Weatherizers Without Borders – Argentina

Weatherizers Without Borders is fighting energy inefficiency and energy poverty, starting in Buenos Aires. The initiative to weatherize homes creates green jobs for communities and improves the health and safety of low-income homes. The program saves energy, strengthens the community and mitigates climate change.

Fast facts:

For every $1 invested in the program, weatherization returns $2.51 to the household and society;
35% reduction in primary heating fuel use through weatherization;
10 homes in initial project – now expanded to 100;
2.65 metric tonnes per year per home reduction in residential and power plant emissions of carbon dioxide.

The problem

In many cities in Latin America, poor neighborhoods may not have access to network infrastructure or even access to a natural gas pipeline network. Inhabitants are thus forced to buy bottled gas, which is twice as expensive.

Argentina, which has an urban poor population of two million, mainly uses energy from non-renewable sources such as oil and gas. The national government is forced to import energy from foreign countries and many low-income families end up spending a significant part of their household budget on energy. This means families who are already struggling have even less money to spend on food, health, clothing and education.

The solution

Weatherizers Without Borders trains new green workers as weatherizers, audits low-income homes, and carries out cost-effective retrofits for energy efficiency, health and safety in homes. Central to the program is sustainable job creation efforts; where weatherization training centers equip workers with the knowledge to carry out the energy audits and retrofits. The program is currently carrying out training sessions in Buenos Aires suburbs in order to enable 12 workers to audit homes from their own neighborhood. These workers will be in charge of carrying out energy audits for the houses of their neighborhood, and implementing solutions in order to improve life quality, health, budget, environmental impact and home safety.

Helping the planet

Weatherization reduces individual home energy consumption and, as a result, national energy use. This reduces residential and power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, as well as reducing local dependency on foreign oil imports.

Helping people

Weatherization lowers energy bills for low-income families, while small changes such as caulking air leaks and adding insulation can significantly improve the comfort of home occupants. The project also reduces the impact of floods and storms on houses by improving their durability. It ensures better health and safety though the reduction of heat-related illness as well as death and injury from home fires.

The project creates green jobs for the community and increases at-home safety. It not only saves low-income families money, helping them to become more self-sufficient, but it also safeguards them against fluctuations in energy prices and supplies. Reducing energy costs allows families to spend their money on other things.

Scaling up

Weatherizers Without Borders replicates the Weatherization Assistance Program, a public policy managed by the United States Department of Energy. The Latin American version of the program, named “Sustentabilizar Hogares,” has been adapted to the Latin American context and is supported with know-how from the US.

Sustentabilizar Hogares has been successfully carried out in some cities in Argentina with great results, and will be expanded to other cities soon. The project is replicable anywhere, and Sustentabilizar Hogares aims to become a national policy and eventually reach millions of homes. An international program aims to expand the project to millions of homes in South America.