What can one person do about climate change? Part 6: Upgrade your home

• Rachel McDevitt
  BioRecent Stories

  

  I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.
  
  My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.
  
  I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.
  
  I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

The State College Community Land Trust and Envinity are working to retrofit this home in State College into a highly energy efficient "passive house." They built an "envelope" around the exterior of the home that will be filled with insulation. (Jeremy Long - WITF)

Home heating and cooling make up a big share of our personal emissions.

Part 1 of this series gave tips for simple efficiency measures, like sealing up cracks around doors and windows.

Once you’ve tackled the easy fixes, then you can look to more advanced efficiency measures, like replacing windows and installing insulation.

Those measures will take time and money, so it’s important to plan ahead.

Find the rest of the series:

• What can I do about climate change? An introduction 
• Part 1: Start at home 
• Part 2: What we (don’t) eat 
• Part 3: Dig in the dirt 
• Part 4: Getting around 
• Part 5: Shop smart 
• Part 7: Speak up 

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About StateImpact Pennsylvania

StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.

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