Mainers Helping Mainers, One Weatherization Project at a Time
Municipal Resilience Fellow, Camille Beaulieu, holds a split position where she serves with the GPCOG Sustainability Team and the Town of Windham Planning Department. Here, she breaks down how improving the energy efficiency of homes directly plays a role in building resilient communities.
The term sustainability has become a bit of a loaded word. But, what does it actually mean? Let’s look at the root of the word: sustain. To sustain is to last. Sustainability refers to the ability of a system (ecological, social, economic, etc.) to maintain itself over time. Resilience refers to a system’s capacity to prepare for, absorb, and recover from disturbances, both at an individual and community wide level. A sustainable system is also a resilient system – how can we sustain if we cannot bounce back from challenges?
Notice how neither definition necessitates an environmentalist agenda. Neither definition requires you to hug a tree or save a polar bear or spend your retirement savings on a single solar panel.
As a Resilience Corps fellow serving with the Town of Windham and GPCOG, my work revolves around these concepts of sustainability and community resilience. When I tell someone “I am helping to create a more sustainable and resilient community”, I could mean any number of things. Which is part of the beauty! A large project I’ve been focused on this year has been to make Maine’s energy system more resilient through energy efficiency.
Energy is at the root of everything we do – gas to get to work or the store, heat for homes in the winter, and electricity to keep our schools and hospitals open. We need a more resilient energy system because a disruption would inhibit our ability to go about our lives.
The state of Maine has some of the oldest housing stock in the country. The heating and cooling of residential and commercial buildings is responsible for ⅓ of Maine’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This is partly because almost 60% of households are heated with oil (compared to 4% nationally), inherently meaning that 60% of households in Maine are susceptible to price spikes in a volatile global oil market. Old buildings are part of what gives our communities character, but it also means that many homes are improperly sealed, making them uncomfortable (too warm in the summer, too cold in the winter). The good news is that improving energy efficiency is key to solving many of these problems.
One way to make the energy system more resilient in Maine communities is through the installation of more heat pumps. Heat pumps can keep us warm through frigid winter days and cool during muggy summer evenings. They don't directly rely on home heating oil or propane, which means Mainers aren't competing for expensive fossil fuels in an unstable world market, and help reduce emissions.
In 2020, the state published Maine Won’t Wait, the statewide Climate Action Plan. Among many others, the plan set a goal to install 100,000 heat pumps in the state by 2025. Maine achieved this goal two years ahead of schedule. Today, over 200,000 heat pumps have been installed.
This rapid adoption is thanks in part to Efficiency Maine’s heat pump rebates – up to $9,000 per project (income-dependant)! But, even with the rebate, the remaining balance of heat pump installation is cost prohibitive to many. In other words, heat pumps aren't always the right choice for everyone. This is where weatherization comes in: sealing and insulating to improve efficiency.
Building more resilient communities means neighbors helping neighbors. That can mean repairing roofs or building window inserts. Resilience for one person won’t always look the same as resilience for another.
In my time at the Greater Portland Council of Governments, I have been working on a regional pilot program called Greater Portland Energy Coaches with the towns of Falmouth and Yarmouth, Maine (where I work with my fellow Resilience Corps member, Christy Phillips). An energy coach is a volunteer who takes the time to learn about the basics of building science and help their neighbors apply it in their own homes via free one on one consultations. The goal of the program is to help create customized plans to implement energy efficiency improvement projects in their homes to save energy, emissions, and money. Since our coaches are volunteers and not affiliated with a product or business, they’re able to help residents make decisions that are right for their unique situation, without the pressure of a salesman on their doorstep. Energy coaches are energy coaches, not just electricity coaches. If residents are not ready to convert their heating systems to electricity, they can still benefit from the program. If we can reduce the energy demand, we’ve met our goal.
GPCOG modeled the Greater Portland Energy Coaches program on existing energy coach models like the York Energy Coaches and Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission’s (SMPDC) Energy Navigator program (where Ava Moseley, is an Energy Navigator Fellow). The South Portland Sustainability Department (including Robyn Landes, South Portland’s Resilience Fellow) also developed their Home Energy Program, which just opened an application! All of these programs are variations of the same idea: neighbors helping neighbors to reduce their energy use and energy bills. Money saved on energy costs gives Mainers more breathing room to respond to other challenges.
In Windham, I am organizing the Sebago Lakes Region Window Dressers Community Build. Window Dressers is a nonprofit focused on building low-cost insulating window inserts. These act as interior storm windows, providing a layer of insulation between your home and the elements. Inserts are a reusable and more effective alternative to shrink-wrapping windows in the winter time, and are far cheaper than replacing windows. Plus, inserts enable you to retain heat while maintaining your home’s character. Window Dressers is largely volunteer operated, and keeps costs down by gathering community members to build these window inserts, such as the Sebago Lakes Community Build in December.
The most valuable piece of information I have taken away from these two projects is that an energy efficient home requires weatherization first. Keeping the heat inside your house is the first step – it doesn’t matter how the air is heated if you send it right out the door.
Creating a better future for Maine means we have to get better at preparing for and bouncing back from all the challenges coming our way. Energy is just one example. We already have a great foundation in the tight-knit nature of Maine communities – we can keep building on that.
Sustainability and community resilience don’t have to be speculative concepts. It's taking real action, now, to come together to make ourselves stronger.
About Camille
Camille is originally from Omaha, Nebraska, though she has also lived in Arizona and California. She graduated from Bowdoin College with a BA in Environmental Studies and Gender Studies. Camille enjoys reading, singing, water coloring, spending time outside, and hanging out with friends and family. As an undergraduate, Camille interned for Environment America, advocating for bipartisan congressional support of the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act. She also worked as a Climate Resilience Committee Intern for the Town of Arrowsic, ME where her work was focused on researching and drafting a climate handbook for the town’s residents. Camille continues to volunteer for the Environmental Voter Project, where she also interned, to turn out environmental voters. Camille is thrilled to be a part of Resilience Corps because she enjoys building up and contributing to her community. From environmental restoration and renewable energy to emergency preparedness, Camille is excited to build on her experience and help Maine communities adapt to our changing climate.
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