[SustainableTompkins] Green Resource Hub seminar on natural insulation on Dec. 13

[GayNicholson at aol.com]

Save Money and Energy with Home  Insulation: 
Educational Seminar to Focus on Natural Insulation  Options 
Ithaca ─  Worried about the rising costs of heating your home this winter? 
Want to make  sure your heating dollars don’t slip through the cracks of your 
home? Interested  in finding an insulation system that uses healthy and 
environmentally safe  products? 
The Green Resource Hub of the  Finger Lakes and Tompkins County Cooperative 
Extension’s  Energy $mart Communities Program will present “Save Money and 
Energy with Home  Insulation” on Thursday, December 13 from 7:00 to 9:00  p.m. at 
Home Green Home, 215 The Commons,  Ithaca. There is a $5 suggested  donation, 
and light refreshments will be provided. 
With rising energy costs and  concerns around global climate change, many 
people are interested in improving  their home insulation. Most of the older 
houses in the Finger  Lakes region were built with very little insulation, which 
allows a  significant amount of heat to escape from the walls and attics of 
homes. This  wasted heat can cost homeowners hundreds of dollars a year. This 
consumer  education program will review the many options for insulating your home 
that can  help reduce energy costs.  
Mark Pierce, Project Manager for  the Consumer Education Program for 
Residential Energy Efficiency at Cornell  Cooperative Extension, will provide an 
overview of how to buy and properly  install home insulation.  “All  homeowners 
should understand that the single most important factor in increasing  a home’s 
energy efficiency is the creation of continuous, contiguous, and  complete 
thermal and air barriers surrounding the home’s living space” said  Pierce.  
Jim Coler of Coler Natural  Insulation, Alwyn John of Performance Systems 
Contracting, and Sarah Highland of  Holistic Homebuilders will discuss the many 
different types of home insulation  materials now available from renewable and 
recycled resources including cotton,  soy-based foams, cellulose, and straw 
bales. These alternative solutions to  traditional fiberglass insulation offer 
many benefits to homeowners and to the  environment. Ice damming and 
mold/mildew issues related to insulation and vapor  barriers will also be discussed. 
The Green Resource Hub’s winter  seminar series also includes classes at Home 
Green Home on heating with biomass  (November 29) and on small hydropower 
systems for rural landowners (January  17). 
The  Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes is a non-profit  organization 
that aims to expand the regional marketplace for sustainable living  through 
consumer education and workforce training in green building, energy  efficiency, 
renewable energy and green purchasing.
----------------------------------------------------
Gay  Nicholson, Ph.D. 

607-533-7312 (home office)
607-279-6618  (cell)

1 Maple Avenue
Lansing, NY  14882
gaynicholson at aol.com

Sustainable Tompkins 
Program  Coordinator 
w_ww.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/) 

Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities
Regional  Coordinator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
615 Willow  Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850
agn1 at cornell.edu




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