Save the Environment While Saving Money

Residents can bring more green to their homes — in both cash and environmental benefits — by taking advantage of a free, city-supported program.

Through Green@Home, residents can receive an energy assessment and ideas on how to use less energy in their homes. That, in turn, saves money.

“Nationwide, approximately 21 percent of our energy is used in our homes. We’re trying to reduce that piece of the pie,” says Elizabeth Sarmiento, outreach coordinator of Green@Home, which is funded by a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Green@Home is part of Palo Alto-based Acterra, a nonprofit organization formed in 2000 by the merger of Peninsula Conservation Center Foundation and Bay Area Action. Green@Home serves the communities of Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Redwood City, Cupertino and recently added Mountain View to its list.

Volunteers from all over the Bay Area are trained to do “HouseCalls,” which help homeowners identify spots that could benefit from replacing a water-gushing showerhead with a more efficient one, weather stripping around windows for better indoor climate control, or incandescent light bulbs with energy-miser CFL light bulbs, among other things.

The first half of a two-session training for volunteers is scheduled for today in Mountain View. The second session will be April 13.

Additional trainings are May 10 and 17 in Menlo Park. Each session is 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Once the requirements of attending the sessions and scheduled HouseCalls are completed, trainees will receive refunds of their $30 deposits.

Receiving a HouseCall requires no upfront costs and there is no commitment to follow through with the ideas and suggestions. There are bonuses involved with the HouseCall: Residents can get a free tree and apply for a $100 grant on top of the average $182 per year savings on energy bills after the visit.

“We want to bring people together for a healthy planet,” Sarmiento says.

To sign up for a free HouseCall, fill out a request form here or call 650-962-9876 ext. 350 to schedule it by phone.  Learn more about Acterra’s community programs at www.Acterra.org.