Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: Markus

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest!  Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

Essay by Markus: 

My motivation for a Home Energy Makeover is based on an imperative I feel to do everything I can to address global warming after 10 years of working at NCAR. That decade of exposure to scientists and engineers exploring the causes and implications of climate change has awakened me to the growing crisis of our time. Nearly every day at work, I sat at lunch and learned a new eye opening discovery about the nature and trajectory of the changes we're seeing to weather and climate around the globe. My growing concern has led me to make changes to my personal life, using less energy at home, engaging the EnergySmart program to find new efficiencies, driving less and less, and bicycling more and more.

After doing my part as a web engineer to accelerate the pace of atmospheric science over all those years, I recently made a big change in my life. I decided to become a poet and writer. I'll be publishing my first book of poetry this Fall. My dream is to write under a roof of solar panels providing my energy as I raise awareness about how we can walk with more wisdom on this Earth.


Energetically yours,
Markus

Posted by Shawn Lindabury

Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: Amy

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest!  Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

Home Energy Makeover Video Submission, by Amy:

Posted by Shawn Lindabury

Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: Susy A

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest!  Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

The Hot Zone, by Susy A 

We rarely go down there,

to this hot zone.

Wars have been won

on the crawl space walls.

Spiders casting spectacular webs.

It’s a breeding ground

or so we’ve been told

but we don’t like swarms of anything

and there are, EnergySmart says,

swarms of everything.

Last night I dreamed of

an army building below

our bed. Bugs pooling on

the foundation in masses

unimaginable. The greatest

nightmare of all is that we have

fostered this perfect ecosystem,

this crawl space with a climate

exquisitely warm and wet

for the centipedes, spiders

potato bugs to nestle in

for the long hall, fighting

and feeding on each other,

laying their eggs. We are

too afraid to venture down

to change the filter, wrap the joints.

We wait. They breed. And to think

of what lies above.

Save us.

Posted by Shawn Lindabury

Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: Steve F

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest!  Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

Home Energy Makeover Video, by Steve Fenberg

Check out Boulder resident Steve Fenberg's reasons for entering the Home Energy Makeover contest:

Posted by Shawn Lindabury

Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: Bruce D

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest!  Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

Why our house needs a Home Energy Makeover, by Bruce D.

The Drogsvold Family

For 24 years we have called 5^th street home. Our Children were born and raised here; our son was born on the living room couch. In 1990 we planted a tree for each member of the family, and today the trees are all grown up, just like our children. Our house is filled with rich family memories; but like most 100-year-old homes in Boulder, it wastes tons of energy.

"Bessie", the inefficient 100-year old boiler.

The EnergySmart Program provides us with a unique opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint and our utility bills simultaneously. We recently discovered our century-old boiler was merely 40 percent efficient, the attic has only 15R insulation, and the house, overall was very very leaky.

After partnering with our energy advisor, ERC Insulation, and Elevations Credit Union for 4-months, we expect to save energy and money by making a few key home improvements.

This knowledge has also prompted me to share the importance of energy audits, blower door tests, air-sealing procedures, LED lighting and energy efficiency with my real estate clients and colleagues. 

Thank you dear home 

For everything you give

For your warmth, your shelter

And for this place to live

For your contstant protection 

And a roof over our head 

For providing cozy rooms 

To put our children to bed

For keeping us safe 

When we're sleeping at night

For helping our family

Know everything's alright

Now it's our turn 

To give back to you

By improving some things with an EnergySmart redo

Posted by Shawn Lindabury

Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: Liz and Mark

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest!  Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

Liz and Mark's Essay and Poem

Liz and Mark's House

We are a husband/wife, architect/project manager team with LEED training.  We are recognized for our remodel work and clients look to us to help them achieve their homes’ energy requirements.  We have a home office in a 1968 brick and frame tri-level home with a slab on grade lower level, a partial crawl space and an old inefficient hot-water baseboard system.  This home had a solar hot water system added in 1982 which wore out years ago.

Liz and Mark's old heating system

The primary energy upgrade would be replacing the failing heating system while improving our indoor air quality.  The Xcel Energy Audit totals $11,213.  If selected, we would use the additional dollars to upgrade the single pane windows, increase the size of the south windows for passive solar, change the old wood-burning fireplaces to gas, replace the whole house fan, remove the defunct solar panels, install window coverings and insulated garage door.  We would then have a home demonstrating energy savings to showcase as an example for clients.  With the downturn of the economy resulting in slow business, these improvements would give us cost savings, a boost to our marketability, as well as improve the quality of life for our family of five!

Our World’s resources won’t last.

We must conserve unlike the past.

Every light bulb and leaky seal

Must be addressed for the best deal

By focusing on things with meaning

It will contribute to our World’s greening!

Posted by Shawn Lindbabury 

Home Energy Makeover Semi-finalist: The Harp-Truex Family

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the EnergySmart Home Energy Makeover contest! We had over 300 participants - wow!

One part of the winner selection was asking our semi-finalists to submit creative answers to "why we need a home energy makeover". Over the next few weeks we will share the stories of all our semi-finalists.  Enjoy!

The Harp-Truex Family & The Little Yellow House (a short story)

Once upon a time...a little yellow house was built.  It was a happy little house and like most houses built a long, long time ago it was built to be naturally efficient—the plaster walls were deep  and kept the little house cozy all winter. A very tall tree was planted and grew and grew, and kept the house cool all summer.

One day a family bought the little yellow house. They moved in and were very happy. But by now the little yellow house had been standing for more than a hundred years and was starting to leak, and crack, and it’s workings were starting to wear out. The little yellow house became less and less efficient as cold air blew in from the west, and hot air seeped out through the attic. The family wanted to fix the little yellow house but the man came from a bustling city very far away, where people didn’t understand how houses worked; and the woman understood only computers.

Then one day the family won a contest, and the city where they lived helped them fix the little yellow house. The stopped up the leaks and fixed the cracks and gave the little yellow house shiny new workings. The little yellow house was saved, and stood for another hundred years.

Posted by Shawn Lindabury