Sarasota County is offering do-it-yourself
(DIY) energy and water usage audit kits for
checkout at Sarasota County libraries, the
county has announced.
"The kits and the accompanying Home Energy
and Water Evaluation Guide have been cre-
ated to provide area residents with a simple
and economical way to evaluate their home
energy and water use," said Lee Hayes Byron
of Sarasota County Sustainability in a news
release. "Plus, users can learn about more
ways they can save resources and money."
"The kits are a part of the Sarasota County
Energy Upgrade program, which provides
residents with various levels of information
on residential resource-saving opportunities,"
the release explains.
The program's website, EnergyUpgradeToday.
com, offers in-depth room-by-room ener-
gy-saving tips, information about workshops
and Family Sustainability Kits and other
resources.
"The DIY audit kit available at county librar-
ies is intended to serve those residents who
have already gone beyond those first-level
actions and are ready for the next step," the
release points out.
The kit provides a step-by-step guide as well
as the technical equipment necessary to
determine specific energy and water use pro-
files and solutions for the home, the release
says. The guide is broken into two sections:
the Energy Audit and the Water Audit.
"Residents may choose to focus on only one
or the other for now or to address both at the
same time," said Byron in the release. "The
two sections are designed to function inde-
pendently to allow you that flexibility," she
added. "The kit and guide, however, are not
intended to be a replacement for professional
services. Our residents' safety is a top priority;
so if they don't feel comfortable performing a
guided task during the evaluation, then they
should stop the process."
For more information about the kits and
a c c o m p a n y i n g g u i d e , v i s i t s c g o v. n e t /
EnergyUpgrade/Pages/DIYAuditKits.aspx
or call the Sarasota County Call Center at
861-5000.
COUNTY OFFERING DO-IT-YOURSELF ENERGY AND WATER USE AUDIT KITS
every May 6-12 (culminating on Florence
Nightingale's birthday), the release points out.
Sarasota Memorial hosted numerous activi-
ties this week, which will be capped off by
a ceremony honoring its Nurses and Patient
Care Techs of Excellence on Monday, May 12,
at 3:30 p.m. in the hospital auditorium.
In naming Sarasota Memorial one of the
nation's great places to work, "Becker's noted
that Sarasota Memorial is one of Sarasota
County's largest employers, with about 4,000
staff members and 800 affiliated physicians,"
the release continues. Sarasota Memorial was
named to U.S. News & World Report's Best
Hospitals list in 2013 and was also ranked No.
1 that year for overall care in the Bradenton-
Sarasota-North Port region, the release adds.
Additionally, it has been listed among the top
1 percent of hospitals in the nation to receive
the "Magnet" nursing designation for the third
time — the nation's highest honor in nursing,
the release points out.
Sarasota Memorial's Becker profile page may
be found here.
Sarasota News Leader May 9, 2014 Page 90
