Article Contributed on: 10/28/2009 4:33:23 PM
The Governor's Energy Office (GEO) has selected Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) in a competitive solicitation for a third-party administrator to provide weatherization services for large, multi-family buildings in Colorado. The project is designed to improve comfort, save energy and reduce utility bills for low-income families.
EOC's work will help lower the energy costs associated with heating and cooling large apartment buildings by conducting energy audits, upgrading insulation, sealing air leaks and taking other steps to reduce energy consumption. EOC will focus its effort solely on larger multi-family apartment buildings (5 units or more and centrally heated), where as many as 30 percent of the state's lower income individuals reside.
Through the U.S. Department of Energy program, GEO partners with 10 agencies and nonprofits to provide weatherization services for income-qualified families across Colorado. While those 10 organizations focus on single-family homes, EOC will focus on building managers and owners to provide weatherization services to all tenants residing in a building.
"We look forward to an important partnership with Energy Outreach Colorado as we work together to create new green jobs and further develop our New Energy Economy," said GEO director Tom Plant. "By increasing investment in this sector, we can make income-qualified multi-family buildings more comfortable for residents, while reducing utility costs and energy consumption."
EOC will target 700 units as part of its one-year, $2.8 million contract with the GEO. The work will create jobs, as the EOC will add staff as well as hire contract labor to conduct much of the actual weatherization and efficiency improvements. The GEO will gauge the success of this multi-family effort and could extend EOC's contract an additional two years.
The program is part of a major effort under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) to significantly expand weatherization services across Colorado and the country. In the past, the majority of weatherization services have focused largely on single family homes and mobile homes. The EOC contract will include nearly $1.6 million in Recovery Act dollars and $1.2 million from the Department of Energy's standard weatherization allocation to the GEO.
"We're tremendously excited about the opportunity to partner with the Governor's Energy Office to increase the energy efficiency of multi-family housing for Colorado's low-income residents," said Skip Arnold, Executive Director of Energy Outreach Colorado. "The Governor's Energy Office and Energy Outreach Colorado have been working for the past 20 years to make energy affordable for all Coloradans, and this program will greatly enhance that work."
The GEO is dramatically expanding its weatherization services to income-qualified households under the Recovery Act. With nearly $80 million in additional funding provided over three years, Colorado plans to weatherize more than 10,000 homes, cutting utility bills for low-income families who benefit most from the savings, reducing pollution and adding jobs across the state. In the three months since the Recovery Act funds were released, Colorado has already weatherized more than 900 homes for low-income families.
Weatherization assistance work is intended to cut energy costs for income-qualified households, including for the elderly, people with disabilities, children and high energy-use homes. The weatherization assistance program also provides for client education designed to cut energy consumption and save money on household utility bills.
Multi-family building managers and owners interested in providing weatherization services to their tenants can contact Energy Outreach Colorado directly to determine eligibility at 303-226-5057. Or, they can visit http://energyoutreachcolorado.org/multifamily_grants
Information about the federal weatherization assistance program can be found at the following link: http://www.waptac.org/
Todd Hartman, Governor's Energy Office