Residents that sign their Mass Save insulation contract by August 31, 2012 and have the insulation work completed within 60 days of signing the contract, will receive a VISA Gift Card from NSTAR. The VISA Gift Card value will match their out-of-pocket cost of the insulation work, up to $100!
You must be an NSTAR Gas heating customer or an NSTAR Electric customer that heats with a primary fuel other than natural gas.
This winter photo shows brightness where the most heat is escaping this home.
Cambridge! It’s finally here: a chance to vividly see the cool or warm air leaving your drafty home, without having to pay hefty fees to a thermal photographer. Thanks to the Thermal Imaging Project on which HEET has partnered with Sagewell Inc., Cambridge homeowners can request thermal (infrared) images of the outsides of their homes.
The images are taken with car-mounted cameras similar to those used for Google Maps street view, and taken on a “first come, first served” basis – with highest priority given to locations with highest demand. With the slight air of a Groupon deal, Sagewell has asked for 400 requests from Cambridge before they will release our thermal images for free.
Because of fossil fuel prices skyrocketing and scientists projecting Cambridge’s summer temperatures will soon start looking more like Atlanta, GA temps, everyone’s heating AND cooling bills are only on their way up. High efficiency in your home is valid for every season.
Even better, the easiest time to work on your home’s energy efficiency is spring and summer, when the wait for weatherization services is short!
Request yours on Sagewell.com now.
It should take about a minute to do so; just enter your address at the bottom of the home page, hit enter, and then enter your information on the next page that shows up by clicking the green “HERE” (see following photo).
This page appears after you enter your address at the bottom of Sagewell.com's home page.
There have already been over 100 requests for thermal images, so if 300 are generated in the next month, everyone will get to have this great service free of cost. Tell your neighbors! We all want to save money and live a little lighter on the planet, don’t we?
The Extra Goods
You and other homeowners, condo owners, and landlords can access their images and an individualized report free of charge online via a password-protected account when the images are available (Sagewell will email you a link). The individualized report shows what to work on, how much it will save you, and connects you with the needed free and rebated services. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.
Not all buildings can be analyzed (due to blocked views from trees, etc. or private way constraints), but Sagewell has agreed to image around 22,000 buildings in Cambridge!
The Thermal Imaging Project will enable residential and commercial building owners to lower costs while supporting our city’s climate and emission reduction goals. One more great tool to wield for average citizens and environmental warriors alike. Get to http://www.Sagewell.com now!
If you have any remaining questions, please contact Sagewell at info@Sagewell.com or HEET at heet.cambridge@gmail.com.
Rooftop gardens, or green roofs, are popping up everywhere. These gardens add life and color to gloomy, industrial looking cities and drab roofs.
Rooftop gardens improve air quality, create local food sources, delay water runoff, and bring color to a dull roof. They also help insulate buildings and reduce electricity and gas costs, which is particularly beneficial for people who live in very hot or cold areas. According to GreenRoofs.com, green roofs allow buildings to retain 30% more heat in the winter than ordinary roofs. Green roofs also reflect light and heat, which may help buildings stay cooler in the summer. The insulation from rooftop gardens also helps block out noises from outside.
There are many different kinds of green roofs, but they are all essentially built in the same way. Several layers are needed to plant a rooftop garden:
If the thought of setting up your own rooftop garden intimidates you, there are many professionals who specialize in rooftop garden installation, and they can be a huge help. Also, you don’t have to completely cover the whole surface of your roof with a garden. “Container gardens” are available to cover portions of your roof, and they are easy to install and cost-effective.
Make your life a tad bit greener by installing a rooftop garden! Whether you live in a suburban area or a big city, a green roof will transform your house and city for the better.
Residents of Cambridge, MA were introduced to a new opportunity on February 8th, 2011. Energy efficiency is on the minds of renters, condominium owners, and homeowners alike as the environmental, financial, and physical benefits become more prominently appreciated. Usually when energy efficiency information is available, it is more general and further discussion with specific professionals is suggested, since the process of making home energy efficiency improvements is tailored to unique home and ownership characteristics and often entails several detailed levels of complexity. On February 8th, those professionals were brought together in one place for an evening of sequential enlightenment for curious attendees, with an added bonus of networking amongst their industry peers and less-assumed partners, Green real estate agents.
