New England Grassroots Environment Fund

Group Resources

How To Start A Weatherization Team
How To Airseal
Checklist For Airsealing A Home
About Barnraising And HEET Flyer
Why We Organize Weatherization Barnraisings
Barnraising Publicity And Administration Checklist
Building Assessment Checklist
Home Tightening, Insulation & Ventilation, A Guide From The Iowa Energy Center
Worksheet: How Energy Efficient Is Your Home?

Group Details

The mission of the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is to promote a sustainable community and planet, and to organize cooperative community actions which promote climate stability, energy conservation, and carbon reduction. Based on the barnraising model, HEET brings neighbors together to weatherize homes in order to reduce the carbon footprint of specific houses, teach participants skills they can use to make their own homes more energy efficient, and build a sense of community.

The group’s successes so far include: holding barnraising at 12 sites since August 2008; blower door tests at three barnraising sites (conducted by a participating contractor) that have shown an average air penetration reduction of 18%; therm usage at two houses which provided data following barnraising to show that usage decreased 8.5% and 10% despite colder temperatures in Winter.

The group, located in Cambridge (MA), received its latest NEGEF grant through the Boston Grants Initiative to bring neighbors together to weatherize homes in Cambridge based on the barnraising model with goals of reducing the carbon footprint of specific houses. Funding is used to expand HEET’s capacity by creating a part-time staff position, building a fund for weathization materials for low-income barnraisings, enabling HEET to purchase liability insurance and create a website.