Retrofit Revolutionaries! by Peter Papesch, AIA
The Commonwealth Challenge is a campaign to collectively save 100,000 kWh of electricity by Earth Day, April 22. Free air sealing for basements or attics is one of the benefits of participating in this campaign to retrofit homes and address poverty and climate change throughout Massachusetts. The campaign has a goal for residents of all income levels to cut their electrical usage by 5 percent, while saving money, reducing pollution, and creating good local jobs.
The participants can:
- Sign up for a free home energy screening
- Retrofit their home at a group discount (20 partnered organizations across the state are giving discounted and free home insulation services to all participants)
- Track and compare their energy use with neighbors, see also Smarter Cambridge—it’s not just for Cantabridgians!
These services are offered as part of NStar and National Grid’s utility programs and also include access to over $2,000 in rebates for insulation work and a seven-year term, zero-interest loan of $15,000 to complete more extensive home retrofitting work.
According to Josh Lynch, Commonwealth Challenge coordinator, “this campaign is about connecting issues of pollution and poverty before this 40th Earth Day”. He continued “We also have an economic crisis in this country that affects people in low-income communities and communities of color first and worst. The climate crisis and economic crises are connected. People that live in pollution also often live in poverty.”
To find out more information about the campaign visit CommonwealthChallenge.org and The Leadership Campaign.