When the Cambridge Energy Alliance and Coldwell Banker Agents Amy Tighe and Robin Miller designed this new collaborative seminar, their focus was on approaching one seemingly under-served demographic: condominium owners and associations. [This group will, luckily, begin to be served more as the NSTAR 5+ unit (“Multifamily”) energy assessment program rolls out.] That said, this successful design would clearly be valuable to other demographics (e.g. home owners) in addition to condominium owners/associations.
Beginning with the simplest in-home steps and leading to discussion of assessments, retrofits, and financing of projects, Sustainable Life Solutions, Next Step Living Inc., S & H Construction, CPCU Credit Union, CEA, Robin, and Amy engaged enthusiastic condo owners and association representatives in energy efficiency learning in a way that simply made sense. Speakers explained each of their areas of expertise thoroughly in their limited time, intermittently questions were asked and answered comprehensively, sometimes by the several professionals that were in the room, and when presentations were through, meaningful inquiry-fueled conversation rounded out the evening. A happy closeout to the seminar was the drawing of the raffle winner, who took home a wonderful green-living package that was generously donated by Whole Foods.
The results of this innovative event were remarkable: A valuable seminar was put together by unprecedented collaborators in a replicable format; speakers were able to answer significant questions jointly, and see how they might work together effectively in the future; seminar attendees were able to walk out with a mental arsenal of energy efficiency tools, feeling utterly aware of a previously mysterious process, with proper contacts in hand, and ready to share with their peers. This type of event is unquestionably beneficial for all involved, so watch out for announcements of the next installment in months to come!
If any of our readers have the opportunity to build on a vacant lot, we recommend they visit this page at the Jetson Green website.
This week, they are featuring a story on David Schmit, a Minneapolis photographer who decided he wanted a home in the suburbs with the design features of his downtown rental loft. After some investigation Schmit found a company called Hive Modular that supplies prefab homes. Actually prefab home parts which are then shipped, assembled and fitted out on site.
If you’re thinking trailer home, make sure you scroll down to view some of the interior shots of Schmit’s home after it was finished and furnished.
If you want to read the whole story behind the approval, construction and siting of the house, visit the Midwest Home website.
Anyone still reading this article probably wants to know the green angle. Even though the owner originally chose Hive Modular becasue they could provide a loft-like space on his suburban lot, the construction of these homes off-site means many efficiencies in material usage are realized. Low cost per square foot construction leaves money on the table for incorporating other sustainable living features. Schmit chose locally harvested woods and pre-installed insulation to keep heating costs as low as possible during the long Minnesota winters.
It’s easy to see how other energy efficiency technology could also be incorporated into this home-from solar panels on the flat roof to Energy Star double glazed windows that will help maintain the house envelope temperature all year long.
A company in Western Kentucky has built more than 40 structures, including eight schools, using an innovative construction method called Insulated Concrete Forms. ICF consists of four-inch Styrofoam blocks reinforced by a rebar grid into which concrete is poured. The foam provides insulation while the concrete offers strength and durability.
President Larry Graves says the original ICF “test project” was his own home, built with Insulated Concrete Forms in 2003; “The initial investment costs up to 8 percent more than traditional building methods, but I made my money back in savings within the first two years.”
Gravesco is the exclusive provider of this building technology which, according to Graves, results in utility bills 50% lower than those generated by a traditionally constructed house; “Regardless of how hot or cold it is outside, the temperature of the structure stays the same,” he said. “Our electricity bills come from from our boys running their Playstation units all day long, the dozens of loads of laundry they generate, and the lights they forget to turn off.”
Dow Corning, the largest maker of residential insulation in the US, can expect their economic recovery to start ahead of time due to the tax rebates and incentives for housing weatherization included within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Obama last month.
