Button Up Energy preforming a new build home test

When Bend resident Lisa Seales learned that her landlord was contemplating replacing the windows in her home with energy-efficient models, she asked him to consider doing an energy audit first. She hoped to learn about the ways in which her home uses and loses energy, but what she did not expect was to see the audit team dash out of her house after reading the carbon monoxide levels from her hot water heater and furnace. It turns out that the older appliances were not venting to the outside as expected, but were instead off-gassing into her living space.

“I had no idea the audit was going to uncover anything like that, something so drastic and dangerous,” said Seales.

Instead of replacing the windows, her landlord replaced the appliances with modern, high-efficiency versions. Seales, who has since purchased the home, has plans to eventually address the windows, but for now is working on tackling the less expensive items that the audit recommended, including increasing insulation and eliminating leaks. Seales expects the changes to not only save energy, but to save money as well, and she wants to encourage others to have their homes assessed.

Obtaining an energy audit for your home is one of the top recommendations made by the Bend Energy Challenge, an effort spearheaded by The Environmental Center to help Bend residents save energy and make their homes healthier and more comfortable. The program also enables our community to participate in a nationwide energy-saving competition with a $5 million prize. Bend is currently a semi-finalist in the competition, one of 49 other communities across the nation that have engaged their residents in efforts to reduce energy usage.

The competition analyzes data on actual electricity and natural gas use for all residential and local government accounts in the City of Bend, using data gathered in 2013 and 2014 as a baseline.

“We are essentially competing against ourselves,” said Mike Riley, executive director of The Environmental Center.

To participate, residents can go online where they take the Bend Energy Challenge Pledge, create a personalized energy plan and find all kinds of tips and other resources related to energy efficiency.

The Bend Energy Challenge is partnering with the COBA Tour of Homes this year, providing educational information and resources at several of the homes on the tour, and highlighting ways that new homes can be energy efficient. A Neil Kelly home in Tetherow will be featured as one example of green building during the tour.

“COBA’s tour is the pre-eminent home tour in Central Oregon — we knew we wanted to be part of that,” said Riley.

Andy High, vice president of government affairs for COBA, is enthusiastic about the partnership with the Bend Energy Challenge and the Tour of Homes.

“People are looking for energy upgrades and this is a great way to see what is out there both for retrofitting and also if you are building,” said High. “We look forward to being a small part of hopefully winning the competition.”

The bottom line is that the key to winning the competition is for each resident in the community to be aware of their energy usage and to take steps to be more efficient.

“There are so many things we can do that matter,” said Seales. “… we can start here and take personal responsibility in ways that don’t even really impact our lifestyles.”