Iowa Global Warming » weatherization

This Green Home – Day of Service edition

Andrew — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:17:09 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Call to serve spurs major response

Andrew — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:00:33 +0000

Blanche Formaro, 79, has lived in her house on Southeast Dunham Avenue in Des Moines since 1952. The house has survived two floods and frigid winters, but Formaro said a lot of air comes in the front door.

Or at least it did before Monday.

Volunteers with Iowa Global Warming turned out Monday to help Formaro weatherize her home. They taped plastic on the windows, changed her light bulbs to energy-efficient ones and put weather stripping on her front door.

“I appreciate it a whole bunch,” said Formaro, who has six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Basic weatherization of a home can save up to 30 percent on the energy bill, said Andrew Snow, campaign manager with Iowa Global Warming.

With the present economic crisis, there couldn’t be a better time to cut down on energy bills, Snow said.

About 30 volunteers weatherized 18 area homes Monday.

“When you get groups working together, we can really make a difference in people’s lives,” Snow said.

Excerpt from a longer article. Read the full story here

Serving the Community (and Saving Energy, too!)

Andrew — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:17:29 +0000

Something very exciting is going on right now. As I write this, there are almost 40 volunteers out in the Des Moines area helping members of our community reduce their energy use. They’re participating in the ‘Iowa Winter Weatherization Challenge’, an effort organized by the Iowa Global Warming Campaign and our partner group Iowa Interfaith Power and Light; as well as community groups such as the Central Iowa Recovery Network and Wesley Meals on Wheels.

Volunteers are covering windows and doors with plastic, weatherstripping and caulk as well as insulating behind electrical outlets and replacing old light bulbs with energy-saving CFLs. These weatherization measures can save up to 30% on energy bills – at a time when the deepening recession is causing Americans to worry about their finances, this is a very cost effective way to provide relief.

Obviously, weatherizing eighteen area homes is a very small way to address our wasteful energy use. But it shows homeowners things they can do at home to save energy and help solve our energy needs, and perhaps more importantly it highlights these opportunities for our decision makers. Energy Efficiency is the best and cheapest way to meet our energy needs and reduce greenhouse gases, and we need our leaders to make sure that we’re achieving all possible savings.

We support the proposed state and national EE legislation that is moving forward right now, and are going to need your help to get strong measures passed. I’ll let you know more about that soon, so stay tuned… and, in the meanwhile, tune in to the evening news tonight. You might see a neighbor’s home, or a friend volunteering to help someone in your community!