State and Local Climate and Energy Program
Cold Climate Community Solutions – Duluth Energy Efficiency Program
Duluth, Minnesota
Federal Funding: $500,000
Project Timeline: February 2011 – January 2014
Project Summary
Making Energy Affordable for All Duluth Residents
The City of Duluth has created the Duluth Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP) to create jobs, lessen the energy affordability gap faced by Duluth families, retain energy dollars currently exported from the city, and reduce Duluth's carbon footprint. The program focuses on residential energy efficiency, and develops best practices from community behavior change to the installation of energy efficiency measures. DEEP will work to improve housing affordability and reduce energy costs through four "pathways," each focusing on a different residential circumstance including single family, multi-family (5+ units), do-it-yourself, and low-income advanced energy retrofits. The program recognizes the different barriers to energy efficiency faced in each of these circumstances, and has developed pathway-specific resources for each.
For single family households, DEEP will provide energy counseling that will take participants through audits, actual improvements, and quality assurance. All improvements under this pathway are conducted by Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified contractors. The multi-family pathway, on the other hand, will provide options for both landlords and tenants to save on their energy bills. Under this pathway tenants will receive low-cost or no-cost measures to reduce electrical and water usage, and landlords will be encouraged to assist in organizing tenant workshops in order to maximize participation and landlord audit subsidies. For individuals who would rather do their own improvements, the Do-It-Yourself pathway will provide access to a specialized workshop and a BPI technician that will provide blower door testing, scope development, one day of side-by-side assistance, and follow-up quality assurance. Finally, the low-income pathway of the program will conduct gut rehabilitations of blighted, foreclosed, and condemned structures that serve as training sites for current state inmates, who will be supervised by trained carpenters. All rehabilitated buildings will have a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating over 70. Building purchasers will then attend DEEP workshops to receive information on behavioral change energy reductions.
For all pathways, DEEP will conduct outreach to find participants, assist with a Home Energy Rating, maintain a database of all clients, offer workshops and demonstrations tailored to client's needs, tailored financing assistance, home performance audits, and quality assurance follow-up once improvements are made. In addition to reducing energy use, energy costs, and greenhouse gases, the program will create awareness of lead and radon testing, improve indoor air quality, create jobs, and develop affordable housing.
Community Characteristics
| Population: | 84,463 |
|---|---|
| Area: | 68 square miles |
| Government Type: | City |
| Community Type: | Urban |
| Median Household Income: | $39,602 |
Program Results/Estimated Results
| Expected GHG Reductions: | 7,012 metric tons CO2e annually |
|---|---|
| Expected Electricity Savings: | 5 million kWh annually |
| Expected Green Jobs Created: | 10 |
| Expected Energy Cost Savings: | $680,000 annually |
