The District 10 Como Community Council, which is now a Metro CERTs affiliate, is a nonprofit organization made up of elected, volunteer residents and community organizing staff that serve the Como neighborhood of St. Paul. Metro CERTs partnered with the District 10 Environment Committee in February of this year to hold a workshop on home energy efficiency upgrades. The committee is in the midst of a pilot program, named CHEEP (Como Park Home Energy Efficiency Program), for energy and money savings, and is also developing a baseline of data so they can document the savings.
CHEEP kicked off with opening workshops for resident-participants in the home of neighborhood leader, CHEEP volunteer, and engineer at the Energy Conservatory, Betti Iwanski. The workshops presented a data table to each participant displaying the energy use in his/her home, and gave an overview of possible actions to take in order to improve their home’s energy efficiency.
“The motivation (for CHEEP) is global climate change, rising energy costs and energy insecurity,” said Iwanski. “My inspiration came from Stephan Tanner who introduced me to the Passive Haus Standards, a framework for deep energy use reduction in houses. It resonates with me because it starts out with what the earth can handle in terms of CO2 emissions, and in turn, how humans can sustain.”
CHEEP uses this standard to create a performance goal for the home, with the end result being better air quality, less dust and fewer insects in the house, all while maintaining style and improving comfort.
“Once I visited a Passive Haus, I knew I had to help everyone have one—much lower energy bills and comfort that I did not imagine possible,” explained Iwanski, who will be discussing the project goal with participants in July. “They are the heart of the success of our program—we need them to tell us what matters, what works and what will continue to help improve our process and outcomes.”
To learn more about the District 10 Community Council, visit their webpage at http://www.comopark.org. If you’d like to hear more about the pilot program, contact Betti Iwanski at biwanski@comcast.net or Jess Roberts at jproberts89@hotmail.com.
