Assembling inserts is easy and there’s a job for everyone!
This fall, Sustainable Woodstock will make free insulating window inserts for community members, and you are invited to join us! From Thursday, November 6th to Thursday, November 13th, we will host a community build at the North Universalist Chapel Society Church (North Chapel), which is generously donating the space for this project. We will construct the window inserts at this build, first gluing and screwing together the wooden frames for the windows, and then wrapping them in this insulating plastic and foaming the outside. No experience is needed to volunteer, and you will be thanked with snacks and lots of community goodwill, much like an old-fashioned barn raising. If you are interested in volunteering at our Window Dressers build, please sign up at: https://signup.com/go/JpPnZHO
This community build is run in partnership with Window Dressers (WD). WD brings volunteers together to build insulating window inserts for a participating town’s residents. The inserts function like custom interior storm windows, insulating a home to improve the warmth and comfort of interior spaces, lower heating costs, and reduce carbon dioxide pollution. More info is at: https://windowdressers.org/.
This is our fourth annual community build. After this winter, we will have built over 920 inserts for our community with your help. Inserts can be removed from windows during the summer and reused each winter. This winter, the inserts that we have built together over the years will save over 8,000 gallons of heating fuel in a single winter. This impactful program would not be possible without the generosity of those of you in our community who have volunteered to join us.
This year, we will construct 235 inserts for 27 families during our week-long build, which will have multiple shifts during the weekdays and on the weekend for people to volunteer. Assembling inserts is fun and easy, and you do not need any building experience to help out. If building isn’t in your comfort zone, there are other tasks to help make this a successful volunteer event. We will also need folks to bring snacks and other food and drink for every day of the build, including bigger dishes around lunchtime. This program is a great experience for anyone wanting to help those in our community reduce energy load, save money, and create a warmer living space during the cold months of the year. Last year, we were joined by over 100 volunteers including community groups like our local Rotary members and students from the CRAFT program at the high school. If you volunteered with us last year – THANK YOU! We hope to see you again this year.
Replacing old windows in your home can make a big difference in your energy use and how warm you stay during the winter, but window replacement is very expensive and there are few programs available to assist with the cost. Window inserts are an inexpensive way to address leaky windows and reduce energy usage without the overhead of fully replacing windows. Window Dressers estimates that on average, 10 inserts will save 105 gallons of heating fuel which, at around $5.50/gallon, amounts to more than $550 in savings per year.
Window Dressers is also an important way of addressing energy burden for Vermonters. Energy burden is the share of a household’s income spent on heat, electricity, and transportation. According to Energy Action Vermont, some Vermonters spend over a quarter of their income on energy costs. Even worse, most of those expenses are for fossil fuels, which have volatile prices. A tighter, well-insulated home is one step towards reducing a home’s energy burden and making it a more comfortable space. All recipients of our Window Dressers build are income-qualifying and are receiving inserts for free.
We invite you to join us anytime November 6th-13th to volunteer at Woodstock’s Window Dressers Build and build community at the same time!
Thank you to Mascoma Savings Bank, Claremont Savings Bank, Woodstock Farmer’s Market, North Chapel, and an anonymous foundation for making Sustainable Woodstock’s Window Dressers build possible.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
If you are interested in volunteering at our Window Dressers build, please sign up at: https://signup.com/go/JpPnZHO
If you are interested in receiving inserts, our build is full for this year, but we can get you signed up for next year. Please contact Sustainable Woodstock at programs@sustainablewoodstock.org or 802-296-1595