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… [view entry]

My team leader, Torrey Wolff, was very patient with us.

On Saturday we went to our second weatherization barnraising, organized by HEET and the Cambridge Energy Alliance. Last time I learned to install programmable thermostats and Jason caulked windows at two apartment buildings. This time I installed Q-lon weatherstripping around doors and Jason insulated skylights at a daycare center. The end result? The blower door test showed a 50% reduction in leaks—the most HEET has ever measured.
Q-lon is foam weatherstripping in the shape of a V attached to a wooden or metal slat. The V expands to fill any open space between the doorjamb and the door—a lot like the V-channel weatherstripping that we use for our windows. When I found out… [view entry]

Audit team members prepare for conducting home energy audits.

Cambridge residents looking to save on utility bills for electricity and heating can request a free audit this summer from the Youth Energy Audit Partners, a collaborative project of HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team) and the Cambridge Community Center. Three audit teams will install energy and water-saving devices, calculate the dollar savings from these devices, and advise homeowners and tenants on the costs and benefits of additional energy efficiency work and how to obtain rebates and contractors. On average, households can realize a 10%-15% savings on electric and heating bills, or an estimated $200 a year by implementing simple measures.

Each team is led by a trained supervisor, and two high school students employed by the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program. The project… [view entry]

On March 6th, 84 residents at Peabody Terrace participated in an incandescent light bulb swap for compact fluorescent bulbs. Residents received one free CFL for every incandescent bulb they turned in—over 200 efficient CFLs found homes. The CFLs were provided by the Cambridge Energy Alliance and Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES). HEET, CEA, and HRES organized the promotion and logistics of this successful competition.

During the swap, residents learned about other ways to cut their carbon emissions—seasonable tips also available—and many signed up for a two-month long competition to see who can reduce them the most.

The results are in!

Apartments reduced their electricity use by an average of 11%
The top six winners reduced their electricity use by 30%
And the first place prize winner reduced electricity

… [view entry]

New Generation Energy (NGE) is a Boston-based nonprofit that operates in six states of New England, and supports energy efficiency and all types of renewable energy including solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal. Their goal is to make communities greener, healthier, and more economically vital through the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

NGE announced the launch of a microdonation website to support local green energy projects and lower carbon emissions of nonprofits. A unique feature of this new website is that donors can pre-select donation amounts that save a specific amount of carbon. For example a donation amount can be selected that eliminates one ton of CO2.

Similar to popular microlending sites such as Kiva.org, NGE’s microdonation website allows people… [view entry]

The Cambridge Community Center received a major energy efficiency upgrade on Sunday, June 28th Sunday, when community members and experts gathered to reduce the building’s energy consumption. The community “barn-raising” project was a combined effort of the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) that aimed to improve the comfort and efficiency of the Cambridge Community Center while teaching volunteers energy efficiency and conservation skills.

Councilor Henrietta Davis, CCC member Yvonee Gittens, and HEET leader Audrey Schulman

The project drew approximately 60 community volunteers, primarily from the Riverside neighborhood in Cambridge. A team of eight volunteers from Mass Climate Summer also joined the neighborhood effort as part of their broader campaign to educate residents on efficiency solutions in partnership… [view entry]

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… [view entry]

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… [view entry]