North Carolina has topped many lists in the past few years. It is one of the fastest growing states and ranks high for its business climate.

In Energy Efficiency North Carolina is wading somewhere in the middle of the pack nationwide. Energy experts predict the down economy and heightened concerns about climate change may also help change minds – steering utilities, state government and residents to action.

In many ways North Carolinians are just like everyone else. We all have a lot of stuff – multiple televisions, computers, electronic games, cell phones and electric chargers to keep them going.

Air conditioners are a must in the summer and heat is mandatory in the winter. If you mix in our low electricity rates and our traditionally lax conservation ethic – our energy consumption could swell by double digits in the next 20 years.

Etan Gumerman of Duke University is co-lead researcher for the new report – “Energy Efficiency in the South:” 

Gumerman stated, “The south has been portrayed in some circles as being behind – there have been reports that the southern states rank behind other states when it comes to how well they’re doing in EE. That’s one way of looking at it. I see it as an opportunity.”

Work by Gumerman and researchers from Georgia Tech shows that North Carolina use of residential energy as a percentage of its overall energy consumption exceeds that of the nation and the rest of the South.

Gumerman said, “Well EE is not just about beating yourself up b/c there’s something you do that is somewhat wasteful –we’re talked about the low hanging fruit aspect of EE – there are some thing that will be easier to do than others.”

Gumerman said if North Carolina really wants to cut back and become more efficient – all roads lead to the home.

Married couple Melvin and Claudette Whitley lives on Harvard Street in East Durham. Their brick home sits on a hill with a good view of the recreation center across the street. Their home was built in 1956 – they have lived there since the early 1990s.

Melvin and Claudette did not consider their home energy efficient. Whitley said there were leaks around their windows, there was an old thermostat inside the house and there were ventilation problems that allow heat to escape in the winter and air conditioning escape in the summer. 

Whitley pointed to the black plastic that covered one of the crawl space openings. She said, “We just had that put there b/c the vents were open and all the air was coming in during the winter and we couldn’t heat – it was hard to heat the living room. We could heat the back of the house but we couldn’t heat the front. So we had one of our friends came to put that up there – but in the summertime that’s going to have to come out. Because you’re going to have to ventilate the crawl space during the summer or other wise you’re going to get problems.”

Recently, the Whitley’s found out their neighborhood is one of six communities chosen for Durham’s Neighborhood Energy Retrofit Program.

The first phase of The Neighborhood Energy Retrofit Program will seal leaks, insulate attics and install programmable thermostats in nearly 350 homes. Homeowners selected for the program will have to pay 200-dollars – but they’ll get up to two-thousand-dollars worth of work.

The retro-fit project could not be done without federal stimulus dollars from the Department of Energy. Durham is using almost one-million dollars for the retro-fit project.

Tobin Freid is the Sustainability Manager for Durham City and County. She was hired to implement Durham’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan – the first plan of its type in the state: 

Freid stated, “We’ve made a lot of progress but we still have a long way to go. Unfortunately our emissions are still increasing - it’s kind or one of those things where it takes a while to get the ship that’s going down the shipping lane to turn around and change course – it takes a bit of time and effort.”

Freid said her office is trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% across city and county government and in the schools. Employees have even been handed compact florescent light bulbs. And the goal is to help reduce community energy use by 30-percent - all by the year 20-30.

Etan Gumerman of Duke University said that goal can be reached. He said, “Across the board EE needs to be attacked from many different ways – local governments, state, federal.”

This week – Progress Energy is scheduled to launch its Appliance Recycling Program. Customers can get a cool $50 for recycling their less efficient refrigerator or freezer.

And the state’s annual Energy Star Appliance Replacement and Rebate Program is this weekend.

These could be the incentives people need during a time when the economy continues to struggle.