A new outreach program of Warren Wilson College called INSULATE! tackles community needs in Asheville, N.C., within a framework of sustainability that considers economic, environmental and social/cultural impacts.

Conceived and supported by Warren Wilson students, INSULATE! reaches out to homeowners below the poverty level and insulates their homes free of charge, thus reducing utility bills and carbon footprints.

Working with several community agencies and businesses, Warren Wilson’s Environmental Leadership Center and Service Learning Office are coordinating efforts to weatherize three homes in the Asheville area this fall, before cold weather arrives in the N.C. mountains. Included in the outreach effort are pre- and post-weatherizing energy audits, no-cost insulation services and long-term energy monitoring.

The homes are owned by seniors who have requested assistance through the Buncombe County, N.C., Council on Aging. One of the homeowners has an annual income of $10,000 and spends about $3,000 annually on energy costs.

Rachel Buedel, a Warren Wilson College senior from Williamsport, Pa., and Nina Otter, a junior from Montpelier, Vt., are working to implement the program through a campus work crew and the Environmental Leadership Center. Warren Wilson is a work college where each student works 15 hours per week on one of more than 100 work crews.

During a recent 30-minute signup session facilitated by the college’s Service Learning Office, 45 Warren Wilson students — about 5 percent of the entire student body — signed up to volunteer in the INSULATE! program. From this group a total of 18 students, or six at each home, are being selected to participate in the program this fall.

INSULATE! is the newest component of the Mountain Green program of the Environmental Leadership Center of Warren Wilson. With leadership from Asheville attorney Robert Deutsch, ELC staff member Phillip Gibson and a steering committee, Mountain Green promotes sustainable community practices for western North Carolina through an annual conference and a lunch-and-learn series on the Warren Wilson campus.

To learn more about the INSULATE! program, see http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~ELC/New_ELC_Website_/insulate.php.

Contact Info: WWC Environmental Leadership Center Community Outreach Director Phillip Gibson
Warren Wilson College
Telephone: 828-771-3781
Email: pgibson@warren-wilson.edu
web site: http://www.warren-wilson.edu

Website : Warren Wilson College