Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development
Energy efficient retrofits to existing housing stock provide a great return for residents and contribute to energy sustainability for communities. These retrofits are generally very cost effective over the life of the housing stock, but can have high upfront costs. Financing the upfront costs of these retrofits can be challenging. RMI has a great piece about how properly valuing the benefits of the retrofits can improve financing options.
http://www.rmi.org/summer_2013_esj_beyond_the_tip_of_the_energy_iceberg_main
Our colleagues in the WealthWorks / Wealth Creation in Rural Communities work at MACED have coordinated a program, How$martKY, that works with electricity cooperatives to help make cost effective energy efficiency improvements for cooperative customers.
