Press Release: Energize Vermont supports Greensboro WindowDressers Project

Energize Vermont Announce Grant to Support WindowDressers Project in Greensboro Grant will help fund energy-saving window inserts for lower-income households

East Burke, Vt.--Energize Vermont, a non-profit energy education and advocacy organization, announced a grant award to the Greensboro, Vermont Energy Committee to support the town’s WindowDressers program. Over the last several years, Energize Vermont has granted thousands of dollars to WindowDressers communities. At WindowDressers workshops, community volunteers collaborate to assemble custom-fit plastic film inserts stretched over wooden frames for use in area homes. The Energize Vermont grant is intended to support participation in WindowDressers workshops by lower-income households.

For WindowDressers projects, town Energy Committee volunteers solicit orders for window inserts and recruit and train volunteer workshop participants. The inserts work like storm windows but are much less expensive and far easier to install and remove.  They fit inside an existing window, adding two insulating spaces and improving the air seal. A window insert can save up to one gallon of heating oil per square foot of window per heating season. 

"Thanks to grant funding from Energize Vermont, we can build more WindowDressers insulated window inserts for Greensboro households with limited income for such improvements," said local organizer Anna Kehler. "Next winter, they'll benefit with warmer, less drafty rooms and less energy needed to heat their home."

Support for WindowDressers is an element of Energize Vermont’s Climate Action Program, which promotes a response to climate change that reduces consumption, limits energy sprawl, and preserves the natural resources that defend Vermont against climate impacts. 

The Vermont WindowDressers effort has technical and material support from Maine’s non-profit WindowDressers, which developed the community approach to energy savings. Over the history of the project, WindowDressers has conducted hundreds of workshops in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The workshops have engaged thousands of community volunteers and produced over 48,000 window inserts, with 25 to 30% of those supplied to low-income households without cost. More information is available at www.windowdressers.org.

To apply to Energize Vermont’s 2023 Energy Committee Assistance Grant, visit energizevermont.org/the-window-project. Grant applications may be submitted through December 1, 2023.

Town energy committees or other community groups interested in learning more about Energize Vermont’s Grant Program or Vermont Window Project community workshops may contact Becca Dill at becca@energizevermont.org or Jack Sumberg at jack.sumberg@gmail.com. 

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Energize Vermont is a non-profit organization with members across Vermont, founded in 2010 to promote sensible energy and climate policies that protect our environment and respect our communities. 

The Vermont Windows Project is an element of Energize Vermont’s Climate Action Project, an exploration of climate action alternatives available to Vermonters—actions we can carry out at the state, community, and household levels.