The DC Department of the Environment has a Home Energy Rating System program they call HERS. In a nutshell, they come out to your home and give it the once-over to see where you might be expending more energy than you need to and provide some advice on how you might reduce your output.
Putting aside the fact that we as a region apparently use less environmentally friendly fuels than our friends on the other coast, DC residents pay 35% more for their power than the national average. Whether that’s bad regulation or the fact that we use less renewable sources doesn’t make much difference when the time comes to write the check.
The DCDOE website makes noises about getting a rating number for when you’re trying to sell your house, and I suppose it couldn’t hurt, but I think the real value is in your own bills. The tv and radio commercials they run for the HERS program indicate you should call (202) 673-6750 to make an appointment, but the website also says you can email Willie Vazquez at willie.vazquez@dc.gov.
Thanks to Greg over at The Daily Compost for finding this one
The image is Energy, courtesy of mbgrigby
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
