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Saturday, May 25, 2013
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Energy audits earn Fischer Hoover USA finalist status
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · June 29, 2012
The Hoover Presidential Library-Museum last week named Sarah Fischer of West Branch one of 15 finalists for its Uncommon Student Award.
Fischer, who just finished her junior year at West Branch High School, said it is a “great honor.”
“I was really happy when I found out I got it,” she said, “since I put in a lot of work on the project.”
Fischer’s project, named Hoover Home Energy Audits, was featured in a April 19 article in a special section of the West Branch Times as she and Habitat for Humanity teamed up to conduct home energy audits for low-income households and then upgrade the homes’ energy-efficiency.
Fischer, 17, wins $1,000 for making the first cut in the Hoover USA contest, and can win a $5,000 scholarship by making it to the top three. On Oct. 27, she and the other finalists will present their projects to a selection committee of “distinguished Iowans.”
As part of her project, she is also working with banks to promote self-liquidating loans to homeowners who implement home energy improvements.
“She will share her results with the community via the newspaper, fliers, bulletins and presentations to teach others about the advantages of energy audits and encourage more people to get involved and make West Branch one of the most energy-efficient communities in the state,” read a press release from the Hoover Association.
To that end, Fischer wants to find another four homes for the energy audits and upgrades — which include everything from sealing up cracks to even replacing appliances, sometimes at no cost.
If families open up their homes to Fischer and Habitat, which allows her to gather more data, she should be able to show a greater impact on such work to the community as a whole. That may help her take one of the top prizes in October, she said.
The panel will ask her to tie in her project to Hoover’s qualities. Fischer said the audits highlight two in particular:
• Conservation — “He was a great conservationist, wanting to conserve resources, especially during the food crisis,” Fischer said.
• Environmentalist — “He really enjoyed the environment. He set aside land for the environment (while president),” she said.
Fischer, a daughter of Scott and Cheryl Fischer, is the first West Branch student to win the Hoover USA since Tyler O’Neil in 2006.
This is the 15th year of the Hoover USA program, which looks for “uncommon Iowa high school juniors who are gifted as hard workers” and using their “talents and energies” to improve their communities.
In that April 19 story, Fischer and Habitat looked at the home of Clara Oleson of Springdale. They sealed up air leaks, replaced 16 incandescent bulbs with 13-watt compact fluorescent lights, installed weather stripping, wrapped the hot water heater, insulated pipes and replaced the refrigerator. The improvements are estimated to save her more than $475 a year, according to a Habitat Utility Bill Analysis.
Fischer had also been part of a group of high school students who conducted an energy audit on the high school and recommended upgrades to the existing building and changes to the planned gymnasium-and-weight room addition, some of which have been made.
This summer, she is working as an assistant to West Branch High School’s technology coordinator, Doug Cummings, a job her older brother, David, did a year before. She is also serving an internship at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids spending two days a week there.
GETTING INVOLVED
Those who want to have their house evaluated for energy efficiency must meet the income guidelines. For more information or to sign up, you may contact Habitat for Humanity at 319-337-8949 or Sarah Fischer at 643-7358 or snf6195@lcom.net. |
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