Efficient Housing for All

Efficient Housing for All

Experts at the intersection of public health, community engagement and energy efficiency are called to address opportunities to increase participation in income eligible home energy efficiency programs in Rhode Island. In 2022, funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and some funding from RI Energy was braided to fund the weatherization of 1,269 homes in RI. In 2023, 1,298 homes were weatherized with the same funding sources. An increase in savings on heating and cooling costs through the completion of weatherization projects leads to lower energy burdens and healthier indoor air quality for families. In under-resourced communities, this effort also leads to a more equitable distribution of resources to ratepayers.

Despite the marginal increase in completed weatherization projects from 2022 to 2023 in RI, income eligible energy efficiency programs continue to suffer from nonparticipation and pre-weatherization deferral issues. These are complex problems that are well defined through nonparticipant studies conducted by consulting firms in RI and other states, but the needle hasn’t moved despite the work that has been done thus far to raise awareness around barriers to participation.

There are scores of organizations working to improve quality of life for Rhode Island residents through education and engagement around public and environmental health. The University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Energy Literacy Initiative (URI) works with strategic partners to improve access to information for consumers, professionals and policymakers, most recently around energy efficiency for the home, for all. A recent focus of this work has been to strengthen the relationship between the University and organizations working with communities to improve quality of life; this effort has led to collaboration with the RI Association of Community Action Agencies (CAA) and the RI Health Equity Zone Initiative (HEZ). In a short period of time, with support from HEZ leadership, URI has built relationships a new community of partners, including public health experts, community-based CAA and HEZ workers who interact directly with our most vulnerable Rhode Islanders regularly, and most importantly, with those who live in the communities that are traditionally underserved. Through this ongoing funded partnership with the RI Energy Efficiency Council (EEC), awareness of the inextricable links between public health and home energy efficiency are increasing.

Subheading: A Community of Practice

To build on this momentum, URI has established an “Efficient Housing for All” Community of Practice (EHACoP) to function as a venue for issue identification and analysis, idea exchange, and solutions related to nonparticipation in income eligible services offered through the federal and state government, and the utility. Communities of practice equip passionate individuals with collective goals in order to effectively bring changes and solutions to common and/or intersecting issues. Through a supportive network, communities of practice enable groups of people to adapt, utilize relationships, and expand their fields of knowledge on related issues. Tools and shared information generated through communities of practice can provide members with the essential elements they need for collective growth and problem solving. A community of practice focused on residential energy efficiency and validated by multiple governmental organizations will elevate solutions to prevalent energy equity-related issues in RI.

The EHACoP will engage those with lived experience and expertise in energy efficiency policy and planning and public health, including income-eligible ratepayers, renters, landlords, community-based health workers, policymakers, government officials, students and advocates.