From the Bottom Up: A proposal for lowering the carbon footprint of the Meetinghouse

Approved at Monthly Meeting November 15, 2020

The following suggestions are based on John Reuthe’s visit to the Meetinghouse. They emphasize working from the basement up, reducing the entrance of cold air. We propose a few immediate actions and then a series of phases for future actions.

Immediate actions:

1. Clean out debris on basement floor (Who will help Sarah and Ingrid?)
2. Have the heat pump professionally cleaned, soon and annually (Trustees take on)
3. Clean filters in heat pump every 2 to 4 weeks, or as needed (need is obvious when examines) – becomes part of regular cleaning tasks
4. Post signs to assure internal doors are kept open

Phase 1: Find contractor for the following:

1. Put in a trap door in the meeting room floor for access to the crawl space beneath (Is there any history of considering this?)
2. Seal door leading to bulkhead
3. Seal front door
4. Seal interior doors in the entryway, making this an unheated space
5. Seal ceiling vent

Phase 2: Find contractor to do the following: (possibly Bo Jesperson of thebreathablehome.com)

1. Spray foam under the meeting room floor
2. Lay 10m poly on the basement floor
3. Remove fiberglass insulation in disrepair in basement replace with spray foam, with a major focus on the rim joists

Other important actions:

1. Install a commercial dehumidifier (Sante Fe brand suggested) for Meeting room and basement
2. Put insulation wrap on the hot air ducting in basement
3. Work with Window Dressers to make window inserts for Meeting room windows (Ingrid will contact Window Dressers in the spring.)

Approved at Monthly Meeting November 15, 2020