Three studies commissioned by the High Meadows Fund concluded that if Vermonters were to retrofit their homes, they have the potential of saving $800 to $1,100 a year on their energy bills.
The studies from three Vermont nonprofit groups were released last week at the home of Marc and Tina Companion in South Burlington. The Companions recently invested $12,000 into making their house more energy efficient by retrofitting their home's air sealing, insulation and windows. They expect their energy bills to decrease 30 percent to 50 percent.
The Companions live in a modest 1,800 square foot home with three bedrooms and one bath built in the mid-1950s. The home is heated by a small heater in the basement that produces about 40,000 BTUs.
“Anecdotally, it definitely feels cooler in the summer and we can turn off the heater during the winter and only lose a few degrees over 3 to 4 hours,” said Marc Companion. “I knew we had to be more efficient, and saving money is how I convinced Tina to let me tear up the house.”
The reports from Efficiency Vermont, the Regulatory Assistance Project and Vermont Law School show that Vermonters can leverage relatively small investments in energy efficiency for big long-term savings.
A typical home energy efficiency upgrade costs about $7,000. Payback through annual energy savings can be between 7-10 years.
In 2008, Vermont legislation passed the Vermont Energy Efficiency and Affordability Act to improve the energy efficiency of 25 percent of Vermont homes by 2020. The state is projected to fall short of the 80,000 household goal by between 23,000 and 31,000 homes, according to the Vermont Law School's Institute for Energy and Environment.
Gaye Symington, executive director of the High Meadows Fund, said financing can be structured so that the cost of efficiency retrofitting is manageable for households, particularly if homeowners are already obtaining financing for new renovations.
“You want to have the process of the financing to be straightforward and less cumbersome,” Symington said.
The biggest obstacle to making the investment in energy efficiency, however, isn't money – it's time. Many homeowners can't deal with the hassle of hiring several different contractors to provide the specialized services needed for a full retrofit, such as blowing in insulation, tightening up drafty windows and doors and filling cracks in attics.
“When we began this work, we expected homeowners' biggest barrier would be finding the money to pay the up-front costs of energy efficiency improvements,” Executive Director of High Meadows Gaye Symington said. “Instead, we found the biggest barriers are the lack of understanding about the benefits and the multiple steps that trip people up before they get it done.”
One of the studies produced by the Regulatory Assistance Project, an international nonprofit that works on energy and environmental issues, suggested a “one-stop shopping” approach to implement energy upgrades. The Project suggests it's more effective to combine an energy use assessment with the work of certified contractors and access to long-term financing. The objective is to enable Vermonters to shift from living in drafty homes with high heating costs and high carbon dioxide emissions, to more comfortable homes with low-heating costs, long-term savings and fewer emissions.
According to Peter Adamczyk, finance and development manager with Efficiency Vermont, the most effective projects are usually the most invisible. Adamczyk said that efficiency assessments focus on how much air is leaking in and out of different parts of a house. Using the air flow through homes as a guideline, contractors can find and seal the drafty areas of a home.
“Vermonters want to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and they don't want to spend a fortune or jump through hoops to achieve that,” Symington said.
Symington would also like to see energy efficient improvements to residential rental property.
“The renter is in a bind because they don't own the building,” Symington said. “Landlords don't want to pay for it either because they don't usually pay the heating bill.”
The reports gave additional recommendations, which included:
• Energy efficiency standards should be part of home resale. For example, a home's energy profile could be disclosed when it is sold, much like the miles-per-gallon sticker on cars.
• Financing should be available to more Vermonters, including renters, with simple, quick loan applications that have attractive terms and conditions.
• Outreach efforts need to be consistent and coordinated among various partners, including community organizations, private businesses and Efficiency Vermont.
The Vermont Law School's study concludes that energy efficiency improvements will improve the quality of life and comfort for Vermont residents.
“Fortunately, the tools exist to make this happen and this is an opportune time to confront this issue,” is written in the report. “Now we must marshal the political will to implement these tools and, thereby, improve the lives and well being of all Vermonters.”