Energy kits will be arriving soon on the doorsteps of Harvard homes and businesses with information on how to get state help and funding to make the city’s buildings more energy-efficient.
The kits are the first step in a $160,000 initiative to help homeowners and business people in the far northwest suburb reduce utility bills and cut back on energy usage.
The funds come from a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. Individuals may get as much as $800 for such things as furnace cleaning and insulation.
“It’s an opportunity to prove our town as a leader in energy efficiency,” said Harvard Mayor Ralph Henning.
The grant will be administered through the McHenry County Housing Authority. Similar grants have been used in Richmond, Spring Grove and Hebron, but Harvard is the largest community to receive one so far.
The program in Harvard will also be more comprehensive, said Carla Clemmons of the housing authority.
The program will go on for 14 months and any home in Harvard will be eligible for subsidies toward material and labor. Some types of services will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, according to provisions of the grant.
Although details of the program are yet to be announced, Henning said the work and supplies will all be provided by local stores and contractors.
The program also will provide energy audits for businesses and industries, to pinpoint where energy is being wasted and ways to correct the problem.
“Certainly one of the energy audits will be here at (at City Hall),” Henning said. “If we can save some money, too, we’d be crazy not to try it.”
Bill Fritzsche, of EnergyWise Homes of Illinois, will instruct local home builders on methods of building energy-efficient homes, and how energy efficiency can translate into higher profits.
Employing an energy rating system, builders can advertise and verify claims about a home’s energy usage, in much the same way cars are rated by the miles-per-gallon of gasoline they use.
“We can estimate to within 5 percent what the total utility bill of a home would be,” Fritzsche said. “We can show contractors what they can do to improve performance.”
Local banks will get involved by offering mortgages to buyers that can increase their borrowing power by 2 to 4 percent if they agree to make the home energy-efficient.
Money saved on monthly utility bills can go toward paying the mortgage, Fritzsche said. As an example, he said banks will agree to increase a $100,000 mortgage by $7,000 if the buyers agree to spend $2,000 for energy efficiency improvements.
The mortgage would give a young couple with limited means more buying power, said local real estate agent Steve Aavang, and might mean the difference between buying a condominium or a single-family home.
“It expands their choices. It gives them more options,” said Aavang.
