What Are Energy Leaders Doing?
Look below to find actions leaders have taken in their community, actions they've taken in their homes, actions they are willing to take, and ideas they have for future action.
Actions leaders have taken in their communities:
- Begun discussing PACE legislation with county legislators to enact PACE legislation in Tompkins County
- Worked with state legislators to revise PACE legislation at state level to allow for municipal bonding to fund PACE loans
- Informed others about revising PACE legislation in NY legislature
- Contacted former colleagues on TC legislature
- Town leader motivated to include energy efficiency as key component of town’s comprehensive plan (Town of Ithaca)
- Seven towns and the City of Ithaca wrote proposals and received stimulus grant funds to hire energy management personnel and community energy efficiency educators
- 8 municipalities applied for $1.45 million of stimulus funding to perform energy audits, retrofit facilities, hire energy personnel, and install renewable energy; $1.27 million in projects were funded
- Town of Dryden energy efficiency financing program linked with TC Action programs to leverage home energy efficiency loan funds
- A landlord sparked interest among landlords at the landlord association to do energy efficiency work, arranged for a presentation on energy efficiency to discuss what landlords could do to address energy efficiency in their properties.
- 6 landlords participating in pilot program to retrofit rental properties
- Focus groups formed to discuss the barriers for low income populations to green collar jobs, and survey work with contractors implemented to identify upcoming job opportunities in energy efficiency.
- Preliminary focus groups and survey work led to grant funding to analyze green jobs pipeline and barriers for low-income populations getting green collar jobs
- Several leaders have distributed energy savings website to their employees and constituents Distributed CDs, other educational materials (we’ve sent about 50 copies of the deck of cards for leaders to share)
- 35 leaders attended a reception to discuss next steps to advance home energy efficiency retrofits in Tompkins County. The reception allowed people to learn about what others in the county are doing and connect people interested in similar projects (peer-to-peer communication).
- Leaders identified a long list of activities and actions they either plan on taking or would like to work with others on. Leaders also asked for regular updates on what’s happening (newsletter and e-mail list will be unveiled this summer)
Personal Actions by Leaders in their own homes:
- Sealed air leakage: caulking, weather stripping, tightened windows, changed backyard storm door and placed child safety caps on wall sockets, bought 3 new windows to install
- Researched more energy efficient appliances & conducted payback analysis for upfront investment to switch.
- Added insulation
- Claimed energy tax credits
- Changed lighting
- Emptied and unplugged a refrigerator; purchased a more energy efficient washer/dryer
- Purchased a new furnace and water heater and looking to replace the attic door. Replaced incandescent light bulbs with CFLs
- Addressed air leakage issues and problems with insulation on second floor
- Inspired to find more people to refer for this project
- BPI Contractor has reported getting calls from leaders who have been through our program
- Others are weighing options and planning improvements in 2010
Ways leaders are willing to help: (summary from the Energy Leader's Reception)
Community Outreach:
- Host a festival or outreach event to reach the public
- Show my home and discuss the benefits of converting from natural gas to geothermal
- Creating opportunities for educating 8,000 members of IC community
- Spreading the word in my Village through our different communications channels (website, list serv, Village meetings)
- Invite the energy corps to a Village board meeting
- Put links on our Village website to energy information and audits: CCE, NYSERDA, funding sources
- Speaking and writing about local energy efficiency efforts
- Mentioning importance of audits and energy retrofits in all talks, presentations, etc.
- Hosting "home energy efficiency parties" (similar to women's voices for the earth model)
- Get information to landlord's association. They need to know what to do for their buildings in our Village
Other
- Continuing to advocate for land use regulations (zoning) that would permit communities in Tompkins County to evolve into more compact energy efficient communities
- Growing an energy retrofit company
- Mentoring new people entering the field
- Referring an additional 4 people to the Energy Corps program
- Arrange for the TCSW department to come do their re-business program at work
- Lobbying Albany on behalf of the people of the Town of Dryden to make changes at the state level
- Investigate possibility of replicating Caroline CFL distribution in the Town of Dryden
- Talk with CCE about upgrading the energy path document
- Encourage the Dryden Sustainability Club to persevere with baseline data collection
- Promote energy saving programs for downtown businesses and owners
Resources needed:
- An energy efficiency festival or event would need knowledgeable volunteers and people to staff tables and activities. We can handle logistics. Marketing dollars for promotion would be helpful.
- Information about energy saving programs for businesses and owners. Do these programs exist today? Need informational materials targeted at commercial customers
- Time, money, additional staff. She has the communication channels, networks, and contacts for expert resources. Has many opportunities to reach out to campus community.
- More interest and support among my trustee colleagues. There is still some institutional resistance. They are all busy, as am I. I need strength in numbers to make my case.
- Need information on how much the new Int'l energy code actually will reduce energy use in new buildings. All munis must adopt new code, so is relevant to all munis.
- A big chunk of investment capital!
- Higher energy costs (helps payback)
- Homeowners with interest and resources to undertake zero energy projects
- Help from CCE tracking actual energy usage post retrofit
- TC3.biz: We'd like to work with your group and NESEA for our Green Home tour.
- Help writing grant applications (has upcoming opportunities for solar thermal grant)
- Money: we would do in Dryden the outreach program that Caroline did (lightbulbs, outreach, bags, etc.)
- People interested in tracking and competing (among municipalities?) for audit, weatherization, or work on homes
- CFL distribution: information about where Caroline got their money to buy CFLs, someone to write the grant for the project, and someone to organize making the bags
Leaders' ideas for future change: (summary from the Energy Leader's Reception)
Community Outreach
- Reach more people by expanding our web presence.
- Put information in unusual places (at SPCA, other places where people might be waiting around)
- Loan out Watt-O-Meters at public libraries. Check out the kill-a-watt loan program at TC3 at out sustainability link
- Put "I had my house audited" or "ask me about home energy efficiency" signs in front of houses
- Big posters to market cause. Come up with a catchy name.
- At community events wear nametags that say "ask me about home energy retrofits"
- Workplace education sessions we could bring to campus over a noon hour. Evening presentations are great in Ithaca, but many of our staff and faculty live out of county and out of the downtown area.
- Have a regular contribution to "signs of sustainability" in the Ithaca Journal on energy efficiency.
- Group blitzes of energy corps people doing a bunch of audits over 1 weekend. Advertise these services ahead of time.
- Education must speak to both the financial and environmental impacts. There is a critical need for before, during, after data (energy + $ savings)
Peer-to-Peer Communication
- Start a list serv to keep people updated and reinforce the message. Could structure similar to "insight of the day" e-mails
- Create facebook page for people interested in efficiency
- Track energy consumption of houses that have been audited
- Have an energy efficiency drinks night / event regularly
- Develop Tompkins County energy audit competition- compare # of homes or percentage of homes with audits. Could be run through CCE or TCCOG?
- Videotape an energy audit and improvement and interview homeowner. Then return 1 year later and do interviews with homeowners who had work done.
- Have Dryden / other towns and municipalities speak at other Town meetings to promote and encourage others to model their efforts
Commercial and Industrial
- Focus on commercial: retail, office, service would help generate more interest and push projects forward
- Get big commercial businesses into this. Halco.
Other
- Get green building into municipal comprehensive plans
- Help county planning department to advance PACE legislation in State assembly.
