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BEDFORD, N.Y. A total of 27 residents who have performed energy upgrades to their homes since December, reducing home energy waste by 10 percent to 40 percent, were recognized at Tuesday's town board meeting by environmental nonprofit Bedford 2020 and the town of Bedford.
Bedford 2020, which aims to reduce Bedford's greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, includes Energize Bedford, the nonprofit's program targeted toward energy waste reduction.
The Energize Bedford program has brought the town recognition as an environmental leader in New York State, said Bedford Supervisor Lee V.A. Roberts.
"Each one of you has helped us toward our goal, and we congratulate and thank you," Roberts told the homeowners, a group that included Diane Berman, Alice Finley, Julia Klagsbrun, Harold Talbot and Matthew Tynan, who were recognized with their certified contractors.
Kathryn Hoenig, Bedford 2020 secretary, attended with her son William Maynard to collect her certificate and official program seal commemorating her 22 percent reduction in home energy use.
Hoenig said she worked with the New York Energy Conservation Co. to insulate for the first time the section of her home that was built circa 1820. Another environmentally friendly contractor, Phoenix Mechanical, installed programmable thermostats and insulated exposed copper piping in her basement.
The Energize Bedford website has steps, instructions and suggestions to make the retrofitting process easier. While they dont tell you who to use, they can help you through that process of contractor selection, she said.
According to Bedford 2020, the major benefits of Energize Bedfords retrofit program include lowering homeowners oil and utility bills, reducing particulate air pollution, increasing property values, sustaining local construction employment and reducing oil imports.
The organization is a unique community-based grassroots movement, which now has more than 95 active volunteers working on nine task forces, co-president of Bedford 2020 Mary Beth Kass said.
The Energize movement started here in Bedford, she said, "and I think we all need to be really proud of that.
Those interested in having their home evaluated can learn more at Bedford 2020's website and Energize Bedford's website.
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