During the election, Candidate Obama envisioned a weatherization (WX) program that would weatherize 1,000,000 homes in one year. The current WX system weatherized 140,000 last program year, so that’s a big jump for the current system. The average cost per house that could be spent was $3,055 at the beginning of federal fiscal year October 08 or FY09. The Obama Administration raised that average to $6,500. Professionals in the weatherization field have recognized for some time that the average was too low to address other energy and structural issues of a house/mobile home.

 

With $3,055, the Office of Human Concern (OHC) could use $1,000 for the cost of materials. This will cover attic insulation, some windows and doors and air infiltration reduction. This is an average look at what that money will buy. What that amount wont’ buy is wall insulation or a furnace. Both items would reduce energy costs significantly. The $6,500 increases the material amount to $3,000+. This opens the door for wall insulation and/or an energy efficient furnace.

 

Additionally, WX crews often have to ‘walk away’ from a house that has a roof leak, faulty plumbing, electrical wiring issues, etc. In some cases, these may be addressed with the new increase in funding.

 

What impact will this program have on the OHC service area (Benton, Carroll, Madison, Washington Counties)? It will mean that a general contractor(s) will have work to do. It means we will be able to do more in over 150 homes rather than 87 last year. It also means that the funds for all these homes will be spent for locally bought materials.

 

Does this program save jobs, sustain, and/or create them as called for in the Stimulus legislation? For jobs saved or sustained, that has not been identified by the Obama administration. It appears to us though that a number general contractor(s) will have local work that they don’t have now. From the applicants we are interviewing for running this huge program, we will be helping 8-10 people have employment that wouldn’t have happened without those funds.

 

One other measurement is how many employees that we hire for this program will we be able to keep on agency payroll at the end of the stimulus funding. At this time we don’t have a good idea of the number, but early indications would be we could transfer two or more to existing programs in the agency. Even this piece of the stimulus bill is not defined for us to measure by.

 

As for energy savings with this program, there will definitely be superior results. We will be posting results on our website as the program progresses. As the year continues, it is April 24^th, we have not been awarded the money to hire anyone and begin the work. We expect that to occur in June, but don’t hold us to the date as stimulus money is not coming down to the local level very fast.

 

A question often not asked is the accountability that OHC is held to concerning the stimulus funds. Quality is the top element in running all of our programs at OHC. Just spending the money for the sake of spending is morally wrong to us. We will be working hard to reach our stated number of houses weatherized, but we would rather not make our goal at the expense of the quality work done on homes. That position means we may lose some money, but we’ll sleep better at night knowing we had taken care of our customers the way they would want to be taken care of.

 

OHC is also held to a 30/70 percentage ratio of material funds to program support funds. Programs support funds cover staff and overhead to run the program. Although we have not submitted our plan for approval, we anticipate that we will be in the realm of 45/55 percentage split. Additionally we are held to an average of $6,500 per house. That can be challenging as we attempt to provide the best energy remedy to each home. There are not cookie cutter houses that we work on!

 

For the stimulus funds for Weatherization, we are being held accountable to demonstrate our need for the funds. This too is challenging as there is no ramp up funds we can use. We must train auditors, office staff and then find houses for workup for contractors to begin work. We will be able to assist a sister agency who has houses that will give OHC a jump start on a zero start-up. We won’t be able to market the program prior to start up. We have plans for marketing, but we will literally be starting that work the first day of operation.

 

[Al West is the Executive Director of the Office of Human Concern (OHC). OHC operates a diverse number of programs that principally serve the elderly and/or disabled. For more information on this article or about OHC contact Mr. West at 636-7301 or e-mail at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  ]