Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A light-saving and life-changing renovation
Rebuilding Together helps Gaithersburg family with money-saving energy-efficient upgrades
by Patricia M. Murret | Staff Writer
J. Adam Fenster⁄The Gazette Lisa Soda of Gaithersburg helps Rebuilding Together Montgomery County renovate the Gaithersburg home of Trinidad and Maria Viera.
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Trinidad and Maria Viera of Gaithersburg kept their Girard Street condominium warm last winter by stuffing socks and blankets around a broken window and using sheets to seal a sliding door. Day to day, the low-income disabled couple has cooked on one burner of their ailing stove, which has a nonfunctioning oven, and kept buckets under the sink to collect water while washing dishes.
All that changed Saturday when about 30 volunteers set to work making their home more energy-efficient through an effort coordinated by Rebuilding Together Montgomery County, a local affiliate of a national nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership. The Kensington organization, which helps 30 county households per year, has partnered with the Maryland Petroleum Council to create a program aimed at making low-income households more energy-efficient to reduce homeowners’ heating and cooling bills.
‘‘Not having the stress of having their house come apart will be a big help,” said Maria Viera through interpreter Stella Lambert, who met the Vieras through their 7-year-old son, Isaias, a third-grader at Gaithersburg Elementary School. Lambert works in the school’s Linkages to Learning program and helps Spanish-speaking families find needed social services.
‘‘Now she will be able to keep the house more organized,” Lambert interpreted as Maria cried.
‘‘Her dryer was broken to the point that it would take her one week of drying to get one load of clothes dry,” said Lee-Berkeley Shaw, development director for Rebuilding Together Montgomery County, as she toured the two-bedroom condominium in paint-spattered work boots.
On Saturday volunteers joined by staff of the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C., installed windows and Energy Star energy-conserving appliances, alongside other renovations aimed at reducing the Vieras’ utility bills by at least $80 per month. They painted the condominium.
About 14 years ago, a car crash left Trinidad Viera with a back injury and Maria Viera legally blind, Lambert said. Trinidad Viera takes home about $1,564 per month, working in a tire repair store. The income must cover the family’s $447 mortgage payment and $435 in monthly assessments and utility costs, as well as approximately $100 in car payments, $80 in car insurance and $74 in life insurance, as well as food and telephone bills.
Until recently, the family also received $241 monthly in disability payments from Social Security, but the administration told the couple that due to a clerical error they were overpaid, Lambert interpreted. Now they owe the federal government $9,000 and Lambert is looking for a lawyer.
Saturday’s renovations brought the condominium an energy-efficient kitchen sink and low-flow faucets to replace models that leaked into buckets and left cupboards buckling. The sliding glass door was replaced, as were unsecured bedroom windows where bees had built hives in between panes. The home received new Energy Star light bulbs and appliances, including a washer, dryer, stove and dishwasher.
Save energy, money
Use compact fluorescent bulbs, motion-detected lighting
Vacuum refrigerator coils and clean exhaust fans
Reduce water heater setting to 120 degrees or ‘‘medium” setting
Caulk or install weather stripping around exterior doors, windows, and ductwork
Wrap furnace, pipes and ducts
Install low-flow showerheads and low-flow aerators
Use Energy Star appliances
