Energy Help for Homes
August 11, 2010
by Ryan Williams
Keeping homes cool in the summer, warm in the winter and energy efficient requires some effort. Weatherization measures like repairing home cracks and leaks go a long way but they aren't cheap. That's where the Northern Arizona Council on Governments (NACOG) and the Arizona Community Action Association (ACAA) can help. Bob Baca, NACOG director of weatherization, said weatherization projects are under way in Apache, Coconino, Yavapai and Navajo counties. NACOG plans to complete 1,100 weatherization projects in a three-year period, all funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars.
He said 18 homes have already been weatherized in Williams to date beginning in March 2009. "We'll be doing right around 50 projects total in the Williams area," he said. "Hopefully, we'll help these folks out." In the most recent round of NACOG weatherization projects, crews have begun installing safety and energy-efficiency measures in low-income housing located on Sixth St. in Williams. Debbie Fuller with the Williams Housing Authority said residents were encouraged to apply for assistance provided by NACOG. "I saw that NACOG had this weatherization grant funding so we got in touch with them and applied for it and found that it was easier, because it is based on the family's income, for individual families to fill out the applications," she said. "That way, if they really weren't interested in having people in they didn't fill it out. The majority of everybody turned in their applications." Fuller went on to say that the program is beneficial not only to residents but also to the WHA itself. "Our capital funds are gone for the year," she said. "We remodeled some bathrooms this year but that's it until the next year." The WHA receives Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding but that funding has decreased in recent years. "The money being spent is going up," Fuller said. Weatherization work will be completed on 21 of 30 of the low-income residences owned by the WHA at a total cost of $63,000.
Read the article on the Williams News website.