Tour the Clean Energy Home of the Month
April Focus: Multi-System Transition House
Register HERE.
Concerned about the fossil fuels that heat your home? But not be sure how to incorporate unfamiliar renewable technologies? This month’s clean energy home is a great example of homeowners who have decided to address change one step at a time. They began by reviewing their home energy efficiency and doing a thorough project of insulation–with immediate results. Then, rather than redo their entire gas system, they decided the first step was a dual fuel combo of air source heat pump and natural gas furnace. Finally, a change in their tree canopy opened up space for their latest project, rooftop solar. Their experience has been so positive that one of the homeowners has become an Acton Clean Energy Coach!
Very few households have the resources to decarbonize their homes in one fell swoop. Come and talk with these Acton neighbors about creating a multi-year plan for transitioning to clean energy. Forward motion is the key. Perhaps year one is the affordable goal of an in-depth home energy audit and using the clothes dryer less in favor on drying racks. Year two might be another affordable goal of home insulation with great rebates from Mass Save. And so on, planning toward significant change. This home tour will give you good ideas about systems big and small, timeframes, and costs.
Register HERE.
The April Clean Energy Home’s Technologies
- Mass Save Insulation Program
- Ducted Bosch heat- pump and high efficiency gas furnace combo
- Solar panels with majority of panels facing west due to trees on south side
- Eco power lawn mower and leaf blower
When: Saturday, April 27, 11am and 1pm
Where: North Acton
There will be two 1-hour sessions to see the house at 11am and 1pm.
After registration you will receive an email with the house address and specific information about parking, etc.
ALSO! Consider attending the EnergizeActon.org program on May 2nd at 7pm, “How to PlugIN? Planning and Paying for Clean Energy.” This virtual talk will look at four different multi-year planning tools to help reduce the carbon footprint for home heating and cooling—the national Rewiring America “calculator,” the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) planning guide, the LexElectrify checklist, and the Carbon CREW personal climate action plan. This presentation will also consider loans, tax credits, rebates, and other tools essential to the planning process. Click HERE to register.
The Energize Acton “Clean Energy Home of the Month” tour will run from February to July 2024. Each month is a different home with a focus on a different technology, although all of the homes have multiple technologies. This is an effort to help Acton residents see firsthand how new clean energy technologies are working out for neighbors who have adopted them.
- February 24: Hydronics Whole House Heat Pump
- March 16: Solar Panels and Solar Battery Storage
- April 27: The Multi-System Transition House
- May: Apologies, this home is postponed ’til June due to basement flooding!
- June 15: TWO nextdoor houses—Everything ASHP House & Everything Geothermal House
- July: Solar and Energy Monitoring
Our monthly tours are part of a broader campaign called “PlugIN,” running from February through July 2024 and coordinated with groups across Acton and the region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The new movement for electrification—based on renewable energy sources and high-efficiency home heating, cooling, and appliance use—is part of Acton’s commitment to reach net zero emissions as soon as possible. To find out about regional PlugIN talks and other events, click HERE.
Upcoming PlugIN talks and events include the following.
- April 7: Special Panel on Community Solar hosted by Congregation Beth Elohim, JCAN, and Energize Acton
- May 2: How to PlugIN? Planning and Paying for Clean Energy
- June: PlugIN – Homeowner Panel on Heat Pump Benefits and Challenges
- June 8: Climate Resilience Festival sponsored by the Acton Sustainability Office
- July: PlugIN – How It All Fits Together
- July: PlugIN PICNIC: Celebrating Collective Action!