Name of the Program: Weatherization Assistance Program
Counties Served: Blount, Cherokee, DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall, St. Clair, and Etowah Counties
Program Description: The Weatherization Assistance Program is a grant made avaliable to low-income families who own their own homes within our program area. The grant is designed to lower the energy usage of a client’s home and improve the applicants’ health and safety by tightening up their homes and preventing outside air infiltration. These measures will also reduce the applicants’ monthly energy bills, promoting the family toward self-sufficiency and an improved quality of life. The Department of Energy and Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs determines the number of houses that can be weatherization in each county covered by the grant. Weatherization measures that can be completed include: air sealing/infiltration reduction, attic insulation, dense-pack sidewall insulation, duct insulation, floor insulation, programmable thermostat, refigerator replacement, general energy saving measures, heater repairs or replacement, and other health and safety measures.
Application and Acceptance Process: Interested applications should schedule an appointment at their county’s office and bring the required documents listed below. An application will be completed during the applicant’s appointment time. The application is then placed on the Weatherization Assistance Program waiting list where it will be sorted and ranked among other applicants based on the application’s priority points determined and required by the grantor. These points are assigned based on demographic information in the application. Due to the application’s priority points and the limited number of houses provided by the grant, it is difficult to determine how long a person may be on the waiting list. When the applicant’s home has been selected from the waiting list, the applicant will be contacted by an assessor to set a time for the applicant’s home to be assessed. If a home passes the assessment, it is then entered into an energy auditing software that calculates the highest amount of cost saving measures that can be perfomed on a home. Once the measures are determined, qualified weatherization contractors are contracted to bid on the job measures and perform the energy upgrades. Once the weatherization work has been completed, the work will be inspected by a Quality Control Inspector to ensure completeness. It is important to note that the goal of the Weatherization Assistance Program is not to address aesthetic aspects of a home but to strategically address mechanical, building shell, baseload, and health & safety measures to make a home more energy efficient.
Award Information: The award amount differs for each home based upon the energy auditing software’s calculation for the home.