Commercial building infrared image (Photo credit: Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs)

We just got our copies of the thermal images of our home from http://www.Sagewell.com, which they took last February.  We got six photos, perhaps because we live on a corner.  Warm spots on the house, like the windows, are red or yellow colored, indicating they are warmer, because more heat is escaping.  Looks to me like our foundation should be insulated, as there is a short row of dancing yellow ribbons at ground level, and really bright yellow basement windows.

Just after looking at the thermal images I called Anderson Windows today to order a replacement balancer,and found myself asking if they sold storm window inserts – they said they do not.  Just trying to get those reds and yellows a little darker.

It is useful information, and I recommend it to everyone.  I believe that Sagewell photographed/imaged all houses accessible from the street in town, so even if you did not sign up in advance, contact them to see if you can get access to the images of your home.

Just queried Mike and the Energy Committee about whether it makes economic sense to reverse auction our town electricity purchase, like Newton just did.

Update: Newton goes green – at a price

Mayor says contract will save an estimated $300,000

http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/News-and-Features/Online-exclusives/2012/Spring/014-Newton-goes-green-and-expects-to-save.aspx

At the Energy Committee meeting last Thursday, Mike Sullivan handed out the attached spreadsheet, which documents a total of 31.7% savings by the Town of Medfield from 12/31/08 to date in its energy use.  Town electric use was down 40.7% and gas use was down 35.2% over those time periods.

The Medfield High School took the prize with a total energy reduction of 44.3%.  The Energy Committee’s initial baseline studies of the MHS had determined that the HVAC at the MHS had been set to run seven days a week, instead of the five days it was occupied, and that savings alone was estimated to the town to be between $40-60,000 per year.

Since there is an election next Monday, I will point out that the Energy Committee was formed at my request and initiative, when I asked the question of what Medfield should be doing to deal with global warming.

20120315-Energy savings-1-1-09 to date

The Medfield Energy Committee met last night with four people from Next Step Living, an energy auditing company that is looking to partner with the Town of Medfield to do energy audits in town.  I especially liked the news that blower door testing is part of their phase two auditing, and as I understood, costs $60, which is subject to being repaid.  Sounds like there are rebates as well.  Their added value seems to be that they do all the work themselves, to deal with the whole house.  I am looking forward to getting more information – I signed up for an energy audit myself so I can report in greater detail on the issues and what is involved.

Sagewell’s email reports residents will hear back from them in mid-April –

The email below came today from Sagewell, the company doing the thermal imaging, to those who had signed up.  However, there is still time for people to get the results of the thermal imaging of their homes , if they sign up at Sagewell’s website.  The thermal imaging was supposed to have been occurred earlier this week

==================================

Your independent energy efficiency advocate since 2008

Sagewell is coming to Medfield this week!

Dear Osler,

On behalf of Sagewell, the Medfield Energy Committee, Medfield Green, and Medfield Selectmen, thank you for requesting a thermal image analysis for:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

NOTE: If this message has been forwarded to you by a friend and this is not your address, see “Include Your Home” below.

Sagewell will be coming to Medfield in a few days. You may see our vehicle driving by if you happen to be awake late at night or in the early hours of the morning! The heat loss measurement process is simple, quick, and non-intrusive, and our vehicle will drive by your house in about two seconds.

The equipment measures the heat escaping from your home – as long as the building is visible from the street. If there are fences, trees or bushes blocking the view of your house, we will not be able to measure the heat losses. On average, about 10 percent of homes have blocked views. When the analysis reports are produced, homeowners will only be able to log on and view the property reports of their own homes.

Please encourage your neighbors to sign up by forwarding this e-mail to them. Hit “FORWARD THIS E-MAIL” at the bottom of this e-mail to share with your friends and neighbors in Medfield.

What happens next?

Once the imaging is done, the analysis of the thermal images begins. Our proprietary software and expert analysts will review the homes for which we have received requests (which includes the address above). We will then send you an email within a few weeks announcing the availability of your report. The thermal imaging analysis reports are available free of charge to homeowners.

Our mission at Sagewell is to get homeowners to use information in the reports to take additional steps to improve their home’s energy efficiency.

About 100 Medfield homeowners have already requested a FREE MassSave energy assessment through www.sagewell.com/takeaction!  This is a great achievement and you can help make Medfield one of the most energy efficiency-focused towns in Massachusetts by requesting your FREE MassSave energy assessment as well.

Include Your Home

If this message was forwarded to you, and you would like to include your home in the list of homes to be analyzed, please visit www.sagewell.com to request your home be included.

On the Sagewell homepage, enter your address (e.g. 123 Main St, Medfield) in the “Find your home or building” box and click “Find Savings Now”. On the next screen, click the word “HERE” to enter your details. This service is FREE for Medfield homeowners.

Thank you for your interest in Sagewell and good luck with your energy efficiency efforts!

The Sagewell Support Team

Prefer to speak to someone? Call us at 617-963-8141

Cynthia Greene of the Medfield Energy Committee reported in an email last night that Sagewell would be doing the thermal imaging of the town last night.  Cynthia was thoughtful enough to ask Sagewell to thermal image the three accessible sides of the Medfield Memorial Library – the MEC has recently had a detailed energy saving plan prepared for the library, which recommended first sealing the building shell.  Cynthia’s email follows –

“Pasi [of Sagewell]just called and said that there are 600 homes signed up for thermal imaging.   They will be driving the town streets tonight.  I asked Pasi if he could drive up the driveway of the library so we could get three sides of the building and they will do that as well.  Residents can still sign up and if Sagewell did not do their street, they come back to image that street.

He told me that they were really impressed with what we did to encourage people to sign up and they are using us as a model for other towns!

If you signed up for imaging, you should see an email from them this week.”