Join Your Neighbors to Save Money On Insulating Your Home for the Winter
Dear Neighbors,We are residents of South Minneapolis who are looking to cut our energy bills this winter by working together. If you want to insulate your home but are worried about the cost or unsure where to start, please join us to make this project happen.
We are working with Cooperative Energy Futures, a member-owned community energy cooperative, to help us manage the business end of the process, including competitive bidding for energy assessments and contracting for each project. Cooperative Energy Futures formed in 2009 to help communities save energy and explore options for local clean energy sources that would empower community members to take more control of their energy use and costs. The cooperative is helping us negotiate with contractors to receive a discount on energy assessments and insulation work completed by a contractor, ensuring high quality work that actually saves us energy. By drawing on the cooperative’s past experience with a set of highly qualified insulation contractors we will avoid problems that some of us have faced with poor insulation or inexperienced contractors. Our goal is to obtain the highest possible energy savings at the lowest possible cost.
To get a deeper discount we need more residents in South Minneapolis to join us.
Here are some of the details:
- The actual work will take place between October and March, depending on how soon we get enough people and determine the timeline we want to set with the contractor.
- Joining the project with Cooperative Energy Futures entails purchasing a one-time $25 membership share, which also provides access to discounts on energy-saving materials (light-bulbs, caulk, etc.) and trainings, as well as support developing other community energy projects. This $25 membership share is the only expense incurred outside of the negotiated audit and insulating costs.
- The energy savings you can expect to achieve depend on the current conditions and needs of your home, but are in the range of $200-$800 per year.
- Although the negotiated discount for each home assessment and insulation work will be the same for all participants, the total cost to insulate each home (includes wall and attic insulation and air sealing throughout the house depending on what each house needs) will be specific to each house. The discount we can expect on the cost of home insulation by working together ranges between $200-$2,000 per home (10-20% of the cost) depending on how many people we have in the group and the amount of insulation each house needs.
- After the initial assessment (some households may already have one), homeowners may decide whether or not to continue with the project. The discount for insulation will depend on the final number of participants, so participants should be mindful that their final discount will depend on maintaining adequate participation.
- Cooperative Energy Futures will help us select a well qualified contractor through a request for proposals process and negotiate a discount rate based on the number of homes involved.The cooperative will provide support on how to apply for available rebates and existing financing sources.
- This project is for residents who live between I-94 on the north and 42nd Street on the south and between Lyndale Ave on the west and the river on the east are invited to join. Those outside this area who are interested should contact Cooperative Energy Futures and have their names placed on a list for bulk insulation projects in the future.
We currently have 5 homeowners working together on this project. The more participants, the greater the final discount. We are looking for anywhere from 5 to 25 more homeowners to join us. If you're interested in learning more or signing up, please contact Ruby at Cooperative Energy Futures by email at ruby@cooperativeenergyfutures.com or give her a call at 612-568-2334. Let's work together to save energy and money in our community.
Steve Osthu, 17XX 31st St. E.
Kirsten Olson and Karen Hogan, 34XX 22nd Ave S.
