HECK, Let’s Retrofit Some Homes

Volunteer receives weatherization materials.

For the last two autumns, students from the University of Buffalo, Daemen College, and Nichols School stood side-by-side with union workers and community members to caulk, seal and insulate homes in Buffalo, New York. The all-volunteer energy efficiency crews are part of a project started by Frank Hotchkiss, chairman of the Western New York Apollo Alliance and New York State Apollo steering committee member.

Now Hotchkiss is gearing up for year three.

In 2006, Hotchkiss was searching for a way to improve delivery of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in New York State. The first obstacle he encountered was bureaucracy – a homeowner needs an energy audit to qualify for WAP services. At the time the project started, there was a two-year waiting period for audits.

Fortunately, Hotchkiss happened to know someone with New Buffalo Impact, a non-profit Community Action Agency that performs weatherization through WAP. When the two discussed how to help those who couldn’t access services due to energy audit backlogs, they came up with a baseline weatherization checklist and home energy conservation kit that included the necessary materials for homeowners to make basic improvements themselves. And thus, the Home Energy Conservation Kit (HECK) project was born.

To implement his idea, Hotchkiss, a staff representative with District 4 of the United Steel Workers, recruited members from Carpenters Union Local 249 and the International Painters Union to lead teams of volunteers to weatherize low-income homes. He then looked to Westside Neighborhood Services to find homeowners who would benefit more than most from lower energy bills. For funding in the first year, he received a grant from City Councilman Nick Bonafacio. In the second year, in addition to the grant from Bonafacio, Hotchkiss received a grant came from state Senator Antoine Thompson, bringing the program’s total annual budget to $16,000. Since the project has no paid staff or overhead, all the money goes directly to materials and food for volunteers.

A HECK kit costs less than $75 per home and includes: an insulation blanket for hot water heaters; hot water pipe insulation; foam inserts for electrical outlets in exterior walls; weather stripping for doors and windows; door sweeps for the underside of doors; aluminum foil tape for heating duct joints; and caulking to seal holes in the basement and line pipes and wires that go to heated spaces and exterior windows seams.

Volunteers attend an eight-hour training session where they learn how to apply the materials and get important safety tips. Teams of three volunteers – composed of a union tradesperson, a student or community member, and a community educator – spend about an hour in each home.

The volunteers test for problems going into the home and, after they have performed the work, as they leave – what they call “test in, test out.” The team inspects the house for major problems such as missing windows or a furnace that doesn’t work properly. Next they check the furnace filter and replace it if it’s not clean. They then check the thermostat on hot water tanks to make sure the temperature is neither too high nor too low. They also educate the homeowner on how to be energy efficient and save money through state programs. And, of course, they caulk, seal, and weather strip.

During the falls of 2007 and 2008, between 50 and 60 volunteers participated in the project. A total of 83 homes were weatherized in a windy, lakeside neighborhood that is one of Buffalo’s poorest communities. Hotchkiss is still compiling the 2008 data, but in 2007 the weatherized homes used 15-20 percent less gas than in previous years. That’s a lot in a place like Buffalo. Approximately half of the homeowners took advantage of other efficiency programs that New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers. And weatherization improves living conditions and comfort in the home. In one of the first homes volunteers visited, a carpenter went to put weather stripping on the window, but the glass was gone. The program wasn’t prepared to replace windows, so he sealed it with heavy gauge plastic and called a community group that has a home repair service to replace the missing glass. Teams also came across a cracked heat exchanger that vented gases into the home and alerted the local gas company.

HECK is not a full-blown weatherization program – it is a volunteer-based initiative that helps people get over the bad months and keeps people in their homes during the winter, which in turn stabilizes the neighborhood. The ultimate goal is to turn the project over to a neighborhood group that can turn it into a business.

The volunteer program accomplishes a lot with extremely limited resources for a grateful community, but retrofitting and weatherization are about to become an important part of the nationwide move to become more energy efficient.

If the stimulus bill is properly implemented, large-scale, comprehensive weatherization programs will explode. In New York State, the budget for WAP is going to increase from $20 million to approximately $500 million. New York’s share of WAP funds will be administered by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), who will then distribute the majority of funds to local community action agencies and other groups. Many community weatherization programs require a certified energy audit before granting any retrofitting funds, and as of January 1, 2010, the DHCR will require energy audits as well. So a skilled, trained workforce – which the state currently lacks – is crucial.

The Workforce Development Institute (WDI), convener of the New York State Apollo Alliance, is working to make sure that New York has a well-trained workforce that can meet the demands of the new and expanded WAP. The WDI is working with NYSERDA and community colleges to offer a 36-hour building analyst course approved by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) that teaches students to identify how structures can be made more energy efficient. Sixteen students were trained in the spring as auditors, 10 of them in the Adirondacks and six in the Buffalo area.

The expanded offering for building analyst training is still in its infancy. The WDI is working with NYSERDA on a modified agreement that will allow it to train at multiple locations throughout New York with a primary focus on the building trades. The goal is to offer it first to individuals who are unemployed, and then to others to meet the growing demand. The WDI also is partnering with the New York State Green Building Council to offer Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) training at union halls for members of the building trades, which include electricians, roofers, plumbers and more.

“It’s easy to say that the mechanism to spend the money on weatherization is not in place,” said Hotchkiss. “But the steps are defined – we just need the political will to get there.”

Hotchkiss and the New York State Apollo Alliance are doing everything they can to build the political will to ensure proper implementation of the Weatherization Assistance Program.