BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Brexit talks are deadlocked over money, the EU’s Michel Barnier said on Thursday as he ruled out discussions on future trade being launched by EU leaders next week but spoke of possible progress by December.
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How Solar Thermal Panels Help Schools Save Money
How Solar Thermal Panels Help Schools Save Money
Oct 11, 2017
Renewable sources of energy are essential for ensuring a sustainable future. But that’s just one of many upsides to installing solar thermal panels.
The savings to be had by switching to solar are immense and large institutions stand to save the most. Here are a few ways solar thermal panels can help schools and colleges save money.
School Layouts Mean a More Cost-Effective Installation
Unsuitable roofs are one of the biggest arguments against solar panels. Angled installations don’t get consistent sun and residential areas are more shaded. This means a solar system installation is less cost-effective than it could be.
Schools don’t have this problem. The typical layout of a school is perfect for solar installation. School buildings often have flat roofs and plenty of unshaded space. This means greater solar panel output and greater savings for the school.
Reduced Operating Costs
The cost of energy consumption is calculated by determining the cost per unit of energy. These units are called megawatt-hours or kilowatt-hours. For context, the rate of energy consumption is measured in kilowatts or megawatts.
As of 2016, solar is the cheapest energy resource in the world. In other words, it’s the energy resource with the lowest cost per kilowatt-hour.
What’s more, large-scale installations save the most money. In 2016 Dubai set the world record for the lowest-cost solar energy. Their massive solar array bid at under 3 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Schools and colleges often have sprawling campuses. This means they stand to benefit more than most from going solar.
Solar Energy Is Consistent
Energy costs are notoriously inconsistent.
Grid energy prices are trending upwards at a gradual but steady rate. And with natural gas prices only likely to increase, this trend is here to stay.
Electricity prices also fluctuate depending on the time of month, season, or year.
Solar energy is consistent – the only cost being the installation and upkeep of the system. Installing solar thermal panels helps insulate schools against energy rate fluctuations and increases. The more consistent the school’s energy costs, the easier it is for the school to plan and budget for the future.
Going Solar Will Improve the School’s Brand and Drive Enrollment
Young people are the most environmentally conscious in the world. Studies have found that youth aren’t shy about demanding a sustainable future and believe that investment in renewable energy is critical to achieving it.
Committing your school to sustainable practices improves its image. This, in turn, makes it more attractive to socially-conscious students.
Additionally, people associate schools and colleges with innovation and forward-thinking. Using the newest and most efficient form of energy will flag your school as a progressive establishment.
Solar Thermal Panels Are a No-Brainer
Switching to solar isn’t just great for the environment. Installing solar thermal panels will save your school money and improve your brand. And with schools like Yale and Princeton running solar on-site, you’d be in good company.
With schools and colleges working towards cleaner air for all, you can too. Here are 7 indoor plants that improve your homes air quality.
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Saved from the Grave: How To Fix a Condemned House
Saved from the Grave: How To Fix a Condemned House
Oct 11, 2017
House boarded off and posted with a warning sign?
WARNING: NOT FIT FOR HUMAN HABITATION
Afraid to say, any dwelling with this posting is marked for condemnation. Public authorities have found the building in violation of local housing codes. Officials will send a letter to the owner (and tenants, if applicable) explaining the situation and requesting immediate evacuation of the dwelling.
Not all is lost! There is often only a specific problem in the condemned house that you need to fix. However, all occupants must still vacate the premise until you deal with the issue.
Read on to learn how to deal with this issue.
Common Causes of a Condemned House
Every local jurisdiction has its own housing code. Below are the common requirements a building must provide to offer safe housing.
- Plumbing and Hot Water
- Heat and/or Air Conditioning
- Electricity and Lighting
- Ventilation
- Free from Pest Infestation
In some circumstances, a condemned house marks the end of the road. Public authorities can seize properties through eminent domain, with reasonable compensation. This occurs when officials need the land for a developing project that will benefit the public good.
In others, the building’s structural integrity may be hazardous and in need of removal. Owners of the dwelling will have to organize and fund the costs for demolition.
When authorities find a building unfit to live, they will issue a demand to vacate the building. Then, they will seal the doors and windows to deny access. A warning sign will state that no trespassing is permissible on the property.
How to Save a Condemned House
Most houses fail to pass housing inspection only in a certain area. When this is the case, seek out local repairmen to fix it, like plumbers, exterminators, electricians, etc.
If the violations seem manageable, you can do the repairs yourself. Check out our articles on household pest removal and hacks for repair and remodeling.
Public authorities will likely have discontinued all utilities. Contact the local providers to have the gas, electricity, and water re-connected before the next inspection. The building must be in full operation and presentable for an inspector to pass it suitable for living.
If this sounds like too much of a hassle, consider selling the condemned building. A firm like Mark King Properties can offer fair compensation to quickly take the house off your hands. Selling the house is stress-free solution that leaves both parties happy.
To the Grave No More!
If you have a condemned building, it’s best to take action immediately.
Every day a building remains vacant is a further loss in investment. You can fund and/or manage the repairs yourself or seek outside aid to take the problem off your hands. Either way, consult legal advice to ensure proper adherence to the law and housing code in your local jurisdiction
Comment below if you have more questions about how to fix a condemned house. If you have dealt with this problem before, feel free to share your experience and guide others.
