ECCO has won two awards from the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) and the McKnight Foundation. At an October 25 awards ceremony, $5,000 was awarded to the East Calhoun neighborhood for having the highest percentage (18%) of households receiving Home Energy Visits through the Community Energy Services (CES) program. In addition, Monica Smith, who serves as staff for ECCO, East Isles (EIRA) and Cedar-Isles-Dean (CIDNA), won a $1,000 award on behalf of her work promoting CES in all three neighborhoods. A third of this award went to ECCO.
Community Energy Services promotes home energy efficiency through workshops and follow-up home energy visits, which are similar to energy audits. CES kicked off in ECCO in September, 2010 with a workshop held at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church. Attendees were then qualified to sign up for a free Home Energy Visit, in which two trained technicians assess your home for energy efficiency, make recommendations and supply you with free materials like CFL light bulbs, programmable thermostats, low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators.
Through its Phase II NRP plan, ECCO offers matching grants and low-interest loans to help defray the cost of energy efficiency improvements. In addition, ECCO will reimburse the first 150 residents who attend a CES workshop for the $30 fee.
The next CES workshop will take place on Saturday, December 10 at 10am at Lake Harriet Upper School, 4912 Vincent Avenue South. For more information visit www.mnces.org or contact Monica Smith at nrp@eastcalhoun.org.
Sarah Sponheim chairs the East Calhoun Green Team and serves as President of the ECCO Board.
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