FAQs:
Holland Home Energy Retrofit Program

Overview | Identifying Problems | Do I Qualify? | Energy Assessment | Energy Savings | Partners | Financing | FAQs

What is the Holland energy program?

About 10 to 12 years ago, a concerned group of citizens started down this path to put together a world-class home energy program. It took them a little while but that is exactly what they’ve done. They incorporated many, many facets of our energy use in the city and in our homes.

One of the benefits they have is the city grant program that will actually pay 10 percent of your project. Additionally, BPW and Semco have some of the best rebates available for these projects in the state and that can save up to about 15 percent.

What’s more, you have the benefit of on-bill financing at a very low rate and very easy to qualify for. The beauty of on-bill financing is that can be passed on to the next owner of the home if you happen to sell it.

Finally the big savings is in your utility bills savings. So if you add all of these things up, it really comes down to you’re going to invest about half of what the project would cost you otherwise.

What is the Governor’s Excellence Award?

Governor Snyder has really done a lot to improve the energy efficiency for the state of Michigan. In fact, we are now in the top ten of states in the nation, and we didn’t start out that way four years ago.

The governor decided to recognize some of the top programs, utilities, cities municipalities, and contractor of the year.

This last year we were nominated for Contractor of the Year and we were very honored for that. So when we won it we were a little surprised, but once again very, very honor.

We are very proud of our team here at WMGB Home Improvement. We have a dedicated group of building scientists with more experience at doing audits and weatherization than any company in the state of Michigan.

We are really proud of the job we do and our team that makes it happen.

It really feels good to help people out, make their homes more comfortable, safer, and of course save energy.

Who qualifies for the Holland program?

Everyone qualifies, as long as you live within the city limits of Holland and are interested in improving the performance of your home.

What can I expect to happen with my free Holland home consultation?

Well what you can expect is that we’re going to send your home a BPI certified Building Analyst that has experience in auditing thousands and thousands of homes.

We’re going to analyze the house as a whole by first sitting down with you and talking to you and really try to determine what’s going on in your home.

We’re going to do a thorough inspection with a blower door, an infrared gun, and some health and safety testing in your house.

By analyzing the data it really tells us exactly what needs to be done. And here at WMGB when we are done with your consultation we hope to have educated you quite a bit.

The consultation really gets to the bottom of what it is you’re trying to accomplish and by doing that it’s a very fun and educational process. You’re going to learn a ton about what’s going on in your home. The truth is that if you go through these steps your home is going to be remarkably more comfortable and you will save money and energy.

How does the transferable option work?

Holland is looking to update their housing stock and they realize that the average time that we live in our home is five to eight years.

They decided to allow for this financing to be passed along to the next homeowner in the event of a sale.

The new homeowner is getting a home with all of these energy improvements along with the savings on the energy bill. Once the financing is paid off you or the future homeowner was able to enjoy all of the benefits, more comfortable home, well performing home and low energy bills.

What type of improvements are involved in the Holland Energy Programs?

All things energy efficiency and safety-related things such as:

● Attic insulation
● Replacement windows
● Replacement furnace and air conditioner
● Replacement hot water heater
● Air sealing
● Duct sealing
● Ventilation improvements
● Basement wall insulation
● Rim joist insulation
● Crawl space encapsulation
● Knob and tube wiring updates
● Asbestos remediation
● Energy efficient appliances and lighting

What can be done to the home with the Holland Energy Program?

The Holland Energy Program helps pay for:

● Insulation and air sealing services
● Replacement windows
● Doors
● Egress windows
● Glass block windows
● Furnaces and air conditioners
● Hot water heaters
● Energy efficient appliances and lighting

And unlike like many other programs in the country, it can help with some safety issues in the home, like taking care of a asbestos if you have it or knob and tube electric in the house.

Do we share any information with the Holland energy program?

Yes, we do. Extensively.

We are an authorized contractor with the city of Holland and we help walk you through the processes that you have to go through in order to apply for their grant.

We, however, do not share anything with any marketing companies or outside sources.