The city of Greensboro will hold two public meetings to gather public input on how to bring the BetterBuildings energy efficiency program to homes and businesses across the city. The first is scheduled for Monday, June 27 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Eastern Division police substation, located at 1106 Maple St. The second is scheduled for Tuesday, June 28 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Trotter Recreation Center in Hester Park, located at 3906 Betula St.
Council and staff wrangled over implementation of the grant for months, leading to concerns that the $5 million grant from the federal government would get left on the table instead of being spent to retrofit people's homes and help them save money on their energy bills. Earlier this month, council gave final approval of the grant program.
For information about the program from the city, click here. To read a YES! Weekly story about the politics surrounding the program, click here.
2 comments:
Jordan,
I have been told that this grant will not be used for any infrastructure/weatherization but instead on wasteful crap like sending out interns for make work jobs..( like in WPA=We Poke Along ) For instance doing " Energy Audits " and , duh, finding homes with the windows open while the AC is running, See below article from the N&R:
News & Record
Date: September 12, 2010 Page B1
Stimulus funds support energy audits
AMANDA LEHMERT
GREENSBORO - While LaDonna Alston plugged a new programmable thermostat into the wall, Travon Garrett donned a blue jumpsuit and headed into a crawl space on Charles Harshaw Drive.
By the end of the day, the two-person crew from Enpulse Energy Conservation had provided homeowner Andrea Bullard with ways to cut her energy costs.
The energy audit was one of 50 that will be performed by the company using 2009 federal stimulus money.
The stimulus bill, signed by President Barack Obama in February 2009, has brought $38.4 million into the Greensboro area.
For the $23.2 million that went directly to the city, the equivalent of about 45 1/2 full-time jobs have been created so far, according to the city of Greensboro.
That includes the three new full-time employees that Enpulse hired for its energy -efficiency project.
The $104,000 project began earlier this summer. The goal has been to show homeowners and renters how to save money and energy by changing their habits.
The crews have found things such as air conditioners running while the windows are open.
"The good thing about behavior is it doesn't cost anything to change," said Derrick Giles, president and senior energy manager of Enpulse. "Every house we leave, we hope to leave them something to think about."
The crews install programmable thermostats and up to 20 compact fluorescent light bulbs - two easy, inexpensive and proven ways to lower utility bills.
The crews also check the condition of the homes and appliances, looking for defects or areas for improvement.
In one home, Giles said, crews found that the heating and air-conditioning system was in such poor shape that the homeowner was paying more than $600 a month in utility bills.
To qualify for the program, homeowners or renters had to earn below the median household income for Greensboro.
The program targets low- income communities, where research shows households spend a higher percentage of income on utilities.
It's those communities that may be the last to learn about the positive effect of energy efficiency and sustainability, Giles said.
"In the big picture, we want to create more of a cultural awareness," Giles said.
After the last homes are audited, which could happen in the next few weeks, Enpulse will continue to track residents' progress by reviewing their energy bills.
"The post- audits are where we are going to find the most information," said Michael Blair, grant planner for the city of Greensboro.
"We are going to get real data back in what kind of cost savings and real house savings we get."
That information will be provided to Carnegie Mellon University and N.C. A&T for research.
The energy audit program will be the first of many like it because the city was awarded a $5 million Department of Energy grant to support similar efforts.
Job training and other activities funded with that money will start later this year.
Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert @news-record.com
That's not correct Fred. See the Statement of Project Objectives, which outlines program revisions that were eventually adopted by council earlier this month.
Some low- to moderate-income households will receive direct grants of up to $2,000 for basic energy upgrades. A loan loss reserve pool will be established to insure low-interest loans. Larger commercial projects would require higher levels of private investment to offset lesser leveraging requirements for low- and moderate-income residents.
Yes, I'm sure that some money will be used for outreach. You can't deliver a program like this without having people with credibility at the community level go out and talk to residents and business owners about it.
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