Green Business Spotlight: Johnson Chimney Service and Home Vent Experts

Chimney sweeping isn't just for movies like 'Mary Poppins,' above. It is a great way to save energy and provide better indoor air quality.

by Walter Kerr

My name is Walter Kerr, and I am the Owner and President of Johnson Chimney Service (johnsonchimney.com) and Home Vent Experts (homeventexperts.com). I have lived in Montgomery County, Maryland for over 30 years, and currently reside in Bethesda. I am the father of three boys, ranging in ages from 8 to 13. Needless to say, running two businesses, having three young boys, multiple sporting events and practices all over the area, keeps me quite busy and on my toes.

I worked for WGL (Washington Gas and Light) for over 10 years and was looking to expand myself, what I had to offer, and what I wanted to learn. In that time, I became certified and received my MCHI (Montgomery County Home Improvement) license and became certified with the National Chimney Sweep Guild. Aware of what matters most, I became licensed, bonded, and insured and directed my skills to what I like to do most: helping people.

I found in this industry what matters most is honesty, integrity, and professionalism. And  I strive each and every day for all that and more - not only with my business, but in life as well. Johnson Chimney Services and Home Vent Experts are both deeply committed in volunteering our time, energy, and money back into our community.

In 1991, my wife and I started Johnson’s, and we’ve been intent and resolute in making the business work to help people with their chimney needs. Johnson’s is all about service, safety, and savings. Our goal is to keep a regularly scheduled maintenance program with all customers so bigger issues don’t become possible future disasters. We like to keep our clients informed in what is up and coming in the chimney industry, as well as what items and/or services benefit them first.

I recommend inspections and cleanings, for the majority, about every 2 years. No matter if you use your fireplace or not, it still takes a beating from the elements, and it still needs attention, both inside and out.

Sometimes, it takes annual cleanings to fix the many years of previous neglect.

Over the years of sweeping, cleaning, and repairing chimneys, I saw yet another avenue of overlooked, homeowner maintenance. At Home Vent Experts we provide the same service, the same dedication, and the same commitment to the maintenance, service, and care of your ducts and dryer vents. It is with the commitment to each customer that your home is provided with the safety and service it needs to keep comfort, health, and savings in your home and pocket.

Now that you know a little more about me and my background, I thought I’d fill you in on some frequently asked questions I get during my day to help you better understand the whats and whys and importance of maintaining and upkeep of your chimney and vents throughout your home.

For instance, not many people know the importance that a chimney cap holds and how it protects their home from water damage and at the same time keeping the critters out!

A properly sealed chimney keeps the cold air out, and the warm air in. This could equal a savings of $300 or more in your bills.

Furnace, Duct, and Dryer Vent maintenance and cleaning are just as important and cost-effective as maintaining your chimney. If your system is clean and working and up to par, then, in turn, it is using less energy and providing better indoor air quality to the consumer.

The typical inspection that I perform covers top to bottom, addressing all the seen and unseen places. It is important to me for you to live and feel secure in a safe environment. Any recommendation that I give to you is as if it were my own home.

Solar attic fans are important as well in savings and comfort because they are a natural way to circulate the air in your home.

Many homes in the DC and surrounding area could definitely benefit from the services I provide in that the community, as a whole, is protected from unwanted fire-related incidents and/or animals entering your living environment.

All in all, the amount of protection and maintenance for your home and family are the direct result of what you and I put into your upkeep. I stand behind you, the Customer, in the recommendations I provide and the protection that those recommendations give you and your family.

Metro Getting Better Looking and More Bike Friendly

Metro is experimenting with different interior color and fabric schemes for its new 7000 series trains that will be rolling out soon. I was lucky enough to board a preview train with new blue seats and carpet-less floors. My first impression? I really like it. It's a big improvement aesthetically and will be easier to maintain. What do you think?

And on the topic of improvements. That hideous looking bike corral at the Ballston Orange Line Station has been removed and replaced with normal looking bike racks. Here are pictures of the construction progress:

Progress at Ground Zero

On each visit to New York City I always make a pilgrimage to the sacred ground of The World Trade Center site where terrorists changed the world on that fateful September morning a little over nine years ago.

