Student volunteers assess energy efficiency

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

 

TRENTON -- About 30 college students spent a glorious sunny day indoors yesterday, assessing Habitat for Humanity homes for energy efficiency in east Trenton, now an alternative spring break location.

     Erin Maguire, a freshman at Richard Stockton College, said the service project conducted jointly by AmeriCorps and New Jersey Public Interest Research Group was a chance for her to take a few small strides against global warming. Maguire is majoring in public health, but considering switching to environmental science.

     "A lot of energy is lost from homes and buildings. You have to start some place, so start at your home. Start local and then go big," she said.

The students started their work in Habitat's headquarters, 601 N. Clinton Ave., an old building with single-pane double-hung windows, with numerous cracks in the frames. Habitat had apparently already taken steps to prevent heat loss by screwing sheets of clear Plexiglas to the inside of the window, so the students applied a bead of caulk around the edge of the Plexiglas to render it even more effective.

     Another group of students armed with energy checklists walked from Habitat's headquarters, 601 N. Clinton Ave., to a tidy two-story brick structure the nonprofit Christian housing agency completed five years ago in a neighborhood struggling for economic vitality.

Students from Stockton, Monmouth University, Princeton University, Rutgers University's Newark and New Brunswick campuses, conducted similar energy audits in Atlantic City and Newark.

The students toured the three-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot home with Marissa Davis, Habitat's volunteer coordinator, because the homeowner had a scheduling conflict. They checked off the presence of energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs in a ceiling fan and overhead light in the kitchen, as well in the fixture over the bathroom vanity on the second floor.

    In the basement, a couple of Stockton students, Keith Tuchler, a junior from Fairlawn majoring in marine biology, and Christina Ogunsuyi, junior from Manalapan majoring in environmental science, extolled the virtues of the tankless Rinnai hot water heater.

The students had a completely different experience at an energy audit of a 10-year-old Oak Street home, which was not built by Habitat. Tuchler and Ogunsuyi said it had many cracks that needed caulking around the windows.

     Davis said Habitat builds homes instead of renovating existing ones because it's too expensive to bring them into compliance with building codes and make them energy efficient.

However, she said she hopes the students continue to volunteer for Habitat because the agency has been building homes in Mercer County since 1986. Many of them could use an energy tune-up, she said.

 

BY CHRIS STURGIS

©2010 Times of Trenton

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  NEWSFLASH!!!

 Habitat for Humanity - East Trenton

In the news across NJ and PA

  

 

 

PRINCETON, NJ-- Educational Testing Service and Habitat for Humanity-Trenton Area today announced the groundbreaking of the new ETS House project. The development will create a new, affordable home for a deserving family and is the result of collaboration between ETS, its employees and Habitat-Trenton.

           More than 900 ETS employees raised $117,000 to fund the cost of the new home, and ETS employees and their families will contribute to the labor needed to build the house. Construction on the ETS House project will commence in April and continue through December.

           "There is much work to be done in East Trenton," Executive Director Steve Brame, Habitat-Trenton, says. "I trust that ETS's example will inspire other organizations to join with Habitat-Trenton and its nonprofit colleagues to bring to full reality the true meaning of corporate responsibility."

WHAT: ETS House groundbreaking ceremony

WHEN: Tuesday, March 24, 11 a.m.

WHERE: 617 N. Clinton Avenue, Trenton

ATTENDEES: Kurt Landgraf, President and CEO, ETS
           Steve Brame, Executive Director, Habitat-Trenton
           Mayor Doug Palmer, Trenton
           Brian Hughes, Mercer County Executive
           Keith Hamilton, Mercer County Freeholder
           Pat Colavita, Mercer County Freeholder

          The partner family is expected to attend the groundbreaking ceremony. After the ceremony, attendees are invited to a reception in Habitat-Trenton's learning center located at 601 N. Clinton Avenue. In addition, tours will be available of a completed Habitat house in the neighborhood.

Media interested in attending should contact Jason Baran at (609) 683-2428 or jbaran@ets.org.

Generosity Thaws Winter's Chill

Wednesday, February 04, 2009  

TRENTON -- A handful of children rustled through dozens of coats of all sizes and colors, trying them on and picking out their favorites at the Habitat for Humanity-Trenton Area yesterday.

Enrique Landa, 11, tried on an Army camouflage coat. He grinned ear to ear as he showed off his gray, black and red, tight-fitting coat that still had the tags on it to his mother. "I couldn't buy another coat this year," Enrique's mother, Yolanda Landa, said in Spanish. She said her children, including Enrique's 13-year-old brother, who did not want to be named and who did not take a coat, and the boys' 6-year-old sister, Sandra, needed coats that could keep them warmer. The last time she bought them coats was two years ago, and they're outgrowing them. "Sometimes money is tight," she said. Two Trenton Devils hockey players took the nearly 200 coats and accessories fans had donated at several Trenton Devils games in January to Habitat for Humanity-Trenton Area at 601 N. Clinton Ave.yesterday afternoon.

After the children picked out their coats, the men stayed to share pizza and soda with them, and also asked them questions and signed their autographs. Trenton Devil Scott Bartlett said it's important to give back to the community, especially on a cold, snowy day like yesterday.

"We have coats for people of all sizes," said Bartlett, 23. "We're here to give back to the community that sees us play." Fellow hockey player Dan Eves, 22, said he's been volunteering and giving back to the community, like going to spaghetti dinners for

, since he was a college hockey player in northern Michigan. "There's always going to be people in need. Any time you can give back is a good thing. It's the responsibility of people in the spotlight like me," Eves said.

The coats that weren't picked up yesterday would be available for area residents that visit Habitat's food pantry, also located at the

location, said Liz Leonard, the East Trenton Center coordinator for Habitat for Humanity-Trenton Area.

The non-profit received 322 coat donations in December from groups like the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton and Hopewell Elementary School, but there are none left. Leonard said she was happy with yesterday's coat donations, but the organization is still in need of men's coats. She also said The Trenton Devils organization has worked with Habitat in the past, raising funds and making other donations.

            In December, The Trenton Devils and St. Francis Medical Center hosted the annual Teddy Bear Toss to benefit the children of Children's Futures, CARES, and Angel's Wings. Each year, the Devils dedicate one game for fans to "toss" new teddy bears onto the ice. The team collects the bears and distributes them to the children at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton.

BY CARMEN CUSIDO 

©2009 Times of Trenton