ROCKINGHAM, Vt. – Energize Vermont, a nonprofit energy education and advocacy organization, recently announced two grant awards to the Guilford and Rockingham Energy Committees, to support the town’s WindowDressers program. Over the last several years, Energize Vermont has granted thousands of dollars to WindowDressers communities. At WindowDressers workshops, community volunteers collaborate to assemble custom-fit plastic film inserts stretched over wooden frames. The Energize Vermont grant is intended to support participation in WindowDressers workshops by lower-income households.
Nancy Detra of the Guilford Energy Committee reflects, “working together in the fall of 2022, about 50 volunteers built 262 window inserts to warm 34 homes and help reduce fuel bills as well as carbon emissions. Our success is due to the goodwill and determination of community members. We are eager to continue providing free inserts to folks who need them in 2023.”
For WindowDressers projects, town Energy Committee volunteers solicit orders for window inserts, and recruit and train volunteer workshop participants. The inserts work like storm windows, but are much less expensive and far easier to install and remove. They fit inside an existing window, adding two insulating spaces and improving the air seal. Window inserts improve the comfort of homes, reduce heating costs, and can reduce carbon footprints.
“I measured a lot of drafty windows in our first two years offering this program, and we heard from many of our customers what a difference the inserts made in their comfort and in lower fuel bills,” said Peter Bergstrom of the Rockingham Energy Committee.
Support for WindowDressers is an element of Energize Vermont’s Climate Action Project, which promotes a response to climate change that reduces consumption, limits energy sprawl, and preserves the natural resources that defend Vermont against climate impacts.
The Vermont WindowDressers effort has technical and material support from Maine’s non-profit WindowDressers, which developed the community approach to energy savings. Over the history of the project, WindowDressers has conducted hundreds of workshops in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The workshops have engaged thousands of community volunteers, and produced over 48,000 window inserts, with 25-30% of those supplied to low-income households without cost. More information is available at www.windowdressers.org.
Town energy committees or other community groups interested in learning more about Energize Vermont’s Grant Program or Vermont Window Project community workshops may contact Becca Dill at becca@energizevermont.org, or Jack Sumberg, WindowDressers President, at jack.sumberg@gmail.com.