Now that the weather is finally warming up, Community Power Works wants to help central and southeast Seattle home and business owners increase the energy efficiency of their buildings so they won’t need to be so cold next winter. Where before energy efficiency programs were confusing and sometimes overwhelming, CPW will attempt to guide people through the process from start to finish. From Sightline:

Fortunately, Seattle is the latest Northwest city to roll out a smart program making that process much easier. It will help home and business owners make improvements that save energy and money over the long haul, and create family-wage green-collar jobs needed to do the work. The Community Power Works program – which officially launched today – is now available to homeowners, apartment building owners and small businesses in Central and Southeast Seattle. It helps people choose the most cost-effective projects, connects them with pre-approved contractors, offers assurances that the work will be done correctly, lays out financing options, and allows the loans to be repaid on their electric bills.

The project officially launched April 19 and was funded by a federal grant from the Better Buildings grant program. People who use the program will have access to an affordable load that can be paid off through their energy bills, and, therefore, through their energy bill savings:

Seattle’s Community Power Works for Home follows Sightline’s recommendations to make the process much easier for homeowners (and is similar to ones in Oregon and Vancouver). They’ll have access to:

• An energy expert to set up appointments and guide them through the process.
• A deeply discounted home energy assessment (cost: $95) to determine which improvements will be most cost-effective.
• Bids from pre-approved contractors that bundle together all applicable energy efficiency rebates and incentives.
• Information about financing options.
• Affordable loans from Enterprise Cascadia, a non-profit community lender, which can be paid back on the home’s electric bill.
• A followup audit to make sure the work has been done correctly and that the energy savings are being realized.

Homeowners can learn more about the home program at CPW’s May 3 kickoff event in Rainier Beach:

Community Kick-off Celebration

Join us for the community kick-off celebration for Community Power Works for Home!
Families are welcome!

When:
May 3, 2011, 6:30 p.m.

Where:

South Shore School

8825 Rainier Ave. S