Frank Lloyd Wright Quote

"Form follows function-that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union"

Frank Lloyd Wright

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Cash for Caulkers

I was just reading about President Obama's push for home energy efficiency tax incentives, so I decided to send the following letter to all 3 of my representatives:

As an Oregon resident, I would like to encourage you to support incentives pertaining to home energy efficiency improvements (aka "Cash for Caulkers").

Specifically, I urge you to ensure that incentives are put into place that will benefit owners of older homes who increase the energy efficiency of their original windows by installing wooden storm windows and weatherstripping. Please push for legislation that is not exclusively aimed at replacing old windows with new windows. The windows in my home are over 90 years old and will last another 90 before they need to be replaced. Adding weatherstripping and custom-made storm windows will increase their energy efficiency without adding to the local landfill. It will also create local jobs since wooden storm windows are often custom made by local craftsmen.

Thank you for your time.

If you also think it is important to incentivize old-fashioned wooden storm windows and weatherstripping, please feel free to send the same message to your congressmen. You can find your representatives here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Update: Check out Window Wednesday for more info on saving old windows.

7 comments:

  1. That's a great letter. As an Oregon resident (just up the street from you in Roseway) I would love to know more about getting custom-made storm windows for my just-bought '25 bungalow. I would definitely like to keep the three huge original picture windows...have you blogged about your custom-made storm windows? Any links that might be helpful?

    Mike

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  2. Mike,

    Storm windows are still on my "To Do" list. Hopefully our representatives will have the incentives in place by the time I'm ready to have some built. ;-)

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  3. Excellent letter! Thanks for the idea.

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  4. Nicely worded. It's alarming when folks think the *only* way to weatherproof is to rip out old growth wood windows and replace them with short lived vinyl.

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  5. Great idea and letter! Great job.

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  6. Amen Joe! :)

    For custom storm windows, try Truax - they're great!

    10949 SE Division St
    Portland, OR 97266
    Phone: (503) 256-4066

    Web: www.truaxnw.com

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