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Page 16 of 27 <br /> <br />home values will be improved, saved funds through lower bills <br />will be available for other purchases by residents <br /> <br />Additionally, the project team will engage the neighborhood and other <br />Orange County residents through a community energy workshop that will <br />educate residents on energy conservation behaviors and various energy <br />efficiency options available to them (i.e. weatherization, utility -offered <br />programs, etc.). The team will also promote energy education beyond the <br />workshop through in-person engagement with the residents and <br />collaborating with community groups. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />15. Please describe any ways in <br />which low‐income or <br />marginalized <br />communities/households were <br />engaged in the creation of this <br />project proposal: <br />Resident Tamara Sanders, who has a close relationship with many of the <br />residents in the neighborhood of focus, engaged the community through <br />door-to-door outreach, emails, calls and texts to learn that at least a dozen <br />residents were interested in having their homes improved and receiving <br />education on energy conservation. Decisions on who to contact and by <br />what means was intentionally aligned with the goals of this project. <br />Tamara then reached out to ERS, NCSEA and other partners to <br />coordinate a team to apply for funding through the Orange County <br />Community Climate Action Grant. These partners were engaged due to <br />previous experience helping low-income/marginalized communities <br />through energy efficiency strategies. <br />Tamara’s history with the historically-Black neighborhood includes <br />knitting together a campaign a few years ago to halt the development of a <br />Family Dollar at the base of the neighborhood (see Question 19 for more <br />information). The camaraderie built during this experi ence led Tamara to <br />formulate the idea of further helping her neighborhood through pursuing <br />energy efficiency assistance that can help residents reduce their energy <br />burden and improve their standard of living. <br /> <br />16. Please describe any potential <br />negative side effects of the <br />project and describe the steps <br />you are taking/will take to <br />eliminate or minimize these <br />impacts to any low‐income or <br />marginalized <br />communities/households: <br />This project will fund retrofits for about 15 homes. This could result in a <br />number of residents wanting retrofits but ultimately not being able to <br />receive them through this project. <br />● Because the project team has close relationships with agencies <br />that carry out weatherization work (i.e. N.C. Weatherization <br />Assistance Program, Central Piedmont Community Action), the <br />team will refer homes that don’t receive services to these other <br />agencies and will also explore any utility-offered programs that <br />the homes can pursue. <br />In order to analyze savings (kwh, $, and emission reductions), the team <br />will need energy use data. The best way to get this data is directly from <br />the utility. Duke Energy and natural gas provider PSNC can, at times, <br />throw up roadblocks that make it difficult to obtain data from them that is <br />needed for project data analytics. <br />● While we will attempt to obtain data from Duke Energy and will <br />have participants sign data release forms, we will also require <br />participants to provide 12 months of pre-retrofit data as well as <br />12 months of post-retrofit data, ensuring the analysis can be <br />completed and energy savings can be calculated. <br /> <br /> <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 05316BF7-95C7-4D54-82D9-7EBD5926DA4D