Transcript presentation

Saving our cities and our planet
Constructing a low-income energy usage
reduction program
Ben Weisman, Class of 2011
Where?
Isles, Inc.
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Trenton, NJ-based nonprofit community
development and environmental organization
“Fostering Self-Reliance”
ENVIRON
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Princeton-based international environmental
consulting firm
Foundation supports environmental projects
Low-Income Energy Usage
Energy Consumption
(1,000 BTU)
per square feet
60
55.9
52.5
53.9
53.6
50
50.4
44.9
43.4
41.8
40.1
75-100
>100
40
30
20
10
0
<10
10-15
15-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
50-75
Household Income ($1,000)
Low-Income Energy Usage:
Space Heating
40
Energy Consumption
(1,000 BTU)
per square feet
34.3
31.3
31.3
31.9
30
29.5
24.9
22.7
21.8
50-75
75-100
20
19.5
10
0
<10
10-15
15-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
Household Income ($1,000)
>100
Low-Income Energy Usage:
Cost Savings
Household Income
Energy Cost per
Household
Cost Saving if Efficiency
Same as Household
Income
> $100K
< $10 K
$10 K - $15 K
$15 K - $20 K
$1,039
$1,124
$1,290
$268 (26%)
$252 (22%)
$299 (23%)
Why?
Low-income homes are often not
insulated, have leaky windows and
doors, and use out of date appliances,
among other problems
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Existing Programs
NJ Comfort Partners
NJ Weatherization Assistance Program
No coordination between the two
Many conditions make houses
unserviceable
Too few homes are comprehensively
served, especially in urban areas
HEAT Project:
Home Energy Action in Trenton
Isles decided to research its
opportunities in this field, choosing to
audit 5 homes and determine what could
be done to help them
Over the summer, I researched for Isles,
helping to find the best possible route
for its own program
168 Brunswick Ave, Trenton
Problem
Basement must be air sealed;
weather strips must be installed on
doors
Air seal holes in attic ceiling
Insulate attic floors
Qualify for
CP?
Yes
Qualify for
WAP?
Yes
Install blank et insulation on basement
walls
Replace boile r with 85% condensing
boiler
Install programmable thermostat
Yes
Replace incandescent light bulbs with
CFLs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Estimated
Savings
195 therms
$257.40
81 therms
$106.92
133 therms
$176.34
479 therms
$631.22
37 therms
$49.23
What should Isles do?
There are many areas where Isles could
potentially fit in, whether in a not-forprofit or for-profit role
Based on what I have learned, becoming
a county/local agency for the
Weatherization Assistance Program seems
to be the best option
This Semester
I am continuing to work with Isles this semester,
both as a student in the EPICS course it is
sponsoring and in my intern role
We will be observing and helping the homes already
audited apply for both state programs
I will also help them continue to explore
opportunities enabling them to serve Trenton
I have begun writing a paper that will document our
research in addition to hopefully describing a model
Usage Reduction Program