WWW.CLEANENERGYRESOURCETEAMS.ORG Helping Minnesota communities determine their energy future CASE STUDY: ENERGY EFFICIENCY – METRO For a Neighborhood, by a Neighborhood: Como Park Home Energy Efficiency Program By Julia Eagles, Metro CERT Organizer • April 2011 In 2009, a motivated group of fifteen households in the Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul set out to create an energy success story in their community. The Como Park Home Energy Efficiency Program (CHEEP) is a pilot program focused on measuring home energy consumption and developing cost-effective strategies to reduce overall energy usage. CHEEP set a collective goal of reducing energy use by 25% from 2008 to 2010 by changing energy use behaviors, sealing and insulating homes, and upgrading mechanical equipment and appliances. This community-based project is driven by neighborhood residents and volunteers who wish to impact their St. Paul neighborhood’s energy use. The idea for convening an “Biggest Energy Loser” germinated in the District 10 Environment Committee in the fall of 2008. After a community presentation on home energy savings by the Neighborhood Energy Connection (NEC) and Metro CERT a few months later, the first member signed up, and CHEEP was hatched. The primary goal of CHEEP, as seen by project organizer Betti Iwanski, is “for neighbors to support each other to reduce energy use through strategies tailored to each household, based on their level of commitment and the particulars of their homes and lifestyles.” CHEEP participants want to use their experience to guide and encourage other residents to implement similar energy efficiency measures. They hope to inspiring long-term, widespread shifts in energy use and promote education about energy-efficiency that will lead to a more energy-efficient community. Getting Started Initial outreach about the project included an announcement in District 10 newsletter and alerts on their website, as well as web postings and email blasts from the District 10 community organizer to recruit participants. Initial pilot participants attended project orientation meetings in May and June of 2009, at which Betti gave an overview of the project and the expectations of each participant. Participants completed a pre- project survey about their home’s energy consump- tion, changes they had already made to reduce energy use, and observations on the impact of these changes. In January 2010, CHEEP received a seed grant from Metro CERT. This funding was used to hire consultant Mike Dueber to create a database for tracking participant energy usage over the various phases of the project. This database allows CHEEP members to track their electricity and gas use and correlated CO2 emissions. The database also CERTs PARTNERS University of Minnesota’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships Eureka Recycling Southwest Regional Development Commission The Minnesota Project Office of Energy Security, Minnesota Department of Commerce C E R Ts F U N D E R S Xcel Energy’s Renewable Development Fund via Office of Energy Security Bush Foundation Environment & Natural Resource Trust Fund Project Snapshot Purpose: Pilot a neighborhood-based energy efficiency program with a goal of increasing knowledge about and energy savings among District 10 Como Park residents. Technology: Energy Efficiency: Low-cost/No-Cost, Community Education Grants: $3,000 Metro CERT; $2,000 various in-kind Benefits: Inspire long-term, widespread shifts in energy use; and greater awareness about how energy efficiency impacts the global environment.
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WWW.CLEANENERGYRESOURCETEAMS.ORG
Helping Minnesota communities determine
their energy future
CASE STUDY: ENERGY EFFICIENCY – METRO
For a Neighborhood, by a Neighborhood:Como Park Home Energy Efficiency ProgramBy Julia Eagles, Metro CERT Organizer • April 2011
In 2009, a motivated group of fifteen households inthe Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul set out tocreate an energy success story in their community.The Como Park Home Energy Efficiency Program(CHEEP) is a pilot program focused on measuringhome energy consumption and developing cost-effective strategies to reduce overall energyusage. CHEEP set a collective goal of reducing energy use by 25% from 2008 to 2010 by changingenergy use behaviors, sealing and insulating homes,and upgrading mechanical equipment and appliances.
This community-based project is driven by neighborhood residents and volunteers who wish toimpact their St. Paul neighborhood’s energy use.The idea for convening an “Biggest Energy Loser”germinated in the District 10 EnvironmentCommittee in the fall of 2008. After a communitypresentation on home energy savings by theNeighborhood Energy Connection (NEC) and MetroCERT a few months later, the first member signedup, and CHEEP was hatched.
The primary goal of CHEEP, as seen by projectorganizer Betti Iwanski, is “for neighbors to supporteach other to reduce energy use through strategiestailored to each household, based on their level ofcommitment and the particulars of their homes andlifestyles.”
CHEEP participants want to use their experience toguide and encourage other residents to implementsimilar energy efficiency measures. They hope toinspiring long-term, widespread shifts in energy useand promote education about energy-efficiency thatwill lead to a more energy-efficient community.
Getting StartedInitial outreach about the project included anannouncement in District 10 newsletter and alerts ontheir website, as well as web postings and emailblasts from the District 10 community organizer torecruit participants.
Initial pilot participants attended project orientationmeetings in May and June of 2009, at which Bettigave an overview of the project and the expectationsof each participant. Participants completed a pre-project survey about their home’s energy consump-tion, changes they had already made to reduce energy use, and observations on the impact of thesechanges.
