Friday, April 8, 2011, Duluth, MN – Duluth spends $200 million a year on energy costs, with $80 million of that in the residential sector, primarily to heat homes. How can people add to their home’s comfort while saving substantially on their energy bills? People gathering at the Central Hillside Community Center for the Northeast Clean Energy Resource Teams (NE CERT) on April 7th learned about the Duluth Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP), a one-stop model to implement energy efficiency measures.
To see and learn more about the current opportunities, please view a recent WDIO TV segment by Renee Passal highlighting this meeting and the DEEP rebates:
DEEP is a comprehensive, citywide program that helps Duluth homeowners save money, conserve energy, and lessen their impact on the environment. It offers systematic and sensible steps for whole-house energy efficiency, including air sealing, insulation, heating, appliances, lighting, safety and more. In addition, DEEP connects residents to financial assistance available for home energy improvements.
“There are 36,000 households in Duluth, and around 50% of them were built before 1930,” says Dean Talbott, DEEP Program Manager. “This means there is substantial opportunities to improve energy efficiency and increase the comfort levels in these homes.”
“DEEP has leveraged a lot of resources and partnerships to create a really innovative program,” says Joel Haskard, Clean Energy Resource Teams Co-Director. “If households are financially eligible, they hook them up with the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency for weatherization. DEEP works with Minnesota Power so people can see fill out and see their Home Energy Report (see http://bit.ly/gtJePt). They connect them with federal, state and utility incentives , help schedule the energy audits, and schedule access to trained contractors. DEEP really makes energy efficiency easy.”
During the meeting, Mr. Talbott stressed that additional rebates were currently available for all income levels, up to $2150 for single family homes covering 25-35% of the contractor installed cost; add $500 per unit up to a maximum of $3,650 for a 4 unit property.
People at the meeting touched on how difficult it can be to remove as many barriers as possible to implement energy efficiency and still run into homeowner apathy. Michelle Vigen, CERTs Campaign and Metrics Coordinator, talked about behavioral change models. “DEEP is doing a great job with making the program easy to access and understand, and they have knocked on 22,000 doors with residents as part of the Green Energy Canvass with partners Community Action Duluth, Minnesota Power and Comfort Systems. This kind of ‘social norming,’ where everyone is getting familiar and comfortable with a program, is a key ingredient for that program’s success.”
In addition to the working with homeowners, DEEP is dedicated to building training and jobs in the clean energy sector. They have connected interested building contractors to Building Performance Institute (BPI) training at Fond Du Lac Tribal & Community College (see http://bit.ly/i8aJBX) and have a lending library with tools like infra-red camera to model for contractors interested in getting into the industry. Beyond that, DEEP is willing to provide some of the written materials they have created for their program to other cities and communities interested in starting a similar program.
To learn more about the Duluth Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP), visit: http://duluthenergy.org.
