Climate Action Begins at home
Your energy footprint includes energy you use for transportation, housing, and food, among other things. This workshop is about the energy it takes to run your house or apartment, and the energy it took to build and maintain the building. Even if you rent your home, there is a lot you can do to keep your energy usage down. We'll cover how buildings use energy, how they waste energy, and how to use less energy and be more comfortable at home. Bring your utility bills (with 12 months of usage data) and the square footage of your living space (optional) to calculate how much energy you're using and compare to local and national averages.
details
- when: sunday, april 17th, 2011, from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
- to attend: Please see the info page for more information on attending any of the workshops at the 2011 Boston Skillshare.
- facilitated by: Stacey Cordeiro
lesson plan
Energy in buildings - embodied energy, operational energy
Heat loss in buildings - conduction, convection, radiation
Identifying your heating and hot water fuel & distribution
Preventing heat loss - insulation, air sealing & more
Electricity & Primary Energy - efficiency of the electrical grid, your house is burning coal and you didn't even know it
Saving Electricity
How water = energy
Saving Water
Preserving embodied energy with good home maintenance (or, "I just rent this place, why should I care?")
Hands-on section: caulking, using insulating foam, weatherstripping doors and windows, duct sealing, pipe insulation, changing a furnace filter
Landlord-Tenant relations - your rights as a tenant, convincing your landlord to make improvements
Free and cheap ways to get energy improvements, even for renters
What can go wrong - how to rot out a windowsill, create mold where there wasn't any, poison or asphyxiate yourself and your roommates with improper weatherization
facilitator experience
Stacey works at a home remodeling company that focuses on energy efficiency and sustainability. She's a Building Performance Institute - certified Building Analyst and has tightened up a bunch of leaky buildings.
intended audience
For renters! Homeowners are welcome too. If your utility bills seem high, this is for you. If your thermostat is set under 60 degrees or over 68 degrees or if you don't know where your thermostat is, this is for you. If you care about climate change, mountaintop removal, nuclear meltdowns or resource wars, this is for you. We will be handling building materials that can be tricky to use and should not be ingested or allowed to touch skin or clothing.