Boulder County Encourages Residents to Assess Their Energy Needs

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Boulder County is offering two new opportunities, both related to home energy, for residents to take advantage of.

The first resource for the energy conscious resident is EnergySmart’s Virtual Advisor. This is an online tool that will assist residents in making improvements to their homes and/or habits. These changes will help users plan energy efficiency upgrades on a schedule best suited for them.

According to Brad Smith, sustainability outreach specialist of Boulder County, this program came out of data gathered after working with just over 17,000 homes. The owners of those homes worked alongside a personal energy advisor to learn about ways to upgrade the energy efficiency of their dwellings. Of those homes, around 70% made conversions toward energy efficiency.

The Virtual Advisor tool is a way to utilize the data collected from that program in order to reach more people. "One of the greatest things about this tool is that it is accessible to the public 24/7 online. Now people can look into ways of making their homes more energy efficient without having to work only during business hours," says Smith.

This tool can help homeowners learn how their homes function as a system, plan projects, find rebates and even understand and plan the financial aspects of upgrading their homes.

"The Virtual Advisor is a great tool to demystifying how a house uses energy. Residential buildings account for 22% of the greenhouse gas emissions in Boulder County. If everyone participates even in a small way, we will all live more comfortably, save more money and have less of an impact on the environment," states Smith.

One of the ways people can help move toward a more energy efficient Boulder County is to install solar panels. This, however, can be a daunting task with a plethora of options available.

In an effort to assist homeowners in choosing the right company to install panels, Boulder County's EnergySmart program has compiled a list of trusted solar panel installers.

The companies on this list are required to have a NABCEP certified technician on staff to ensure that panels are installed correctly and safely. Additionally, Boulder County looked at the number of years these installers have been in operation. "We want to recommend companies we can trust with quality work and the amount of time they have been in business is a good indicator of quality and how long they will be around in the future," says Smith.

In addition to giving residents a list of installers, EnergySmart is available to answer questions and assist residents with expert advice when comparing installment bids.

The Boulder County Commissioners’ Office of Sustainability is encouraging residents to consider solar panels before 2020 when the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) shrinks. The ITC offers a 30% tax credit.

According to the EnergySmart website, "Boulder County is already experiencing the impact of climate change in the form of reduced snowpack, earlier snowmelt, high intensity wildfires, extreme weather events, and hot heat days." With this in mind, Boulder County is making an effort to help its residents become more energy efficient and use renewable energy to power our community.