And each time I visit I come away disappointed at the lack of progress in rebuilding this massive graveyard where over 3,000 innocent souls lost their lives at the hands of a few misguided mad men. Why, I would ask myself, can New York build two new baseball stadiums and one new football stadium but let Ground Zero fall victim to politics and economics.

But this time was different. I visited NYC a couple of weeks ago and was amazed at the rapid pace of progress in lower Manhattan. One World Trade Center (formally called Freedom Tower) is already halfway to the top at 52 levels. When finished, it will be the tallest building in the United States. The PATH train station is up and running, carrying thousands of commuters every day from WTC to New Jersey and back. And the 9/11 Memorial should be finished in time for the 10th anniversary dedication this September 11th.

Here are recent photos of Ground Zero:



Video of snow storm at Ground Zero:

Pictures: NYC Blizzard of 2010

Scientists: Smart Meters Are Safe

Image credit: Fort Frances Times Online

Smart Meters are crucial to fighting climate change because they are the first step in implementing the Smart Grid, which promises to make it easier for households to become more energy efficient and also integrate clean energy sources into their residential electricity system.

That is why it is a relief that, unlike cell phones, there is no cause for concern with the radiofrequency (RF) radiation of Smart Meters. That’s because the wireless devices produce an infrequent and incredibly weak RF field, according to scientists interviewed by Green D.C. Essentially they are computers that automatically send real-time information to the utility allowing homeowners to electronically manage their energy usage.

The meters not only exceed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) safety standards, but the mainstream scientific groups including the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute, Health Canada and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention all say that low-intensity RF is safe.

Green D.C. interviewed two experts in the area of radiation about the risks associated with Smart Meters. They were: 

-- Richard Tell, who has 38 years of experience working on issues related to RF hazards, including stints at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where he served as Chief of the Electromagnetics Branch and helped develop public exposure standards for RF fields;

-- and Dr. Jerold T. Bushberg, Clinical Professor of Radiology and Radiation Oncology at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine, and a member of the main scientific council of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) as well as its Scientific Advisory Committee on Radiation Protection in Medicine.

Tell says that Smart Meters are so low powered that they operate in FCC license free bands, meaning they are deemed very unlikely to cause interference because they use an ultra high frequency of 900 mhz and one watt or less of power.

“They transmit very infrequently in terms of percentage of times of day. As an example, they may only transmit a few seconds in a day,” Tell explained. “If you look at the intensity of the field produced by transmitters, the RF fields are quite low in comparison to applicable safety standards for human exposure.”

Both Tell and Bushberg believe the current FCC standards are adequate. But Bushberg says the agency goes even a step further by requiring every meter to go through a stringent certification test to meet FCC rules.

“The evidence with low exposure to smart meters is very reassuring and the standards are adequate,” said Bushberg. However, he did caution that no legitimate scientist will ever say that any chemical agent is 100% safe, and that there are still things the scientific community would like to know and that further tests are warranted.

He said there is a latency period between exposure to a carcinogen such as radiation, and cancer. This period varies depending on the strength of the carcinogen and the type of cancer. That is why he advocates for epidemiology studies on populations that are occupationally exposed to high levels of radiation, such as plastics workers and cell tower climbers.

 “Of all the exposures of RF energy, Smart Meters would be very low and relatively easy to avoid,” said Bushberg.

Both Tell and Bushberg say that RF intensity inside the home is very low because as you back off only a few feet from the meter the intensity drops off dramatically. Also, meters transmit their signals out away from the homes they are mounted on, not towards the house. And finally, building materials and walls reduce the intensity of the already weak signal.

But what about people who claim they suffer from something called electrohypersensitivity, a condition that causes insomnia, split second head aches, high pitched ringing in the ears and nausea.

“I don’t understand how the RF fields produced by the Smart Meters (could) have caused any effects in these people. What I’m saying is that the strength produced by Smart Meters is so feeble in comparison to any health side effects of it. It’s not plausible,” said Tell.

