Finding energy solutions in the home

Warwick resident and professor to lecture on sustainable energy technologies Middletown - Dr. William J. Makofske will offer practical ideas on how to incorporate cost-effective, sustainable energy technologies into homes during an illustrated presentation on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 7:15 p.m., in Harriman Hall Film Theatre on the campus of Orange County Community College in Middletown. “Over 40 percent of all U.S. energy use is in buildings and the price of oil and natural gas are likely to continue to rise substantially,” said Makofske, who is a professor emeritus of physics at Ramapo College. “Yet there are many ways to reduce one’s dependence on non-renewable energy supplies.” Makofske has personal experience as his house in Warwick, which has been on the National Solar Energy Tour for the past few years, has been made energy-efficient through the methods he will explain. The lecture is free. Makofske received a Fulbright Fellowship to study renewable energy in Germany and has been a visiting scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and at the Building Research Establishment in Garston, England. Recently, he served on two New Jersey State task forces on grid-connected renewable energy, and on renewable energy policy. His main area of interest has been on physics and the environment where he has focused on the impacts of energy production, computer modeling of environmental systems, alternative energy sources, radon and global climate change. According to Makofske, the following approaches make environmental and economic sense for retrofits and new home design: • Improving thermal envelope and hot water use efficiencies can often cut heating bills in half. • Efficient lighting and appliances can significantly reduce electrical loads. • Proper use of site, landscape and orientation also allows for passive solar heating and passive cooling. • Solar hot water technologies and solar PV electric panels can be integrated into existing houses for hot water and electricity.