Use of a Thermalize Campaign to Increase Community Resiliency in a Cold Climate

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The City and Borough of Juneau, located in IECC climate zone 7, has set a goal to reach 80% renewable energy for the heating and transportation sectors by 2045 to increase resiliency. Juneau relies on a local hydropower grid for nearly 100% renewable electricity, and increased reliance on electrification allows a decreased dependence on costly outside shipments of fuel oil, which can be disrupted by conflicts and natural disasters. A diverse team of local, statewide, and national partners implemented a thermalize campaign and evaluated its ability to decarbonize while increasing individual building and community resiliency through heat pumps and weatherization. Thermalize Juneau 2021, Alaska’s first thermalize campaign and the coldest and most rural such campaign in the United States to date, facilitated a bulk purchase, community outreach, and simplified installation process for ductless heat pump installations and efficiency improvements in buildings in the remote coastal community. The research and facilitation team evaluated Thermalize Juneau 2021 via several methods with a goal to improve future energy campaigns in other cold and rural locations. These included pre-campaign energy use modeling, compilation and analysis of energy audits and heat pump calculator tool results, participant surveys, a community survey, and actual energy use and demand curve analysis. Pre-campaign energy modeling predicted that the approximately 160 participating households could decrease energy use by as much as 50% if they installed all available retrofits, and energy audits and heat pump calculator tool results have confirmed this estimate. Participant surveys showed that the campaign was successful in recruiting across ages and income levels, but not across all racial groups and the most common recruitment tool was word-of-mouth. The research team is currently validating energy savings using with actual bills and collecting feedback on participant experience to inform future community energy campaigns in cold climates.

Product Details

Published:

2023

Number of Pages:

8

Units of Measure:

Dual

File Size:

1 file , 1.8 MB

Product Code(s):

D-CCC23-16

Note:

This product is unavailable in Russia, Belarus