In the News

MLK Jr. Service Project Homes Receive Energy Efficiency Retrofits

Atlanta, GA, October 27, 2011 – Funded by a grant from the Department of Energy, several homes from this year’s MLK Jr. Service Project have received significant energy efficiency improvements. The annual service project provides free home maintenance and repairs for low-income senior citizens; many whom struggle to pay high utility bills. The goal of the project was to promote a systematic, whole-house approach to reducing utility usage.

To create a baseline for measuring success, Renewal System Solutions was chosen to perform comprehensive energy assessments on each of the four homes. The effects of the retrofits will be measured over time, giving program leaders data to support the continuing energy efficiency efforts.

The Martin Luther King Service project was initiated in 2003 by the Decatur Preservation Alliance, which recognized an unmet and dire need in our community – that of low-income senior citizens who are unable to maintain their homes. Every January, volunteers provide free home maintenance and repair to Decatur senior citizens during the holiday weekend. In 2011, approximately 1,200 volunteers turned out to provide home repairs and yard work for Decatur’s seniors. Thirteen homes were repaired, and 37 more received yard work, totaling 50 households served.

Renewal System Solutions specializes in home performance and energy efficiency improvements. Renewal participates in the SHINE, DecaturWISE, and Georgia Power rebate programs. For more information, visit www.RenewalSystemSolutions.com, or call 404.378.6962.

Renewal Partnering with Southface and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Atlanta, GA, June 2011 – Renewal System Solutions is partnering with Southface Energy Institute and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to help homeowners achieve significant energy savings through home efficiency improvements. As part of a nationwide study, Southface and ORNL are developing extensive retrofit case studies on 10 metro Atlanta homes. Renewal was chosen to make the energy efficiency improvements to 6 of these homes, 5 of which are owned by Agnes Scott College.

The goal of these retrofits is a 30 to 50 percent increase in energy savings. Buildings currently consume 40 percent of the nation’s total primary energy and are responsible for half of all greenhouses gases emitted by the U.S.

“We are excited to work with Renewal System Solutions on this important project,” says Dr. Roderick Jackson, buildings researcher in the ORNL’s Buildings Technologies Research and Integration Center. “Not only will we help homeowners save energy and lower their utility bills, but this work will also provide solid, verifiable evidence of how to achieve energy savings of 30-50%. Moreover, it will boost the national goal of advancing residential retrofits to save energy, create jobs, and ultimately, make homes a part of the climate solution.”

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is best known for being developed to support the Manhattan Project in 1943. It is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, and its Buildings Technology Center (BTC) is “the premier U.S. research facility devoted to developing technologies that improve the energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of residential and commercial buildings.” Southface Energy Institute is a non-profit leader in the promotion of sustainable buildings and communities.

Assess Your Nest: Renewal Featured in Atlanta Intown Paper

July 2010 – Atlanta Intown Paper asked writer Jenn Ballentine to have an energy assessment performed on her home. This is Jenn’s first-hand account of the Renewal home performance process:

“As a freelance writer and consultant, I work from home and am particularly attuned to the varying comfort levels of my 1910 Craftsman in Virginia Highland. Given that my home is 100 years old and still contains all of the original lead glass windows, two of the five original coal-burning fireplaces and some of the original plaster walls it is very drafty and cold in the wintertime. In the summertime, it is difficult to maintain a comfortable temperature, particularly when we entertain and have more people than usual in the house.

Joe Thomas and Steve Herzlieb of Renewal System Solutions (a sister company of Renewal Design Build) conducted a Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Assessment on my home looking for air leakage, inadequate insulation, leaky heating and cooling systems and ineffective moisture control.” Continue reading.