In January 2010, CHEEP received a seed grant fromMetro CERT. This funding was used to hire consultant Mike Dueber to create a database fortracking participant energy usage over the variousphases of the project. This database allows CHEEPmembers to track their electricity and gas use andcorrelated CO2 emissions. The database also
CERTs PARTNERS
University of Minnesota’sRegional SustainableDevelopmentPartnerships
Eureka Recycling
Southwest RegionalDevelopmentCommission
The Minnesota Project
Office of EnergySecurity, MinnesotaDepartment ofCommerce
CERTs FUNDERS
Xcel Energy’s RenewableDevelopment Fund viaOffice of Energy Security
Bush Foundation
Environment & NaturalResource Trust Fund
Project Snapshot
Purpose: Pilot a neighborhood-based energy efficiencyprogram with a goal of increasing knowledgeabout and energy savings among District 10Como Park residents.
features a place for households to enter equipment upgrades and behavior changes. MetroCERT also supported CHEEP by helping to develop data collection and analysis tools, providing administrative assistance through student interns, and contacting Xcel Energy to access utility data for the program. CHEEP members took advantage of the Metro CERTnetwork to connect with the Neighborhood Energy Service and Home Energy Squad programs to help meet their energy-saving goals.
Baseload & BenchmarkingDuring the first phase of CHEEP, the focus was on energy use reduction. Members usedwatt meters to measure their home’s baseload energy use and equipment energy consumption and attended workshops to learn low-cost measures to reduce phantom loads.Eleven of fifteen households also took advantage of energy audits from Xcel Energy, whichincluded a blower door test and infrared camera scan.
Each participating household’s energy usage data from 2008 was gathered from Xcel priorto the project and entered into the CHEEP database. This provided a benchmark year bywhich to measure progress towards the self-imposed goal of a 25% reduction in energy use.Nine of the fifteen members entered their own 2010 utility data, and also entered their energy-related actions. About one-third of the members participated in the NeighborhoodEnergy Service Home Energy Squad program.
Gathering ResultsIn early November 2010, about a year and a half into the project, participants re-convened tocomplete post-project surveys, share journals, report on changes made and discuss futureplans for the project and community education. This gathering highlighted one of theunique strengths of CHEEP, the social aspect of getting neighbors together to share ideasand stories about energy. The group of people that gathered was so enthused about theproject, it created an atmosphere of excitement that is not often inspired by something likeenergy efficiency. Everyone was bubbling with ideas and anecdotes about their best achieve-ments and their successes. Members shared ideas and traded information to help each otheravoid pitfalls and take advantage of the best energy saving tips.
Based on these actions and more, CHEEP participants were able to collectively save animpressive 21.7% on their energy bills from 2008 to 2010! This data is based on the ninehouseholds who provided both gas and electricity data for all three years.
Lessons Learned and Moving ForwardThe Como Home Energy Efficiency Program (CHEEP) was indeed a success story, in termsof building a neighborhood-movement around home energy savings, taking advantage ofsocial capital to motivate behavior change and using technology to measure and evaluateprogress. Plus, they came very close to meeting an ambitious shared energy savings goal!
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Graph portraying the energy use from 2008-2010 of nine of the participant households
CHEEP Actions!
CHEEP members shared energy saving
actions such as:
n Measure home baseload energy use with Watt
meters
n Document energy use from utility bills and
energy saving events
n Upgrade lighting and appliances to more
energy efficient models
n Adopt behavioral changes, including creative
ways to stay warm at 50 F
n Implement air sealing and insulation projects
n Reduce electrical use by installing smart power
strips and outlet switches
n Research the benefits, incentives, and costs of
boiler upgrades
n Replace appliances (refrigerators and
dehumidifiers)
n Install smart power strips
n Replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact
fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs)
n Install programmable thermostats
n Caulk and weather-strip their homes
n Replace furnace filters
n Wash clothes in cold water
Graph portraying the change in energy use of nine of the participanthouseholds.
CHEEP members also identified some lessons learned and opportunities for improvementwere they to duplicate the project. They noted that it would be helpful to have more toolsfor educating members on energy savings, such as templates for the workshops on building,equipment, baseload and behavior and hands-on activities for meetings to demonstrateways to save energy at home. They also recommended establishing expectations forinvolvement and opportunities to share results earlier on to encourage people to stayengaged. Another way to keep people connected would be to form mini teams within thegroup who could hold workshops with 2 -3 members in their homes and foster accountability and encouragement among members.
In terms of the building and equipment improvements, participants were interested in finding ways to build relationships with home performance contractors and negotiate bulkdiscounts for the group. Involving a third party energy auditor would also ensure qualitycontrol.
Since the completion of the project, people have called the District Council office asking tojoin the group and two people have been added to a slowly growing mailing list. CHEEPcontinues on, embodied in a core group of eight households that continues to meet andshare results, intending to track data through the next two years. There are tentative plansto create workshop, meeting, and handout templates to share with other communities.
With these future plans and it’s significant accompishments to date, the CHEEP model hasproven to be successful. The program has developed a method to make energy a neighbor-hood issue while providing a neighborhood-based solution. With time, CHEEP membershope to see this model work just as well when tailored for use by other neighborhoods inMinnesota.
To learn more about the Como Home Energy Efficiency Project, contact Betti Iwanski,Project Coordinator, at 651-558-7487 or [email protected] ; or Mike Dueber, DatabaseDeveloper, at 612-210-6400 or [email protected]. Vist the website athttp://www.stpaulcheep.org.
