By Paul Leach
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The United Way of Bradley County’s Impact Cleveland Initiative has announced intentions to retrofit at least 300 older homes in low-income neighborhoods for better energy efficiency next year, following its recent award of a $3.75 million Extreme Energy Makeover grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Extreme Energy Makeover award, part of TVA’s Smart Communities program, focuses on homes at least 20 years old and seeks “to achieve a 25 percent reduction in each home’s electric energy usage through cost-effective, whole-home retrofits,” according to a United Way of Bradley County news release.
The energy retrofit program, scheduled to launch in April 2016, speaks to one of the core priorities of Impact Cleveland: physical revitalization of the communities located between Wildwood Avenue and the city’s old industrial center.
“This project will be a catalyst for unprecedented revitalization in the Blythe-Oldfield community and the surrounding neighborhoods and is a sustainable model for serving our community,” said Dustin Tommey, executive director of Impact Cleveland. “We now have the ability to transform a home’s energy efficiency to lower the expense to an affordable level.”
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