In This Issue

• Use Energy Star Decorative Lights
•  Water Data for Texas Website
• Making Air Emissions Visible
• Get Involved, Check Out the TCEQ Calendar
• Highlighted TCEQ Publications

Take Care of Texas Tips

At Home:

Lower the Thermostat on Your Water Heater

Water heating is the third-largest energy expense in your home. For maximum efficiency, use an Energy Star water heater, set your water heater's thermostat to 120 degrees, and wrap it with an insulating jacket to reduce heat loss. For each 10-degree reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3% to 5% in energy costs.

At Work:

Tune Up Your Heating and Cooling Systems

Heating and cooling can account for as much as 35% of an office building's energy use. Save energy and money by tuning up your heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system annually. Even better, service your HVAC before both the heating and the cooling seasons. Systems will decline in performance without regular maintenance. Change (or clean, if reusable) HVAC filters every month during peak cooling or heating seasons. You save energy and money, and your system may last years longer with reasonable yearly maintenance fees.

Use Energy Star Decorative Lights

Energy Star-qualified decorative light strings consume 70% less energy than conventional incandescent light strands. If all decorative light strings sold in America this year were Energy Star-qualified, we would save over 700 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity a year.

Decorative lights that earn the Energy Star : can last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent strands. are cool to the touch, reducing the risk of fire. are available in a variety of colors, shapes, and lengths. Visit the EPA’s website to learn more.

Water Data for Texas Website

On Nov. 8 the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) launched a new website, Water Data for Texas, which provides the most comprehensive information available on Texas reservoirs. TWDB compiled extensive records from federal, state, and local partners to generate current and historical information on reservoir levels, storage, surface area, and elevation-area-capacity curves. In many cases, the website offers data for the entire history of the reservoir.

TWDB designed the site so that data is easy to access and download both by end users and by third-party applications. The Water Data for Texas website consolidates and replaces information from other TWDB websites. Find more information.

Making Air Emissions Visible

TCEQ’s use of IR cameras to spot emissions continues to grow. Since the TCEQ acquired its first IR (infrared) camera to track down and monitor air emissions, back in 2005, these cameras have become an indispensable part of the agency’s technological toolbox.

"The GasFind IR cameras make us more efficient,” said Rosario Torres, air section manager of the Corpus Christi region, who has spent 15 years in the air section. “A site might look perfectly normal to the eye, and then we look at it through the camera, and suddenly we see things that we’ve never been able to see before. It allows us to pinpoint our investigative and enforcement efforts.”

Read the complete story.

Get Involved, Check Out the TCEQ Calendar

Check out the TCEQ general calendar of events to get information about meetings, hearings, workshops, and more.

Highlighted TCEQ Publications

Take Care of Texas bumper sticker (Texas Flag), M-17, Texas flag bumper sticker (6" x 5.75") with the Take Care of Texas logo. Previously out of stock, M-17 is back!

Public Participation in Environmental Permitting, GI-233, provides a brief overview of individual rights and responsibilities in the permitting process.

You can also order TCEQ publications.