Deb Thompson shows off her fully insulated basement and on-demand water heater.

It was a sunny fresh June day in the Fall Creek neighborhood of Ithaca – the kind of day when memories of winter storms or summer heat waves fade away – but the crew from local energy contractor, Snug Planet, were utterly focused on preparing Deborah Thompson’s historic home on Marshall Street for exactly that kind of weather.

Thompson is the latest recipient of a grant from our Finger Lakes Climate Fund.  The program offers travelers and building owners a way to take responsibility for their fossil carbon emissions by making donations to the Fund.  They can use the Fund’s carbon calculator to determine the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from their air and car travel or building electricity and heating, and then make a donation that will pay to offset an equal amount of carbon by improving energy efficiency in the homes of modest-income residents.

In the case of the Thompson home, Snug Planet estimated that the improvements they made would eliminate about 54 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and resulted in a grant from the Finger Lakes Climate Fund for $1,076 towards the cost.  Over the course of several days, their team did extensive work in insulating and sealing leaks in the attic, and addressed moisture problems, air leaks, and lack of insulation in the basement.

Sustainable Tompkins has announced the availability of a fifth round of grant awards due at the end of June.  So far the program has helped a very diverse mix of household types in Dryden, Enfield, Lansing, and the City of Ithaca.  Details of the projects can be found at www.fingerlakesclimatefund.org.