their building process of new high-performance homes. "And we expect consumers will be too, especially those who want to conserve energy and are concerned about their carbon footprint."

The Bothell home is one of four completed prototypes. Three others have been cited in Toledo, Wash. (Lewis County Public Utility District), Pullman, Wash. (Avista Corp.) and Otis, Ore. (PacifiCorp). And another four homes are expected to be cited throughout the region in the next few months.

The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's "Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction" program. Other partners include: Community Frameworks, Ecotope, Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star New Homes Program, Manufactured Housing Associations and Washington State University.


Attached Media Files: New high-performance manufactured home delivers big energy savings.

CLARKSTON, WA - The Clarkston School District IT Department will be upgrading all network switch equipment July 23-25. The upgrade will cause network outages at all buildings. We will be working diligently to keep downtime to a minimum. During the outage, phones will be down while we perform upgrades. We appreciate and thank everyone for their cooperation and patience during this major upgrade.

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PASCO, WA - The 6th Annual Starting Strong P-3 Institute welcomes early learning professionals, child care providers, Kindergarten through 3rd grade teachers, school superintendents, principals, parents, and community partners focused on helping children start strong from pre-school to third grade. Educational Service District (ESD) 123 is proud to present the 2014 Starting Strong Institute and Full-day Kindergarten Symposium, August 4-6, at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, WA.

This special three-day event begins on August 4 with a Full-day Kindergarten Symposium, which will provide valuable information to kindergarten teachers, elementary school principals, and school district staff on how to structure classroom environments and use what we currently know about child development to provide developmentally appropriate practices in full-day kindergarten classrooms.

Following the Symposium, the two-day Starting Strong Institute will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 5 and 6. ESD 123 and partners are hosting this conference featuring keynote speakers Dr. John Medina and Doug Clements, along with numerous breakout sessions and early learning vendors.

For those interested in learning how the brain develops and its impact on early learning, there is still time to register for Dr. John Medina's Brain Rules seminar on August 4. Author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School," Dr. Medina shares what brain scientists have uncovered about how we learn, how sleep and stress affect our brains, and how the brain sciences influence the way we teach our children and the way we work.

The 6th Annual Starting Strong P-3 Institute and Full-day Kindergarten Symposium take place August 4-6 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, WA. Registration and conference information is available at www.esd123.org/startingstrong. For more information on the conference, contact Tracy Ulrich at tracyulrich@frontier.com.

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The Institute is sponsored by the Gates Foundation, Boeing, Child Care Aware, Thrive by Five Washington, and other partners.


Attached Media Files: Medina Flyer