By retrofitting existing homeless shelters with green, energy efficient upgrades, the Program will enable non-profit Service Providers to increase their service delivery capacity by reducing their operating costs for energy.  Service Providers will benefit through lower monthly expenses for electricity, gas, and water resulting in increased comfort and efficiencies in their facilities and an overall reduction in their environmental impact.  The target metrics for the Program are to save at least 40 percent in annual utility costs and to recover the cost of the energy saving retrofits in five years or less. 

The Program will enable HomeAid to retrofit a variety of different homelessness facilities around the country through its network of 19 active chapters in 13 states.  By doing so, we will create a template for use by other non-profit organizations seeking to transfer funds previously committed to energy costs to more productive services.  For HomeAid and the building industry in these difficult economic times, focusing on green, sustainable retrofitting projects will be significantly less challenging than building new facilities.  The projects in Georgia and Washington, DC evidence the range of retrofitting that can be accomplished.

In Decatur, GA, HomeAid Atlanta, an affiliate of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, recently completed the retrofit of a 1,600 square foot home built in the 1950s and now operated as a transitional home for homeless families by Decatur Cooperative Ministry.  Following the completion of an energy audit to determine current energy usage and opportunities for retrofitting, HomeAid Atlanta partnered with WellHome, an affiliate of Masco Home Services, to implement a set of recommendations that included insulation replacement, sealing of air penetration points, duct tightening, replacement of incandescent lighting, and replacement of appliances by GE Appliances and Lighting.

In Washington, DC, HomeAid Washington, DC, an affiliate of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA), completed an extensive energy efficiency retrofitting project at REACH youth home, operated by Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a DC based non-profit organization meeting the urgent needs of at-risk youth and their families.  HomeAid DC partnered with Efficient Home LLC and Newport Energy Partners LLC, both energy efficiency experts and MNCBIA members, to complete a broad array of energy saving upgrades at the facility, including replacement of the Heating and Air Conditioning System and Water Heaters, new programmable thermostats, new Energy Star replacement windows, insulation, duct sealing, and lighting replacement.  In addition to more than $10,000 worth of in-kind donations by Efficient Home and Newport Partners, GE Appliances and Lighting is also a major contributor to the project.

The success of HomeAid’s Environmental Sustainability Program will provide guidance to thousands of multi-unit group residential facilities across the country on how to retrofit their own facilities to achieve greater programmatic efficiencies.  HomeAid plans to publish the results of the Program online in a format than can assist Service Providers in their own retrofitting efforts.  By providing specific retrofitting information, both in terms of systems and improvements installed and the costs thereof, HomeAid’s ESP will serve as a template to other non-profits seeking to enhance their service capacities.