“The weatherization program is the sort of activity that is likely to spur demand,” said Owens Corning spokesman Scott Deitz. “No doubt, people will install insulation because of this program. We just don’t know how many.”
This could also boost employment at Dow Cornings’ largest US insulation manufacturing plant in Newark, which has lost over 700 jobs in the last decade.
An estimated 80 million homes in the United States are currently under-insulated. Any home built before the mid-1980s and that has not been remodeled is unlikely to meet insulation building codes in force today.
Last week, we showed you how a local Cambridge organization (HEET–Home Energy Efficiency Team) ‘weatherizes’ a house for fellow Cambridge residents. Weatherizing a house involves making some basic non-structural changes to a house to reduce the energy needed for heating and cooling and save money on utilities. The homeowner supplies all the materials and HEET provides the knowledge and manpower needed to finish all energy efficiency improvements in a single day.
It’s a great community activity and a fantastic way to meet your fellow Cambridge residents while learning from skilled tradesmen how you can make your own home more energy efficient. And there is always a party to celebrate the completion of another successful Weatherization Barnraising.
The next HEET Weatherization Barnraising is scheduled for Sunday, March 1 between 12:30—5 pm at 120 Chestnut Street and 100 Henry Street, Cambridgeport.
The Work to be carried out on site includes:
The number of participants will be limited to assure that everyone has guidance and support from a skilled team leader. You can sign up today by contacting Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman@gis.net or 617-876-4753.
You may remember the scene from the 1985 movie Witness starring Harrison Ford. A group of Amish people converge on a neighbor’s property and assemble a barn in a single montage, a single day. A Cambridge-based co-op HEET (for Home Energy Efficiency Team) does weatherization work that’s less lofty, but arguably more important to the modern world. It’s a model for what can be done by harnessing the power of progressive community which emerged during the Obama campaign.
As Bob the Builder might say, ‘Can We Caulk it? Yes we can!’
Combining the materials purchased by the homeowner with free knowhow and labor from HEET, the team has weatherized several low-income homes in Cambridge, with the goal of performing a barn-raising per month. As they do so, they transfer the skills needed to make—and keep— a home more energy efficient to both homeowners and groups of new volunteers. The energy savings persist, putting cash in the pockets of Cambridge residents, which can be spent in the local economy in different ways—a Cambridge mini-stimulus.
HEET grew out of neighborhood organization called GreenPort. The purpose of both groups, according to co-founder Steve Morr-Wineman, is to bring neighbors together to respond to the environmental crisis. A recent project included weatherizing the Cambridgeport Public School, a pioneering public-private-volunteer collaboration with the savings going back to Cambridge’s tax-payers.
Daily KOS thinks the model needs to go national, and so does Warm Home Cool Planet.
Somerville, MA will soon hold their first weatherization barnraising and Watertown, Brookline, Lexington, Medford, Milton, Newton, Beverly, and Boston are thinking about starting their own groups. I think it would be a good idea for this idea to go nation-wide. In fact, a weatherization barnraising on the White House might be a very good way to kick-start that process.
Our hats off to the HEET team. You’re doing great work. Expect to hear from us soon.
This weekend, Warm Home Cool Planet received a message from Lands’ End specifically targeting everyone shivering their way through winter here in Massachusetts.
You know it’s cold when folks from Wisconsin are sending you winter sympathy messages via email. Beyond how cold it might be outside, the recent patch of artic weather here in Cambridge has resulted in lots of time spent inside for most residents. For Warm Home Cool Planet, that also means plenty of time to ponder why the ground floor of the house is always colder than the floors above.
A quick search around the Internet revealed a wealth of information on how most houses–particularly those built before the 1970s–don’t have properly insulated crawlspaces.
So if your bottom floor feels like a skating rink, find out why crawl space vapor is reducing your comfort–and increasing your heating bills. We also recommend looking at your all your options for properly sealing and insulating your crawlspace. Depending on the situation under your house, you need to check your polyethylene sheet has the right thickness, and you have the right kind of membrane to deal with moisture build up under your flooring.