Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (Shouts to)
Thanks to Facebook and some forward-thinking friends, I saw the news announcement. This piqued my interest, but, really, it wasn’t till this weekend that I found out what it was all about.
The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC) is a nine-month pilot program currently targeting eight neighborhoods in Baltimore City:
1) Mt. Washington 2) Reservoir Hill 3) CARE (or Banner/Middle East near Hopkins Hospital) 4) The Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville 5) Park Heights 6) Fulton Ave in Sandtown 7) Ten Hills & 8) Roland Park
This innovative program is being launched by the Baltimore Office of Sustainability in partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation. It is backed by several prominent organizations including Baltimore City Civic Works, Rebuilding Together Baltimore, The Coalition To End Childhood Lead Poisoning, and the Baltimore Housing Weatherization Program.
The primary goal of the program is two-fold. First, the push is . . . to reduce city-wide energy usage by 15% by the year 2015. The program will promote simple techniques to do this; i.e. turning lights off when leaving a room, setting the thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter and 78 in the summer, wrapping the home’s hot water heater, etc.
Second, and in the words of Shaine Griffin, BNEC Program Assistant for our Greater Lauraville area: “We want to establish energy conservation as a social norm. We are empowering the participating communities encouraging them to join together in an effort to change their own energy habits.”
Central to this effort is the organization’s “pledge,” a simple vow to reduce energy usage. By taking the pledge, individuals gain access to a clearinghouse of information on local auditors, contractors, grants, and subsidies, as well as, and get this, low and/or no cost products and services.
In tandem with this, the organization provides everyone pledging with a free pledge kit — full of energy-saving products. This kit is set to include: a reusable grocery bag, carbon monoxide alarm, toilet tank bank (man I need one of these for my 1931 Standard), an exterior-rated CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulb), draft stopper gaskets, and an energy-savings informational booklet.
Further, BNEC is recruiting 10-20 individuals (per neighborhood?) to act as “energy captains” within the targeted areas. These captains are asked to participate in a two-hour energy event, and are to act as leads in spreading the word.
These captains will not go unrewarded; they too will receive perks, including a visit from Civic Works Project Lightbulb. This service is essentially a free two-hour energy upgrade. It includes the installation of a carbon monoxide alarm, two faucet aerators, a low-flow showerhead, up to 15 CFL’s, a hot water heater wrap, insulation for up to six feet of hot water pipe, and a check/adjustment of the refrigerator’s and the hot water heater’s temperatures.
The program, if successfully in these eight neighborhoods, will ultimately launch city-wide within the year.
*******
To take the pledge or to become a Neighborhood Energy Captain – Visit the website at http://www.baltimoreenergychallenge.com/ or call Reed Schuler at (410)-575-3413.
For those within the CARE and Greater Lauraville communities, contact Shaine Griffin at shaine.griffin@baltimoreenergychallenge.com or call (415) 999-8934.
For those within Park Heights and Roland Park, contact Whitney Petty at whitney.petty@baltimoreenergychallenge.com or call at (361)-798-6273.
For the remaining neighborhoods (this will soon be changing) contact Alice Kennedy at alice.kennedy@baltimoreenergychallenge.com or call at (410)-960-9803.
> > More Moxie (Related Links):
Baltimore Office of Sustainability: http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/planning/sustainability/
Baltimore Community Foundation: http://www.bcf.org/
Baltimore City Civic Works: http://www.civicworks.com/
Project Lightbulb: http://www.civicworks.com/projectlightbulb.html
Rebuilding Baltimore Together: http://www.rebuildingtogetherbaltimore.org/
The Coalition the End Childhood Lead Poisoning: http://www.leadsafe.org/
Baltimore Housing Weatherization Program: http://www.baltimorehousing.org/ps_ohep.asp
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About the author
I love houses, and am happiest when I am working on them (usually). I also love to write and try to focus, here, on "learn as you live." My wife, Jen, and I are on our 4th house (since 2000) . . . yes, together. She is a real estate agent. We have two beautiful daughters Evyn and Eva. We currently live, and are restoring, an 1889 farmhouse in Baltimore's Lauraville area. I hope you find something of interest here. Please read and comment. Check out my business’s progress at http://www.yourhomeprojectassistant.com, and help turn this blog into something awesome. Email anytime at jb@buildingmoxie.com. Thanks and . . .BMoxie BMore!
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