Overview
The goal of the program is to reduce the energy cost (heating and cooling bills) of low income, elderly, a n d disabled individuals by improving the efficiency of their homes while ensuring their health and safety. Weatherization is a federal program for eligible low income individuals that are designed to lower monthly energy costs through insulation of the attic, floors, walls, water heaters and pipes, and performing air sealing with the use of energy audits. All applicants for assistance must qualify by meeting an income eligibility that doesn’t exceed 200% of the federal poverty income guidelines ($44,100 for a family of four).
The expectations of the Standard Weatherization Assistance Program is to complete the twelve required units with the hopes of having additional funds left in overall budget to complete additional units. Three units have been completed to date and with three more scheduled for completion by January 31 and the remaining six units completed by March 2011.
The Weatherization Assistance Program continues to provide high quality and advanced technical training in areas such as Whole House Weatherization, Infrared Camera Operations and Building Performance Institute certifications to all Weatherization personnel.
Triumphs
- The two most recent fiscal and programmatic monitoring visits from the NC Energy Office resulted in no findings.
- Advertising, media interviews and community outreach presen- tations has built a waitlist of over two hundred applicants requesting Weatherization services.
- The program hired an HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) technician which has helped in the production of units while providing a more thorough inspection of heating and cooling systems.
- The program’s greatest achievement is the achievement of employing a highly skilled and trained staff. This factor is reflected in the monitoring visits and the Weatherization techniques training requests from other agencies.
Stressors
- Staffing turnover and inclement weather continue to be the biggest areas of stress as it relates to meeting production deadlines and maintaining a high quality of work.
- New Weatherization Assistance Program regulations implemented by the NC Energy Office are another stressor that could lead to a lag in production.
- Clients’ lack of understanding of the guidelines and limitations of the program as it relates to the type of work being performed on their homes.
- Unknown levels of future Weatherization funding are a continuous stressor from a management perspective.
Aspirations
- The aspiration of the Weatherization program will be to continue to operate a model program while providing high quality services to the clients in our service area.
- Another aspiration is to implement new Weatherization techniques starting with the use of infrared cameras during the initial audit process.
- Our goal is to offer fee for service Weatherization products in the near future. Some of the products and services include residential and commercial energy audits, air sealing, insulation measures and possibly becoming a training agency.
- Other capacity building opportunities include expanding the program into other counties as the Weatherization service provider, local Weatherization contractor or utilizing the weatherization crew members to perform the work required through the Single Family Rehab Program.
