Here is a success story in energy

I got the following success story in energy. Hope EVOKErs will find it useful. Thanks.....

Delta-Montrose Electric Association Home Energy Makeover Contest: Many of us braved this winter by slipping on gloves to keep our fingers warm as we dutifully wrote a check to the utility company. As energy rates continue to climb, is there really anything we can do but pay bigger utility bills?

What about turning up the heat and living more comfortably, while making your home work smarter to help you save money?

Energy-related home improvements are a one-time cost every month for as long as they own their homes. In order to drive this message into the homes of its member consumers, last fall Tri-State member system Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) (CO-020), Montrose, Colorado launched the Home Energy Makeover Contest.

The purpose of the contest was not only to demonstrate how those with higher-than-average home energy costs could cut their energy use, but also to teach all coop members how best to improve their homes in ways that reduce their overall utility bills. Everyone can be a winner with a few easy steps that make a home more energy efficient.

"When we talk to our members about high bill complaints, our goal has always been to arm them with all the information to be as energy efficient as possible," said Paul Bony, DMEA's member services and marketing manager. "We think energy efficiency is a key community issue - the more money members have in their pockets, the more they have to spend in the local economy."

"Home energy improvements don't cost, they pay," emphasized Ed Thomas, marketing director of Intermountain Energy, DMEA's subsidiary that implemented the contest. "For instance, the first thing homeowners can do is to change out their five most used light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) bulbs. Although CFLs cost more, they last 13 times longer and use 75 percent less electricity. At DMEA's rates today, a member is going to save $5 annually with three hours of daily use. It's not sexy, it's not a complete makeover - it's a $5 light bulb.

"We wanted to demonstrate the sorts of things you could do in a typical home," continued Thomas. "Not just talk about it, but to show how you go about looking at a house to figure out what solutions actually work."

DMEA's Home Energy Makeover Contest kicked off in August 2005 and received 130 entries. Typical DMEA member homes - 1,000 to 2,500 square feet, with no unusual types of major energy use - were eligible to participate. Entrants had the chance to win $25,000 in energy-related home improvements. In addition to the grand prize, two runners-up received $10,000 in improvements. Seven members won a free energy analysis of their homes to determine the best ways to cut their energy bills. All contestants also got a Home Energy Makeover Guide to help them make their own home improvements. The DMEA partnered with the Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC) to help select the 10 finalists. CESC, a Denver-based nonprofit energy education organization, conducted similar contests last year for Xcel Energy and Colorado Springs Utilities. Entrants gave CESC permission to review their total energy bills including electricity, gas and propane, for the last 12 months. Each utility bill was converted to British thermal units (Btus) to establish an across the board standard. The total Btus were divided by the home's square feet to get the Btu per square foot use. From those calculations, the 30 highest energy users were identified.

"It was DMEA's goal to select typical homeowners to make these improvements, so that others could say,'my house is like that and I could do that to my home,'" said Bony. Next,20 homes were visited to find candidates that could best demonstrate the savings, from which 10 homes received the comprehensive energy audits. "We went through each of the 10 homes and inventoried everything that used energy, explained Thomas. All the different appliances, their ages and their efficiency were examined. With the use of a blower door analysis, the air leakage of the building shell was determined - looking at houses that breathe versus houses that leak. From there, a pie chart was created that provided a visual of how each house uses energy. DMEA also sought local business support for the donation of systems and equipment. "By partnering with the window, insulation, and heating and cooling contractors, we were able to work together toward a common goal," said Thomas. "We wanted to create a collaborative process to ensure the house works together as a system. "It was critical to find a computer program that worked with real data and treated a house as a wh***," continued Thomas. "TREAT software was good for that. It shows homeowners which investments pay for themselves. Factoring actual energy use, local weather data and contractor costs, Intermountain Energy was able to provide a menu of cost effective improvements that were grouped into price levels: "good (up to $2,500), better (up to $10,000) and best (up to $25,000)".

The grand prize winner was a 2,600 square foot home built in 1945 and expanded in 1959 that used 16,100 kilowatt hours annually and 1,200 gallons of propane for heating. An investment of $2,500 would call for cellulose insulation in the attic and crawlspace, sealing air leaks, installing low flow faucet aerators and showerheads and replacing 10 incandescent bulbs with CFLs. The next level would include all those measures, plus upgrading the boiler and water heater and installing Energy Star windows. The best package of $25,000 - the one the winning home received - replaced the propane furnace with a geothermal heat pump.

"If we assume that the owners refinanced their mortgage to borrow the money for the upgrades, these improvements would save more money monthly than the loan added resulting in positive cash flow," said Thomas. "And, not only do we focus on energy savings, but we also want to ensure the residents will be more comfortable and live in a healthier house." "We think energy efficiency is good for business," noted Bony. "DMEA and Intermountain Energy want to provide a comprehensive service to help our members improve their homes' energy performance. If a measure like an energy makeover contest encourages members to conserve, it's worth the investment to us to have a working example.

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