Energy 2.0 » Audits

Meet the Interns, pt. 1: Ilona and Ben

Dean Fogarasi — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:13:25 +0000

This is the first installment in a series of featurettes on our current interns’ summer projects.

Ilona Shmulevich in action!

At CEA, our overarching aim is to spread better energy efficiency to buildings in the city of Cambridge. We target this goal with what can effectively be described in four steps: First, we encourage residents to sign up for a free energy audit through MassSave. Second, an auditor visit is scheduled and carried out wherein they perform a full assessment of a building’s energy usage, providing a list of recommended improvements. Third, the residents learn about available rebates and decide what improvements they are willing to invest in. Finally, a MassSave or independently-appointed contractor comes and does all the installations, leaving the residents with increased building performance… [view entry]

Ultimate Greening Your Home Seminar

JesseGorden — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:27:28 +0000

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… [view entry]

Commonwealth Challenge’s Campaign running until Earth Day

clothilde — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:12:28 +0000

Retrofit Revolutionaries! by Peter Papesch, AIA

The Commonwealth Challenge is a campaign to collectively save 100,000 kWh of electricity by Earth Day, April 22. Free air sealing for basements or attics is one of the benefits of participating in this campaign to retrofit homes and address poverty and climate change throughout Massachusetts. The campaign has a goal for residents of all income levels to cut their electrical usage by 5 percent, while saving money, reducing pollution, and creating good local jobs.

The participants can:

Sign up for a free home energy screening Retrofit their home at a group discount (20 partnered organizations across the state are giving discounted and free home insulation services to all participants) Track and compare their energy use with neighbors, see also

… [view entry]

Boulder finds out it’s not easy being green.

Anthony Butler — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:58:28 +0000

From last week’s Wall Street Journal comes news that despite the best of intentions from the local government and residents of Boulder, CO significant energy savings are yet to be realized.

Beyond the usual justifications on the whys and why-nots of any local initiative, the really interesting thing is that energy audits have not been terrifically successful in getting people to move forward on retrofits, despite understanding exactly where savings can be realized.

The obstacles include people being reluctant to change their habits and not practicing what they preach, nor following through on small changes in energy efficiency and behaviors.

The answer? ”Two Techs in a Truck”

As many as 15 energy-efficiency teams go door-to-door throughout Boulder, CO. They’ll ask home and business owners for permission to caulk windows,… [view entry]

First in Music. First in Energy Audits.

Anthony Butler — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:15:54 +0000

Austin, Texas–which we have always considered to be a little slice of Massachusetts right in the middle of the Lone Star state–has become the first town to pass and ratify a law that makes an energy audit mandatory when you sell a home within the city limits.

Almost 400 audits have been performed under the new ordinance which was passed in November 2008 and went into effect June 1 this year. After a furious lobbying effort by the Austin Board of Realtors, homeowners are not required to make all improvements, but the results will likely be used as a bargaining chip in most purchases.

One homeowner found that over 80% of his air-conditioning was leaking through his uninsulated attic and decided to make the repair to improve the prospects… [view entry]

Compulsory Energy Audits on the Way?

Anthony Butler — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:36:31 +0000

In the last week of February, the Ontario legislature presented the Green Energy Act. The Act includes renewable energy development plans that could generate as many as 50,000 jobs for the Canadian province. Amongst the other parts of the bill is a provision that makes it mandatory homes for sale in Ontario have an energy rating attached to it.

This rating will be generated by a home inspection using standardized evaluation criteria yet to be finalized. The controversy is around what a negative rating might do to home prices throughout Ontario.

The appliances we put in our house all have energy ratings and we certainly pay attention to these when we make consumer choices. Could a ratings for the whole house be far behind? An informal survey of local real estate agents… [view entry]

Boston Globe reporter gets audited

Anthony Butler — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:16:13 +0000

No, our local paper is not in trouble with the taxman (that’s just President Obama’s cabinet picks) but Geoff Edgers from the Boston Globe decided that his heating bills were getting out of control. So he called up his energy provider-National Grid-who sent over a Conservation Services Group auditor to perform a thorough check up on his 100 year old home. Among the pleasant suprises-free CFL light globes to replace his incandescant bulbs. Watch the video below to see what else Geoff learned while making his home more energy efficient. If you’re a Cambridge resident, you can sign up now for your own FREE home energy audit.

Dreaming of solar panels? Not so fast.

Anthony Butler — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:25:54 +0000

So you’re caught up in the moment, dreaming about solar panels, a wind turbine on your roof, selling energy back to the power company rather than paying a monthly utility bill. But if we are, as President Obama suggested, to put aside childish things and enter a new era of responsibility, we must do first things first.

That means having taking a whole house approach to our energy conservation efforts. it doesn’t make sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars generating electricity you’re throwing away through inefficiency. In the end, it doesn’t matter if you generate energy or simply consume it, what really matters is your net energy footprint.

People sometimes fixate on a single facet of a problem with the best intentions. Dieters pack on the pounds while virtuously… [view entry]