Weber State Sustainability Home to help Utah residents save energy, money
OGDEN, Utah — Weber State University is bringing its commitment to clean energy and cost-saving solutions directly to the community with the opening of the Weber State Sustainability Home.
University leaders and community supporters will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 7 at 1:30 p.m. Located at 2807 Quincy Ave., the demonstration home is a newly renovated space designed to show homeowners and renters how to improve household efficiency, reduce emissions, and lower monthly utility costs.
Practical solutions to lower utility bills
“Weber State is bringing industry-standard sustainability concepts down to the residential level and making them easy to understand and implement,” said Bonnie Christiansen, Sustainability Programs & Engagement Manager at WSU.
Staff at the home will offer information and support for residents and small businesses interested in:
- DIY energy efficiency upgrades (including free simple-to-install weather stripping, caulking, LED lighting, and other efficiency supplies while they last)
- Electrification projects, such as heat-pumps and electric water heaters
- Powering all or a portion of one’s home with rooftop or plug-in solar or other renewable energy sources
“Sometimes all you need is someone to show you what’s possible,” Christiansen said. “Our goal is to educate and empower people. Sustainability is partly about learning and keeping up with technology so we can move toward a cleaner environment.”
Staff can also help residents find funding, rebates, and other incentives to help them recreate what they see in the Weber State Sustainability Home in their own homes — and to do so affordably.
WSU is leading by example
The demonstration home is the latest milestone in WSU’s long-term sustainability strategy.
“Weber State has led by example, cutting over half of its greenhouse gas emissions and saving more than $30 million since 2007, when the university committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050,” said Alice Mulder, director of the Sustainability Practices & Research Center, or SPARC. “Our efforts have been so successful, both environmentally and economically, that we moved up our target by a decade, and now plan to be carbon-neutral by 2040.”
The new home is supported by SPARC, which recently utilized a $2.5 million grant to expand community outreach and staffing.
“We want this home to be a place where we have genuine conversations and explore the question, what is ‘the Ogden way’ of being sustainable?” Christiansen said. “We’re looking to bring all those same practices and successes we’ve seen at Weber State to our neighbors here in Ogden and across the state.”
Community support and free services
Moving forward, the Weber State Sustainability Home will serve as a community hub, offering:
- Free workshops, toolkits, and DIY materials for energy efficient upgrades
- Tours of the fully electrified house
- One-to-one energy consulting for households
“We encourage homeowners and renters to come visit,” Christiansen said. “We’ll be giving tours that spark ideas and allow people to use all their senses to understand what it means to have a clean-energy home.”
Bryan Magaña, Marketing & Communications
801-626-7212, bryanmagana@weber.edu- Contact:
Rachel Badali, Public Relations Director
801-626-7948, rachelbadali@weber.edu