A group of Binghamton University interns fighting for greener homes hope to provide a boost to the Binghamton economy while reducing pollution.
Adam Flint, an adjunct lecturer in the environmental studies department, and 11 interns, 10 of whom either currently attend BU or graduated in 2012, help run the Energy Leadership Program (ELP), a non-profit organization that tries to increase the market for energy efficient retrofits.
ELP guides homeowners through the various stages of energy retrofits, beginning with the application for free or reduced cost energy audits paid for by the state through securing grants and low-interest loans to cover the cost of the renovations.
”The benefits of home efficiency include energy savings, and becoming safer and more comfortable in your home,” said Flint, who is the project coordinator. “And this is in addition to boosting the local economy, because regional homeowners can save $900 annually, and most people do their spending locally, in addition to the jobs created by doing the actual work, the contractors going into the homes.”
Flint added that all of this is in addition to the obvious benefits to the environment.
“The best way to reduce our carbon footprint is to use less energy,” he said.
Tessa Kuster, an intern with the ELP Marketing and Design Team and a senior majoring in English and minoring in environmental science, said that although ELP is geared towards homeowners, the services offered can benefit student renters as well.
“If their landlords are interested, then students can actually go through the process with their landlords of getting their house retrofitted,” she said.
Kuster also offered some basic improvements renters could make themselves in order to reduce their energy bills, such as changing the filter in air conditioners and furnaces, weatherproofing windows and cleaning refrigerator coils.
“I live off campus and we pay for the utilities ourselves, and we keep the heat really low in the winter and it can be very uncomfortable,” Kuster said. “I think if people realized all of the things people could do to reduce their bills and make their apartment more comfortable, then they would definitely want to learn about that.”
ELP works with Green Jobs – Green New York, which subsidizes home energy audits, something Kuster said would often cost upward of $500 and which now many homeowners can receive for free. She said this helps local contractors receive more work, and creates more contracting jobs.
“There isn’t a huge demand for these energy improvements because it’s kind of a hard thing to pay for upfront, but because of the loans and other financing options we have it makes it more appealing and these contractors get more work as a result,” Kuster said.
She noted how important jobs are to Binghamton in particular.
“In Brooome County and Binghamton it’s really important to stimulate the economy and create jobs because it tends to be an economically depressed area,” she said.
ELP targets community leaders, such as senior members of local congregations and business owners, and teaches them the benefits energy retrofits. ELP hopes that in turn the community leaders will educate those around them.
Flint said grass-root social networking is critical to the success of ELP.
“The basic idea is that there are people in the community who are leaders,” he said. “People listen to these people, and the idea is to educate them, community leaders, to become energy leaders.”