Topsham’s Energy Committee will soon be educating residents and businesses on energy conservation options through a series of free webinars.
The webinars are a part of the committee’s first anniversary celebration. Besides energy conservation, the residents will learn about renewable energy options and beneficial electrification, among other topics.
The committee’s Chair Yvette Meunier said the webinar series is important because people are skeptical about mailers and advertisements promoting new financial incentives and technologies as they want to learn about these things from their neighbors and locals they trust.
“We think we are the right folks to bring that to them,” said Meunier. “We are not paid by anyone for our work, and we are not employed by any of the business or entities showcased in this series. We are just a bunch of energy enthusiasts who want to share our knowledge and experience with our neighbors.”
In October 2020, the select board established a five-member committee to provide research, education, and recommendation to the board, residents, and businesses to achieve energy conservation and thus reduce the town’s energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
“The information we will be providing can help folks save money while helping to combat the greatest existential threat to humanity, which is climate change,” Meunier said.
The first webinar is focused on how to weatherize your home and will be held on Nov.17.
“We started this series with weatherization as it is the first step any building owner should take to assess the baseline efficiency of their structure. It is the low-hanging fruit with a faster return on investment than installing solar panels or a new heating system,” said Nancy Chandler, a committee member leading this event in a media release.
In this one-hour session, energy advisers from Efficiency Maine Trust will present the benefits of a complete energy audit and the most cost-effective steps to save money by tightening the building envelope and increasing insulation.
Their programs offer generous rebates of up to $9,600 depending on income level, including those with low to moderate incomes.
Window Dressers, a volunteer-driven nonprofit that makes low-cost insulating storm windows, will share how these window inserts work. In addition, Topsham’s local Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers chapter will share their programs which help build, repair, and weatherize homes with inexpensive measures.
Yvette said that they currently have two more webinars planned, but they are going about them one at a time.
“The frequency of these webinars has not been established yet,” said Yvette. “With the holidays coming up and our committee meeting once a month, we have not scheduled our next one yet.”
The resources provided at the webinar will be at the town office for the residents who do not have access to the internet.
For more details about the webinar, visit topshammaine.com/weatherize
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