Be it El Niño or another blizzard in March, low-income families in Georgia will be prepared for any temperature, thanks to a $1.3 million federal stimulus grant awarded to the College of Family and Consumer Sciences to educate families and weatherize homes.

“Basically, [weatherization] is a nationally funded program authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy,” Jorge Atiles, associate dean of academics in FACS, said in a telephone interview Thursday.

“It makes your home able to withstand weather,” he said. “It’s actually been able to help families who don’t have the resources.”

Atiles said the main weather concern is how a home’s temperature affects a family’s energy bills. He said low-income families will be taught how to use weather strips and insulation to keep their house weatherized, as well as how to understand their energy bills.

He said if people do not properly weatherize their homes and do not understand how to conserve energy, they could revert to unsafe practices for heating their homes, such as using kerosene lamps, which have been linked to carbon monoxide poisoning if they are burned in places with poor ventilation.

The college’s weatherization program will focus on “how to help people identify areas in their homes where they are losing energy,” said Laura Jolly, dean of FACS.

“It’s a key way to leverage resources to reinforce partnerships with the county, state and federal levels and to help out these families,” she said.

Mandi Colson, an extension program coordinator for FACS, said the program will help homeowners adhere to the Governor’s Energy Challenge 2020.

“We’re really excited; we’re getting amped up about this,” she said in a telephone interview Thursday.

The April 2008 Executive Order for the challenge said “the State Energy Leadership Initiative will support state agencies and departments in their efforts to reduce 2007 energy levels on a per square foot basis by 15 percent by 2020 through energy efficiency or through the inclusion of renewable energy, that could lead to a taxpayer savings of $19 million annually.

Atiles said families who weatherize their homes properly will save money on their energy bills. He said even if energy costs go up, a family with a weatherized home could pay the same amount they had been paying versus having their bills increased.

“We hope people can save 15 percent of what they were paying,” he said.

The program will create 24 jobs – 12 educators and 12 energy inspectors. One of each will be placed in Georgia’s 12 service delivery regions, of which Athens-Clarke County is one.

“These people will receive the training to be BPI Building Analyst certified, which is a national certification,” Colson said. “They will also be Lead Paint Abatement certified to help train the local workforce.”

Atiles said the $1.3 million will fund the program through March, at which point he plans to re-apply for additional funding.

“We’re going to get all these people who’ve been on waiting lists [for weatherization],” he said. “There will be a lot of bill literacy taking place.”

Some of this bill literacy includes teaching low-income families what their rights are and how to choose an energy-efficient natural gas provider. To assist with Athens-Clarke County’s high Latino population, Atiles said “small, low-literacy publications” will be printed in both English and Spanish to leave behind with families.

Atiles said the grant is a monetary and education grant – not a research grant similar to others the University has received from President Barack Obama’s initiative.

“The thing that might be closer to a study is helping people compare their bills before and after,” he said. “The UGA Cooperative Extension has always had a program in energy conservation. We saw the opportunity to expand our program and help the federal government in their cause to weatherize homes.”

Colson said some of these programs include radon gas education and testing as well as educating families on what types of natural gas to use.

She said students can find easy ways to increase their own energy efficiency.

“One of the major ways to increase energy efficiency is to change air filters,” she said, adding they should be changed every three months except during the summer, when it would be best to change them each month.

Atiles said intensive weatherizing in dorms and apartments is difficult, because students often have to get permission from their landlord. His tips for students – and their parents – are to keep the temperature in the house between 68 and 70 degrees in the winter and 70 to 72 degrees in the summer, weather strip the home and maintain low humidity.

“Humidity level should be as low as possible – 50 to 60 percent – to prevent mold growth and allergies,” he said. “We feel like we have a very important role here. We’re making sure weatherization is taking place, and that less money is wasted.”