Conservation Counts

With all the talk about alternative sources of energy, it helps to remember that the first thing to do is use less.

I’m Jon Greenberg with this Energy Minute.

At the Nubanusit co-housing development in Peterborough, they did everything you could possibly imagine to shrink their carbon footprint. They’re an easy walk from downtown so residents don’t need to drive as much. They built a central boiler for heating and they run it off wood pellets that come from nearby. They’re starting a small farm so a lot of their food won’t have to be trucked from thousands of miles away.

But if you ask co-founder Shelley Hulbert, they got the biggest bang for their buck by paying for really good insulation.

HULBERT: The largest home at Nubanusit which is a 4-bedroom home, spent about a thousand dollars for the winter for heat and hot water.

Now, one thing they also did was keep their buildings small. That 4-bedroom house has less than 2 thousand square feet. But the lesson about insulation applies to homes everywhere.

With this Energy Minute, I’m Jon Greenberg.