Albany Community Action Partnership
Administrative Offices
333 Sheridan Avenue
Albany, NY 12206
www.albanycap.org

Phone: 518.463.3175
Fax: 518.463.8185
Head Start Fax: 518.432.6504
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Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
8:30 am - 4:30 pm

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Our Weatherization Assistance Program aims to assist low-income households heat and cool their dwellings in a more energy efficient manner. Each year, families pay thousands of dollars for unneeded heating and energy costs, because their homes are not properly weatherized. That’s money down the drain, which could be put to better use for household needs.

A building is eligible for weatherization services when at least 50% of the building’s households meet the eligibility of the program. Single-family homes must be occupied by an eligible family and multi-units must meet the 50% rule (i.e. if there are 3 units in the building, at least 2 out of the 3 must be eligible).

Attention OVER-INCOME building owners: As long as the building meets the 50% eligibility requirements stated above, your building may still be eligible for weatherization services for a minimal monetary contribution. Building owners contribute approximately 25-50% of the cost of the services.

Once an application is completed and submitted to our weatherization program to verify eligibility, the building is placed in our energy auditor’s queue. The weatherization auditor will set an appointment to perform a comprehensive energy audit on the dwelling. The purpose of this audit is to identify specific needs and priorities, to make sure the best answers are provided to their energy use situations. The auditors determine what measures will be required to provide save, cost-effective energy related repairs to the building.

After the energy audit is performed, the weatherization work crew, a team of highly-skilled workers and subcontractors, then visit the building to perform the necessary work. The program may provide energy related repairs such as:

•    Insulating walls, attics, knee wall, and/or crawl space areas.
•    Air sealing measures such as weather-stripping and caulking around doors and windows.
•    Energy saving light bulbs.
•    Water-efficient shower heads and aerators.
•    Cleaning, testing and repairs or replacement of heating appliances (including hot water tanks), ventilation systems, and distribution systems.
•    Replacing existing high energy usage refrigerators with energy star models.
•    Repair of broken doors and windows (where cost effective).

All energy audits and repair work is done within the guidelines of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s (DHCR) regulated program. Weatherization services are available in every county across the state and the program has maintained a reputation for bringing great energy savings to the buildings it serves.

During our 2006-2007 program year Albany Community Action Partnership, Inc.’s (Albany-Cap) weatherization team has made quite a difference in our community:

•    79 housing units received energy reduction services and an additional 50 housing units were served via a weatherization special projects grant at a housing authority located in Watervliet.
•    Combined, these housing units received the following measures and more:
•    Over $150,000 was spent on providing insulation to these housing units.
•    113 doors were weather-stripped, 116 tubes of caulk were utilized, and 48 cans of foam were used to help stop air leakage.
•    91 refrigerators were replaced with energy star models.
•    43 carbon monoxide detectors and 38 smoke detectors were installed for health and safety reasons.
•    56 shower heads and 57 aerators were installed for water conservation.

It is anticipated that the 2007-2008 program year will service an additional 84 housing units with weatherization services and another weatherization special projects grant was awarded to Albany-CAP to provide energy conservation to the remaining 50 housing units at the housing authority in Watervliet.

As a result of these services, homes were safer, more comfortable, better protected from the elements, and less expensive to maintain.

Please contact Albany-CAP for more information about the program guidelines and application procedures.