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5 Reasons You Should Hire a Digital Marketing Expert for Your Parenting Blog
5 Reasons You Should Hire a Digital Marketing Expert for Your Parenting Blog
Oct 11, 2017
Over 95% of blogs get abandoned within 4 months, according to research published in the New York Times.
They can’t generate enough interest. Bloggers get discouraged. They run out of topics. They just can’t keep up.
For these 5% of bloggers who do survive, having a digital marketing expert is quite often the key to their success.
Let’s explore why.
1) Reduce Marketing Costs
The digital marketing expert can seem like an expense. But they know how to streamline everything you do to reduce the time and money you need to spend to meet blogging goals like:
They can show you how to effectively monetize your site without annoying your core audience. Through this, marketing pays for itself.
2) Generate Endless Topics
One of the reasons blogs get abandoned is because the enthusiasm wanes. Coming up with topics around a niche that you love starts to feel like a chore.
But a great internet marketer will help you understand how to find endless topics that you’ll love to write about.
They’ll help you tap into the power of user-generated content. They’ll invite parent fans to write guest posts and other content for your blog.
Your fans will love it and so will you.
3) Get Access to Better Tools
A digital marketing expert has access to tools that the average person doesn’t have. These tools are often too expensive for someone running one blog to buy.
But because an Internet marketer is often working for several bloggers at once, they can afford the latest and greatest tools.
These tools can slash your work in half and help you better engage your audience.
4) Stay Consistent
The key to engaging a blog fan base is consistency. If you take a hiatus for a couple months or post erratically, people will lose interest.
Bloggers who try to do the digital marketing themselves often find it impossible to do everything so tasks fall behind.
But an Internet marketing professional can help streamline and automate processes to help you have a continual presence even when you need a break.
5) Get Optimized
A digital marketer will help you optimize your parenting blog for maximum exposure with less time and effort.
They’ll ask questions like…
Which parenting topics do your readers love the most?
What social media headline earned you the most shares?
Where is your traffic coming from?
But they won’t be making educated guesses. They’ll then use the power of analytics to discover what’s working best for you. They’ll then help you do more of it.
You can get optimized results like proudmummy.com/ with an expert marketer.
A Digital Marketing Expert Gets Results
Be that 5% with an expert. Reach more parents with your message. Learn how to more effectively use your time to do it. Focus on what you love and leave the rest to an expert.
What experience has your parenting blog had with teaming up with a digital marketing expert? Comment below.
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Landmark release of Termination of Transfer tool from Creative Commons and Authors Alliance
Creative Commons trademark; design by Amy Collier For more than a decade, Creative Commons has developed and stewarded legal tools that give creators the opportunity to share their work on open terms. We have focused on tools that empower sharing at the moment of publication, leaving out an important group of creators: what about those who previously signed away their rights to their works long ago, but who now want to share on open terms under a CC license or renegotiate unfavorable publishing terms?
We are proud to announce version 1.0 of the Termination of Transfer tool (ToT tool), which will help inform creators about their ability to reclaim their rights. This newest legal tool – to be co-stewarded by Creative Commons and Authors Alliance – helps creators and authors learn about their ability to regain their rights in order to share. The ToT tool is our latest step in our mission to steward a vibrant commons through legal, social, and technical tools.
The ToT tool empowers authors to learn more about whether and when
they may have the right to terminate the licensing arrangements for their work that prohibits them from sharing. Authors who enter into publishing, recording or other types of agreements are routinely asked to sign away their rights forever. Fortunately, there is recourse under U.S. copyright law for taking back those rights in the future. While many of these transfer agreements last “for the life of copyright” (which in the United States generally means seventy years after the author dies!), the law takes into account that these terms can ultimately be unfair to authors and artists, and so provides a mechanism for regaining those rights. An early analysis by Mike Wolfe estimates that control over more than 2.5 million works may be reclaimed by authors in the United States.The tool is widely applicable beyond academia – anyone, including artists, photographers, scholars and scientists, can use this tool to understand more about rights they could have to regain rights they previously assigned away. While this tool is currently U.S.-based only, CC is developing a database of other country laws that enable authors and creators to similarly terminate or reclaim their rights.
One of the reasons why the tool is so remarkable is due to the complexity and technicality of the law. As Mia Garlick, CC’s first general counsel and the originator of the first ToT tool beta, noted in 2006, “the provisions are very complex and have not been frequently used [and] the termination provisions are currently so complex and technical that this tool can only serve an informational role.” When we relaunched the tool in 2015, we decided that while the tool would be primarily informational and US-based, the continued applicability of the legality would make it a worthwhile project for a global community. In 2016, we opened a public comment period for the tool.
Even though the tool is now active, we’re still looking to improve it so that it is increasingly useful to all categories of content around the globe. Creative Commons and Authors Alliance are grateful to the Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, for their generous support of the creation of the Termination of Transfer Tool. See our full list of personnel and thank-yous at rightsback.org/about.For more information and to try the tool, visit rightsback.org.
Read our joint press release with Authors Alliance.
The post Landmark release of Termination of Transfer tool from Creative Commons and Authors Alliance appeared first on Creative Commons.
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Catalan Leader Says Region Has Earned Independence, but Calls for Talks With Madrid
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24 structures lost, 7500 acres burned in Orange County firestorm, but slow progress reported
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Trump Threatens NFL and Attacks Jemele Hill
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Roger Goodell sends letter to NFL teams, wants players to stand during anthem
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