This week, the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) launched an ambitious community outreach and education program to help Cambridge residents save money and reduce their carbon footprint. Eight dedicated climate heroes arrived in Cambridge Massachusetts after completing a 90 mile bike ride that began in Deerfield, MA. Cambridge is the riders’ the first stop on the Massachusetts Climate Summer tour to raise awareness about climate change by biking from community to community. CEA is partnering with Massachusetts Power Shift on this exciting initiative. According to Lilah Glick, the Community Outreach Manager for CEA, “This grassroots community program is an important tool for educating the public on ways they can take easy steps to become climate leaders and at the same time improve the value and comfort of their homes.”
Over the next month, the climate heroes will bike throughout Cambridge, MA, speaking one-on-one with up to 3,000 residents about energy efficiency programs and services. Climate Summer rider Emily Schweitzer from Northampton, MA has joined the program to advocate for climate change solutions. “Climate change is a real and serious problem, it’s crucial that we become more environmentally aware to secure our future,” said Ms. Schweitzer. The Climate Summer riders will visit Cambridge neighborhoods from the 17th of June to the 7th of July, offering a unique chance for residents to connect to energy efficiency information and resources.
During the door-to-door visits, residents will also learn about CEA’s services and programs. CEA helps Cambridge residents access free and low-cost home energy audits, where an energy professional investigates opportunities to save energy for homeowners, landlords, and tenants. The Cambridge Energy Alliance also assists residents with financing options along with federal, state, and local incentives that are available for efficiency projects. Since last fall, over 400 Cambridge residents have received home energy audits.
Deborah Donovan, CEA’s Executive Director, views the Massachusetts Climate Summer tour as an incredible opportunity to help Cambridge residents through one-stop customer service. “As an added bonus,” said Ms. Donovan, “when residents make energy improvements, it fuels the local economy, stimulates green jobs, and helps our community become less reliant on polluting fossil fuels.”
The CEA-sponsored door-to-door visits will have an immediate impact. Residents visited by the riders will receive a free energy efficient light bulb in exchange for an incandescent bulb from their home. The 5,000 light bulbs were donated by TCP, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio. The light bulb swap will reduce carbon emissions by over 2.5 million pounds over the lives of the bulbs.
Volunteers are spreading the word about efficiency door to door.
Swap ‘N Go
Many residents of Peabody Terrace did something unusual as they prepared to leave their apartment on the morning of March 6, 2010 – they unscrewed their incandescent light bulbs.
Sound like an odd thing to do? Not for participants in Peabody Terrace’s first Bulb Swap. An incandescent bulb was their ticket to a better planet and free prizes. Residents received one free compact fluorescent light (CFL) for every incandescent bulb they turned in. During the swap, residents also learned about other ways to reduce their home carbon emissions and could sign up for a two-month long competition to see who can reduce the most. Winners are eligible for several enticing prizes including Smart Strips, credit at Zip Car, gift certificates from the Clear Conscience Café, and gift cards donated by Shaw’s and Harvest Co-op Market.
Maximizing Partnerships
The concept of this event arose through discussions between HRES’ sustainability team and two local grassroots organizations: the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA). A planning team consisting of personnel from HRES and the two community groups coordinated the event in a little under a month’s time. HEET recruited volunteers for the swap, and both HEET and CEA obtained prizes from local businesses. HRES managed event promotion and purchased bulbs to supplement those donated by CEA.
Site-Specific Strategy
Peabody Terrace, an HRES property comprising 495 units, is unique because residents provide their own room lighting fixtures, and electricity data is available for individual units. This offered a rare opportunity to implement an occupant engagement project with quantifiable results. The planning team adapted the HEET model for neighborhood energy efficiency events to fit the unique parameters of an apartment complex. Posters, emails, and door tags were distributed to promote the event. On the big day, participants could go to any of four stations around the complex to exchange bulbs and learn energy tips. Volunteers at each station offered to demonstrate how to change computer power settings, how to use a Kill-a-Watt meter, and how to use a power strip as a central shut off for multiple devices. Competition results will be monitored for two months, with a mid-way progress report to residents by email.
Preliminary Results
By the end of the swap, 84 apartments had registered for the competition and over 200 efficient CFLs found new homes. “We were surprised at how many 100 Watt bulbs were turned in,” said Audrey Schulman, HEET President. “Going from a 100 Watt incandescent to a 13 Watt CFL makes the carbon reduction even better than we’d hoped.” The new light bulbs could avoid up to 5.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE) each year. Justin Stratman, Assistant Director of Property Operations at HRES, is also hopeful. “If the results are good, we could see doing this kind of event at some of our other properties,” he said. HRES already provides one CFL in a welcome bag for new residents each year, but a concerted effort to engage occupants through a swap paired with a competition might unlock even more greenhouse gas reductions.
The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) has added a new staff member to help residents and businesses connect to energy efficiency and renewable energy services. The Energy Advisor position is a new addition to CEA and is a unique service not offered by most community-based efficiency organizations. Thanks to funding assistance from NSTAR, the Energy Advisor will enhance CEA’s ability to serve Cambridge customers’ energy efficiency needs. CEA is pleased to announce the hiring of Garrett Anderson, who will provide expert advice on programs, services, and products available to Cambridge residents and businesses, including: energy audit programs, project financing, utility incentives and rebates, contracting services, and other support services.
Garrett Anderson comes to CEA with five years experience in home building and administering energy efficient construction projects. Prior to joining CEA, Garrett worked as a contract administrator for Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) where he led several energy savings capital projects in CHA developments. Previously, Garrett built energy efficient low-income homes for Habitat for Humanity as an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Denver, Colorado.
In addition to his experience in the housing sector, Garrett has worked on political databases and provided support to campaigns across the country during the 2008 presidential election. Garrett earned his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and his B.A. from Columbia University. Mr. Anderson has lived in Cambridge for over five years and comes to CEA with a wealth of knowledge and capability to serve Cambridge residents and businesses.
