How It Works

Our programs combine education, home efficiency work events, renewable energy installations and homeowner/volunteer follow-up and measurement.

Eligibility

The following is required to be eligible to receive 1house at at time^TM services:

• Must qualify for your local municipality homeowner assistance program based on income levels. (In Austin, you must be an Austin Energy customer.)
• The homes must be owner-occupied.
• In Austin, Texas, homes must be eligible for the Free Home Improvements Program established by Austin Energy which is based on household income level. In other municipalities the home must qualify for weatherization assistance or assistance from Meals on Wheels based on household income level.

Some exceptions to these rules may be allowed, but will have to be considered on a case by case basis. Other criteria may apply. Email effie@1houseatatime.org to see how to qualify for either home efficiency or solar system installation services.

Education

Through the 1house at at time^TM program, volunteers and homeowners are provided training in order to reduce their consumption of resources at the home efficiency work events. Interested students can also attend the solar installations to learn about renewable energy systems. In addition to the home events, A Nurtured World provides our teachers, volunteers and students as well as sponsors and community leaders opportunities to attend our Consumer Conservation and Leadership Workshops that can be closely aligned with the home efficiency and renewable energy installation events.

The purpose of the workshop is to train the participants in how to reduce their personal environmental impact and how to effect change in their community. The workshop uses A Nurtured World's successful behavior change and culture change models that we have delivered to over 1,500 people throughout the US, with an average savings of $2,000 per person and 2.0 tons of CO2 reduction per person. These workshops include both behavior-based learning methods and content education (e.g., understanding environmental impacts and best practices). By combining technical training with behavior-based methods, these workshops have proven effective at producing measurable results.

The value of attending the workshops is twofold. First, the participants will personally reduce their own footprint and save money. Second, we will create the next set of leaders for positive change on the environment – whether they choose to contribute to our efforts or design and implement their own innovative solutions. A Nurtured World's public workshops provide individuals with the opportunity to identify and change their personal impact on the environment as well as to enhance personal satisfaction and save money. Click here for a calendar of upcoming events.

Home Efficiency Work Events

The home efficiency work events directly help local low-income households alleviate the strain of high utility bills by making these homes more utility- efficient. We reduce home utility consumption through home weatherization, new energy- and water-efficient appliances and HVAC systems, efficient water fixtures, rain barrels, and energy saving devices such as programmable thermostats and compact fluorescent bulbs. The homeowners are trained on the efficient use of their home. The technologies used in each home are designed to meet the needs of the individual home, based on the results of a professional home energy audit completed prior to the event. The upgrades will not only reduce environmental impacts, but will also increase the quality of life for these homeowners, some of whom are living in sub-par conditions (e.g., extremely hot and/or moldy climates due to malfunctioning AC units, leaking ducts, and other issues). The events can be completed through our volunteers and/or students in-training supervised by skilled leaders. Our goal at this stage is to reduce utility bills by 15%. Through this effort, we will improve the quality of life for the homeowners and make a large positive environmental impact.

Home Weatherization

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, most major cities and/or counties will offer weatherization assistance to low-income homeowners. Please contact your local municipality for more information on how to qualify for this service. In areas or circumstances where the weatherization assistance is not available to homeowners eligible for the 1house at a time^TM, we may provide those types services in lieu of the local program.

City of Austin Services - Texas

Austin Energy offers free home-energy improvements to customers with low-to -moderate incomes. Improvements reduce energy costs and enhance comfort. If needed, Austin Energy provides materials for and installation of attic insulation, minor duct repair and sealing, caulking around plumbing penetrations, weather stripping around doors, and solar screens.

The process can be initiated by simply filling out and submitting a Free Home Improvements application Once reviewed and approved, Austin Energy will assign a contractor to make an appointment with the homeowner to inspect the home.A home may be disqualified if it has been weatherized within the last 10 years, is missing walls or has large holes in walls, has a leaking roof, or has serious foundation problems. The contractor will determine what needs to be done to the home and then will schedule another appointment to make the improvements. The contractor will also note any old or broken appliances that should be replaced with energy-efficient appliances and any other areas where energy or water can be conserved. The improvements will then be made by the contractors and the work will be inspected by Austin Energy to ensure quality.

Renewable Energy Installations

Qualifying homes may benefit from the second element of our efforts which includes installation of renewable energy technologies and/or on-site solar photovoltaic system while also providing hands-on training for students and/or volunteers. The typical 3kW solar PV system generates approximately 4,200 kWh per year of emission-free electricity while other technologies’ reduction of energy and/or water use will depend on the technology selected.

To qualify, a home must be optimized in terms of power use, have an appropriate roof and sufficiently updated electrical system to support a safe installation. These factors, and many others, are assessed and evaluated in partnership with solar installers who are selected by a competitive contractual process that takes into account cost, quality, and experience.

Working together to install renewable energy technologies and solar systems, we eliminate the initial investment hurdle for these struggling homeowners while enabling them to improve their financial position as utilities are often their second highest monthly expense. We also create partnerships with local institutions to provide students hands-on installation experience to complement green job training. Homeowner recipients will have the unique opportunity to learn about energy efficiency and renewable energy, while dramatically reducing or eliminating their utility costs. Project houses will serve as the setting for installation workshops. Our goal after the solar installation is to reduce utility bills by 50 – 70%.

Measurement of Results

The effectiveness of the program will be measured by follow-up with the homeowners on a quarterly basis during the year following their retrofit in order to track water and energy use as compared to the prior year. The use will be compared with the number of residents in the house and take into account any changes that occur over that period of time. This follow-up also serves as an opportunity to further educate the homeowners about conservation and efficiency. This measurement is used to improve our program services in order to meet our program goals and committment to continual improvement of our results.

In addition, we follow-up with our volunteers and measure the improvements they made in their own homes and workplaces as a results of participating in our education and/or work events. The volunteer/student results are measured by conducting phone interviews. The measurement methods applied to the volunteers are based on eight (8) years of development by A Nurtured World in documenting personal pollution prevention and our methods have been approved by the EPA through our Quality Management Plans and Quality Assurance Project Plans.A Nurtured World has been a leader in EPA Region 6 and nationwide in developing measurement methods both for the consumer and industrial sectors and has trained other states in use of our methods.