Stimulus and Weatherization

Every one's talking about the high price tag of the economic stimulus package, but if used properly and if we take advantage of the personal tax credits for energy projects, we can benefit on a personal level by pocketing the savings and, more importantly, live more comfortably. Investments in "energy savings" have been termed 'pre-payments' because the savings continue long after the initial payback.

Because so much of US housing stock predates efficiency standards, there's an abundance of opportunity to reduce consumption and have a major economic effect of freeing up income for better uses.

The GOOD/blog offered this of the economic stimulus bill --

“The most important high tech tool of the new green economy,” Van Jones likes to say, often pausing for dramatic effect, “is the caulk gun.”

Although this is an oversimplification, it's not the sexy blades of wind turbines turning in the wind on the horizon that are the beginning of energy independence, but the caulking gun and weatherstripping and insulation, the grunt work of weatherization.

For residents, the program’s benefits are clear—the typical house that’s taken advantage of this publicly-funded weatherization service sees a 32 percent drop in gas or oil heating energy consumption, a savings to the tune of about $350 every year. For the low-income American families that spend about 16 percent of their income on energy costs (the national average is 5 percent), this is a significant chunk of change.

The public benefit is tougher to figure, but it’s real. Weatherization creates good jobs locally and keeps dollars in the community, it lowers the overall cost of heating fuels by lowering demand, and it cuts carbon emissions and reduces our dependence on oil. The DOE has run some calculations (pdf)—ones that I won’t pretend to fully understand—that plainly state that for every $1 invested in the program, weatherization returns $2.60 in energy and non-energy related benefits.

Where could we achieve a better return on investment of tax dollars?
Tax cuts produce a return of less than $1 for every dollar spent.

Last year, the Weatherization Assistance Program served about 140,000 homes with a budget of $250 million. The problem is, the DOE estimates that there are nearly 34 million homes eligible for weatherization funds. So at the current rate, it’d take roughly 243 years to reach every house that could use a better seal. With the passing of the stimulus bill, however, the program gets a $5 billion shot in the arm, with the aim of achieving President Obama’s stated goal of weatherizing one million homes every year.

Answering criticisms from the right that these funds were nothing more than pork-barrel spending, Obama bluntly rebutted: “We’re going to weatherize homes. That immediately puts people back to work. And we’re going to train people who are out of work, including young people, to do the weatherization. As a consequence of weatherization, our energy bills go down and we reduce our dependence on foreign oil. What would be a more effective stimulus package than that? I mean, you’re getting a three-fer. Not only are you immediately putting people back to work but you’re also saving families on your energy bills and you’re laying the groundwork for long-term energy independence. That’s exactly the kind of program that we should be funding.”

The Washington Post offered these energy saving tips --

...green building experts urge you to start with the low-hanging fruit and your "building envelope," or all the surfaces exposed to the outside. First, get an energy audit of your house from an energy specialist. (For more on this, go to Home Improvement at the Energy Star Web site, http://www.energystar.gov.) Some things can be done by handy homeowners, but many require professionals.

Every hole in the wall, including those for light switches, outlets and ceiling light fixtures, is an opportunity for air to get in and out. As much as 25 percent of your heating and cooling energy can be lost through these often tiny, pinhole-size leaks.

"In 99 of 100 houses in the U.S. on a cold, windy day, you can put your hand in front of a light switch or outlet and feel cold air coming in," said Ron Jones, editorial director of Green Builder magazine and a life member of the National Association of Home Builders board of directors.

Air leaks in the walls can be plugged with caulk or an expansive foam sealant, Johnston said. The cold air streaming in around the doors and windows can be eliminated with a combination of caulk and weatherstripping. This is one cure that most homeowners can do themselves.

The duct system used with forced-air furnaces and central air conditioning can also have leaks. These can account for as much as 25 percent of total household energy consumption. In older houses, the ducts can be sealed from the inside, using special equipment that sprays a liquid resembling latex paint, Johnston said.

The next item on your home energy checklist should be the energy lost or gained through your walls. Start in your attic; the greatest amount of heat can be lost there because hot air rises, Johnston said. Adding insulation here will make a huge difference during the summer as well as the winter. When the sun beats down on your roof in the hot season, the attic can get up to 140 degrees.

If your attic has ducts running through the roof truss rafters, they should be insulated as well. If it gets hot where you live, you can also benefit from adding a radiant barrier -- essentially a sheet of mylar -- to the underside of your roof rafters or the top chord of your roof trusses. This will also reduce the amount of heat passing through your roof to the attic space below.

The next stop is your basement or crawl space, Johnston said. A common complaint from owners of older houses is cold feet in winter because the underside of the floor in the main living areas is not insulated. The cure: insulation. If you regularly use your basement as a rec room or a home office, you should also insulate the walls and floor, Johnston said.

The last place to check for thermal heat loss is your walls. In the likely event you need more insulation, the solution is blown-in cellulose, made from recycled newspapers. As with the duct sealing, you will need to engage a professional with special equipment to do this.

Once you've plugged the air leaks and added insulation, your house may be so airtight that you need to bring in fresh air mechanically. The simplest solution is a small vent with a flap coupled with a continuously running exhaust fan in a bathroom to pull the air through the house and expel it. If this is inadequate, you may need an air exchanger, a device that pulls in fresh air while it exhausts stale air. In cold climates, a more sophisticated heat exchanger extracts the heat before exhausting stale air and transfers it to the incoming air.

Deseret News offered --

No furnace required: Energy-efficient passive houses' gaining steam

In his first weekly address, the president said his economic recovery plan would save the average working family $350 a year on its energy bills by "weatherizing" 2.5 million homes. Experts say the days of relying on a furnace in winter could soon be over.

"I would predict that many of our homes in five to 10 years will start to achieve performance levels of passive house design," said Ren Anderson, manager of residential research at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

But reaching that level is demanding. Technically, Blunk's house, which uses a water heater as a backup heat source, does not meet the strict German definition of a passive house, which is to use no more than the equivalent energy of running a hair dryer.

Passive houses have exploded in popularity in Germany, in large part because the country has increased taxes on gasoline, heating oils and natural gas.



Tony Lawrence posted this on OakPointCommunity.org --

Recently, we taped up bubble wrap on our large slider doors and the windows at the back of the house (see picture). That still lets light in, but blocks quite a bit of heat loss. You can buy boxes of bubble wrap in rolls at the UPS Store and most other shipping outlets.


He got the idea here --

Bubble Wrap Window Insulation which is part of this site -- BuildItSolar. There are some practical and inexpensive ideas on the site if you take a few minutes to wander.

There are some great ideas out there if we look for them. And there's no better time than now.