Homeowners getting home energy help from pilot program
Toolbox
By PATRICK McARDLE STAFF WRITER - Published: May 31, 2009
MANCHESTER – Almost 500 homeowners in Vermont received energy-saving tips and devices with a personal touch through Efficiency Vermont's Community Energy Mobilization Project pilot program, according to organizer Paul Markowitz.
Markowitz said Efficiency Vermont had been looking for ways to expand its work in conserving electric energy to conserving thermal energy, as well.
"They had been looking for some time at the ability of community-based programs to reach energy efficiency goals," he said.
The program worked with local volunteers to both deliver and receive its message.
A team of local residents in participating communities were trained to offer some simple energy efficiency tips and to install some small items like efficient bulbs and foam covers for water pipes.
Homeowners in those communities were given a chance to have a visit by the volunteers, who would then install the items and have a conversation with the residents.
"The whole thing was based on trust, on neighbor helping neighbor. These (volunteers) weren't professionals.
They weren't there to perform an energy audit but they were trained to look for anything that might look like an energy savings opportunity," said Markowitz, of Montpelier.
Manchester Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lee Krohn, who took part in a team that included his town, Dorset and Peru, said one of the recommendations volunteers would often make was that the homeowner consider a professional energy audit.
With Efficiency Vermont donating materials, the volunteers were also able to install equipment like low-flow shower heads, faucet aerators and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
"We also installed programmable thermostats, probably the most costly item we had, but it was a good example of something that was relatively low cost but potentially had a high impact on energy savings," Krohn said.
Because of the success of the Manchester Challenge, a 2005 and 2006 event during which about 42,000 compact fluorescent bulbs were sold, Krohn said the area is already "pretty well saturated with CFL bulbs."
But Krohn said he believed it was the personal touch, the conversations between people who lived in the same or nearby towns, that make the project much more successful than it would have been if Efficiency Vermont had given away items that "people took home, threw in the garage and never installed."
"The nice thing about this is that people sometimes look at energy conservation as this larger than life, unattainable goal.
This project showed people that there are things you can do yourself, that you can install right away and start saving money," he said.
Markowitz said the community aspect of the project helped to reach a different set of Vermonters.
"There are people on the cusp, who are just considering energy efficiency projects. Those were the people we were trying to capture and push from inaction to action," he said.
There were nine groups across the state that took part in the pilot program, Markowitz said, and many like Manchester, included more than one community. The largest group was in Brattleboro, while the smallest was in Ripton.
Markowitz said the project was being evaluated. He hopes it will not only continue, but expand next year.
"The average home has many energy-saving opportunities. That's what this is all about. It's good for the environment and it's saving people money," he said.
patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com
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