Spring Break
UGA helps weatherize homes
FACS receives $1.3 in grant
DALLAS DUNCAN
Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: News
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"Basically, [weatherization] is a nationally funded program authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy," Jorge Atiles, associate dean of academics in FACS, said in a telephone interview Thursday.
"It makes your home able to withstand weather," he said. "It's actually been able to help families who don't have the resources."
Atiles said the main weather concern is how a home's temperature affects a family's energy bills. He said low-income families will be taught how to use weather strips and insulation to keep their house weatherized, as well as how to understand their energy bills.
He said if people do not properly weatherize their homes and do not understand how to conserve energy, they could revert to unsafe practices for heating their homes, such as using kerosene lamps, which have been linked to carbon monoxide poisoning if they are burned in places with poor ventilation.
The college's weatherization program will focus on "how to help people identify areas in their homes where they are losing energy," said Laura Jolly, dean of FACS.
"It's a key way to leverage resources to reinforce partnerships with the county, state and federal levels and to help out these families," she said.
Mandi Colson, an extension program coordinator for FACS, said the program will help homeowners adhere to the Governor's Energy Challenge 2020.
"We're really excited; we're getting amped up about this," she said in a telephone interview Thursday.
The April 2008 Executive Order for the challenge said "the State Energy Leadership Initiative will support state agencies and departments in their efforts to reduce 2007 energy levels on a per square foot basis by 15 percent by 2020 through energy efficiency or through the inclusion of renewable energy, that could lead to a taxpayer savings of $19 million annually.
Atiles said families who weatherize their homes properly will save money on their energy bills. He said even if energy costs go up, a family with a weatherized home could pay the same amount they had been paying versus having their bills increased.
"We hope people can save 15 percent of what they were paying," he said.