And what about mesh networks and many meters in close proximity in an apartment complex. Wouldn’t that increase the intensity? No, says Tell, because the RF fields are linear so if you are close up to them you will only be exposed to the meter right in front of you. And if you back up a long distance from the meters, the RF is so weakened by the point it reaches you that it is harmless.

There are also some people who advocate for fiber optics instead of the wireless Smart Meter. According to Tell, this approach is not realistic because it is infinitely more expensive to have a wired connection to each home that wants one. And he says if people are really concerned about being exposed to radiation by a wireless Smart Meter, then the alternative of sending signals over a power line by a carrier current will have the unintended consequences of creating RF concerns near the power line and on the wires that go into your house.

The Obama Administration allocated $3.4 billion in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to jumpstart the installation of Smart Meters in every home as the first step in the National Smart Grid that will enhance energy efficiency and make  widespread adoption of renewable energy easier.

“This investment will place Smart Meters in homes to make our energy bills lower, make outages less likely and make it easier to use clean energy,” President Barack Obama said on February 17, 2009 after signing the bill into law.

Nearly two years later the consumer-level technology is rapidly being installed across the country by utility companies – there are ten million already installed in the United States and two million in California alone. Not to mention the 27 million Smart Meters already installed in Italy and nearly one million in Canada. And the United Kingdom has mandated that all homes have Smart Meters by 2020.

Other benefits of Smart Meters include remote meter reading, which takes carbon-emitting utility vehicles off the roads; the ability to pinpoint power outages, which improves response time; the ability to instantly shut off power if there is a house fire; the ability of families to monitor their energy usage online, potentially reducing consumption and saving money on electric bills; and more accurate readings than older meters.

“Smart Meters can’t help but enhance the reliability of the current system because utilities can know in real time what is going on in terms of loads. There are other people arguing that it’s big brother spying on me now. I would say that it’s really helpful for the utilities to better manage the grid itself to help better manage brownouts and blackouts,” said Tell.

Government Gets Cool

Can the Federal Government be cool? While the image of a nebbish bureaucrat slaving away in a soulless, fluorescent-lit warehouse will probably never go away, the Department of Energy has done a whole lot to change its image and help the environment by installing a "Cool Roof."

Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently oversaw the installation of light-colored materials on the roof of the DOE Headquarters West Building (the South Building's cool roof will be installed this spring). The 25,000 square foot roofing system will reflect heat and absorb less solar energy than a traditional roof, thereby decreasing energy use for cooling and removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere.

The two new roofing systems are expected to save taxpayers $8,000 in energy costs. Here is a video of Chu talking about the Cool Roof installation and why it's important.

DDOT's Gabe Klein Exits

Image Credit: Mark Gail/The Washington Post

NBC Washington is reporting that D.C. Transportation Director Gabe Klein has told his staff this morning that he will be departing when new Mayor Vincent Gray takes office this January.

I can't begin to describe how disappointing this news is and what a loss this is for Washington area "smart growth" transit advocates. Klein was nominated by Mayor Adrien Fenty to lead DDOT in 2009 and he ran with it. He has been instrumental in making our Nation's Capital a safer and healthier place to live by expanding non-driving options such as the two-way bicycle lanes on 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, the popular Circulator bus system, and the Capital Bikeshare program. Capital Bikeshare is the largest in North America (until NYC implements its own bike sharing program) and was recently featured on CNN.

There is concern from Klein about a recent decision that could have negative results for the work DDOT has been doing to promote alternative forms of transportation. From the Washington Post:

"He also expressed concern about a little-noticed move in yesterday's budget gap-closing session to eliminate a special fund that allowed the transportation department the ability to easily transfer funds to and from projects. Klein said the move would change DDOT "from an enterprise agency to a more standard type of agency." He called the change "demoralizing."

"It's probably not a good fit for me going forward," he said. "It makes it a more administrative type of job."

Without the fund, he said, popular initiatives such as the 15th Street cycle lanes, Capital Bikeshare and the Circulator bus system "would require a longer conversation" with the council and others."