Hermosa Beach Resident, Peter Barsuk, Facilitates A Unique Partnership Between The Energy Coalition, The City of Hermosa Beach, and Hermosa Beach Schools, Introducing A New Smart Energy Management Program
Partnership enables an energy efficiency program allowing hundreds of residents and businesses to benefit from free energy efficiency upgrades in their homes and work spaces.
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) November 1, 2004 -
— The Energy Coalition, a non-profit facilitator of smart energy management to secure a healthy energy future, has added the City of Hermosa Beach to its Community Energy Partnership program, enabling all residents and businesses in the city to benefit from free energy efficiency upgrades in their homes and work spaces. Additionally, The Energy Coalition will be working with the Hermosa Beach School District to implement PEAK, a curriculum program empowering elementary and middle school students to use energy wisely in their homes, at their schools and in their communities. The development of these partnerships is the result of the vision and the efforts of one Hermosa Beach resident, Peter Barsuk.
Benefiting Hermosa Beach: A New Smart Energy Management Program
As an architect involved with green building initiatives, Peter Barsuk is also mindful about the success of his hometown, and as such he is active in Leadership Hermosa, a year-long volunteer citizens program to develop and educate potential leaders within the city. Barsuk initially learned about The Energy Coalition from a talk given by the Coalition’s Managing Director, Ted Flanigan. “Ted spoke about everything The Energy Coalition offered and I was initially compelled by the strategy of the PEAK program,” said Barsuk. “With PEAK, kids learn the concept of energy efficiency at school and then come home and educate their parents. The concept of learning from your children is quite special. I knew this had to be a program offered in Hermosa Beach.” As a father of two children—Jenna, age two, and Zachary, age four—Barsuk viewed The Energy Coalition’s grass roots programs as “an effective method for instilling energy management values at a young age as well as communicating those values to an entire community.”
Based on his involvement and knowledge gained in Leadership Hermosa, Barsuk initiated contact with the Hermosa Beach City Manager, Steve Burrell, as well as the Superintendent of Schools, Sharon McClain. Both were interested in the concept.
“The Energy Coalition team is very passionate about the cause of energy efficiency and their conviction is infectious,” said Burrell. “Their positive attitude as well as the compelling programs generate resident and business participation. Most importantly, The Energy Coalition’s programs show the immediate results of energy conservation activities, a factor that will encourage long-term adoption of the concepts.”
McClain echoed Burrell’s support for The Energy Coalition’s partnership with Hermosa Beach. “The PEAK program will be a wonderfully enriching program for Hermosa Beach students,” said McClain. “Not only does PEAK align with California’s academic standards, but the PEAK curriculum includes all of the materials so students can experience energy efficiency through hands-on lessons. We are pleased to be able to initiate this program with our fourth graders and then expand it to other grades.”
Leadership Hermosa Involvement: Due to BarsukÂ’s passion and conviction about The Energy CoalitionÂ’s mission and its programs, the Leadership Hermosa organization will be serving as the main conduit to the Hermosa Beach community. As the connection to the community, Leadership Hermosa will be supporting the project in a number of ways, such as by volunteering at events.
First Hermosa Beach Community Event: The first of many partnership events to be held in Hermosa Beach will be a Torchiere Trade In on November 20th. Held at the Hermosa Valley School at 1645 Valley Drive, from 9:00 a. m. to 1:00 p. m., The Energy Coalition will provide new fluorescent torchiere lamps to all Hermosa Beach residents who trade in halogen torchiere lamps. Because halogen lamps burn at 1,000 degrees fahrenheit, they represent an extreme fire danger as well as an energy drain. The new torchiere lamps are much cooler and, because of fluorescent technology, promise 250 dollars worth of energy savings.
About The Energy Coalition
The Energy Coalition is a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness among consumers and businesses about smart energy management skills and practices, essential for a healthy energy future. The Coalition utilizes a unique mechanism to deliver customized smart energy management skills—it builds partnerships with and among cities, their utilities, communities, schools, organizations and individuals. The Energy Coalition currently implements the program in nine Southern California cities including Santa Monica, Santa Clarita, Brea, Irvine, Moreno Valley, San Bernardino, Corona, Cathedral City and Palm Desert. The Energy Coalition is not funded through state funds but rather by California utility customers. The Energy Coalition is headquartered in Irvine, California and can be reached at 949.701.4646 and www. energycoalition. org.
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