Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) has been doing monthly weatherization barnraisings for over a year now. Since then, at least 14 other groups have followed the lead:
Watertown
Maynard
Arlington
Marlborough
Waltham
Somerville
Worcester
Boston
Carlisle
Reading
Allston/Brighton
Roxbury/Dorchester
Providence, RI
Maine
It would be good to see that growth explode over the next year and extend to solar barnraisings as well. Personally I'd like to see a weatherization barnraising on the White House with "This Old House," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," and all the other TV carpentry shows filming it. That would be a good way to start "Cash for Caulkers," wouldn't it?
Weatherization and solar barnraisings are what I call positive protests, driving the political conversation by demonstrating grassroots power and building the future we want ourselves. So far, this seems to be a decidedly idiosyncratic approach, here at dkos and in the world.
Maynard Barn-raising, 12/5
Have fun, meet new people, teach or learn new skills and cut carbon!
Come to Maynard's second weatherization barnraising on:
Saturday, Dec. 5
1:00—5:00 pm
15 Brooks Street, Maynard 01754
What will we do?
• Help to weatherize an 1890’s home with attached yoga studio and barn
• Teach people how to use tools and weatherize basements, windows,
doors, attic hatches, bulkheads, and more
• Learn skills you can take back to your own home
• Share chili supper and make new friends
The Work List Includes:
• Airseal an attic hatch with weatherseal tape and 2 hook & eyes
• Install interior storms that unzip for the summer months
• Install programmable thermostat and foam gaskets that prevent air
from leaking in through light switches
• Fill in basement gaps with caulk, mortar, spray foam and rigid
insulation
• Airseal closets to close off drafts from the attic and basement
Supper includes vegetarian chili, cornbread, brownies and holiday music
Sign up at
http://spreadsheets.google.com/...
Or contact Ann Marie at amk01730@yahoo.com or 978-897-3547
Organized by MaynardCAN! Bringing the issues of the environment and
sustainable living to the forefront of community discussion and action. For details, see http://www.maynardcan.org/
HEET Weatherization Barn-raisings
Sunday, December 6th,
12:30—5:00 p.m.
258 River St. AND
127 Montgomery St. Cambridge
Pitch in to help a neighbor
Learn skills that can save you $$ at home
Make new friends
Share food & celebrate with a live band!
No skills necessary – training on the job
Work includes:
Fixing windows that don’t close
Installing inexpensive, reusable interior storm windows, just a few $ per window
Sealing the band-joist (where the foundation meets the frame of the house)
Using caulk and spray-foam to stop air leaks
Saving water and electricity
and much more…
Sign up today by web, email or phone!!
http://www.HEETMA.com
heet.cambridge@gmail.com
617-491-6761
Organized by HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team),
a Cambridge-based co-op that brings neighbors together to
weatherize our homes and take the energy future into our own hands.
Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative in NH has done 115 solar installations in the last few years.
Seacoast Area Renewable Energy Initiative in the Piscataqua region on Maine and NH has begun doing solar barnraisings.
Coop Power in Western MA did more than a dozen solar barnraisings in the Fall of 2008 and continues doing them as well as organizing in other areas around the state and region.
Grid Alternatives has offices in LA, San Diego, and Fresno and done solar barnraisings as far away as Oakland.
Thirty years ago, during the last "energy crisis," there were also solar barnraisings. Here's one that's kept on working since 1980:
http://www.dailykos.com/...