Updates

Agawam, August 21st, 2018 Ener-G-save, a project funded by the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, is entering its second year of community outreach to assist homeowners in Pioneer Valley in taking advantage of generous utility programs for energy efficiency. Massachusetts is a leader in the nation as far as energy efficiency is concerned; yet there remains a lot to be done. “Since we all pay for the utilities’ energy efficiency programs through a surcharge on our bills, it only makes sense to utilize them to their fullest extent for each and every eligible home,” says Susan Olshuff, who will be managing the outreach efforts in the coming year. Homeowners can call the ener-G-save hotline right now at 413-279-9141 to line up their free assessment.   “Last year, we focused on homeowners in 10 towns in Pioneer Valley, kicking off the project by taking thermal images of homes on a large scale. The response from towns, grassroots organizations, faith groups, and businesses was so positive that our...

Join us in making a difference: Following in the footsteps of the successful HEATSMART and SOLARIZE programs, volunteers of Mothers Out Front and Climate Action Now are partnering with ener-G-save throughout the spring and summer to encourage homeowners in Northampton to both save money and help their town meet its 100% renewable energy goal as soon as possible.     Volunteers have begun to go door to door to Survey residents’ interest in energy conservation and efficiency Decrease the use of fossil fuels for home heating, and thereby Reduce energy bills for Northampton families and  Cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce air pollution. BUN. 2.0 will focus on single family homes as well as 2-4 family occupancy buildings. Data gathered in the surveys will allow BUN. 2.0 to help households pursue their desired energy saving goals and help Northampton fulfill its recent resolution to rely on 100% renewables for its energy needs. “Reducing energy use remains the cheapest and most easily accessible path to fulfill this Resolution,”...

The city of Springfield has been embracing ener-G-save as part of its Climate Action Resilience Plan (CARP) Here is ener-G-save in their latest newsletter: Springfield Newsletter...

The Department of Energy Resources launched a new pilot program for energy efficiency which gives qualifying homeowners a larger range of options than existing programs. Here is The new Home Value Performance Pilot Program introduced by our partner The Energy Store ...

Feeling the chill in the air? Putting away the lawn furniture? Is your home ready for winter? As the days get shorter, we might find ourselves thinking about the coming cold months, dreading that drafty bathroom, worrying about high energy bills, and wondering what all that energy usage is doing to the planet. We know we should do something like get an energy audit, but we also have to get the kids new school shoes, put the kiddie pool away, and get the snow blower into the repair shop. Before we know it, autumn leaves will have turned into winter snow. Yikes. You may soon receive an envelope in the mail from ener-G-save, a philanthropic project of the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation. It includes a thermal photo of your home and shows how much energy and money you’re wasting through roof, walls, or other spots. Too busy to do anything about this? Think you don’t have money to spend on this? Read...

Our partner town Northampton is about to launch a new program promoting high efficiency, state-of-the-art air source heat pumps to its residents. Based on their very successful Solarize Program a few years ago, the town will spread the word about this new technology through neighborhood outreach and hopefully install it in many homes. These heat pumps can both cool and heat more cheaply than oil or propane and in some cases even more cheaply than gas. It goes without saying that if your house is optimally insulated, a heat pump is even more efficient and can be sized smaller. More towns are looking into this state subsidized program, so keep an eye out.    ...

PRESS RELEASE, April, 2017: The newly founded Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Energy LLC just completed thermo-imaging 100,000 single family homes in the Pioneer Valley. If you have noticed a strange vehicle with a camera on the roof driving slowly through the streets in the middle of the night, it wasn’t an invasion of some kind! The car, loaded with high-tech imaging devices, was measuring how much heat is being lost from the envelopes of our building stock. This kind of thermal imaging is a non-invasive way that respects privacy and reveals the spots where a home allows heat (or, in the summer, cool air) to escape. This data will now be analyzed by sophisticated software developed at MIT. Starting in May, the foundation will collaborate with 10 valley towns to determine the best way to deliver 25000 reports to those homeowners, who have the greatest potential for energy savings. Along with a detailed thermal image of their home, they will receive information...