Say Their Names
Posted by David Hepinstall on June 4, 2020 ·
The recent tragic and unnecessary deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement officers, and the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, point to a wound that cuts deeply into the hearts and souls of communities throughout the nation. This is particularly true for communities of color – communities in which encounters with the men and women empowered to protect and serve is much too often to be feared rather than welcomed.
In the past few years, and especially in recent months, our country has had to face some ugly truths about racial disparities, and human and civil rights violations that lay bare how much work we still have to do in order for black people to feel safe and secure in their own country. All persons of good will recoil when the behavior of police mirrors acts of violence against African Americans in their own homes and communities. We are distressed at repressive tactics by law enforcement, and unnecessary injuries to peaceful protestors. We are alarmed by damage inflicted on local businesses, and even more alarmed by divisive rhetoric and threats of military force against U.S. citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.
Read MoreAEA statement on the death of George Floyd
Posted by David Hepinstall on June 4, 2020 ·
The tragic and unnecessary death of another African American man at the hands of law enforcement is a wound that cuts deeply into the hearts and souls of communities throughout the nation. This is particularly true for communities of color – communities in which encounters with the men and women empowered to protect and serve is much too often to be feared rather than welcomed.
AEA is a membership organization of the downstate NY Weatherization Assistance Program service providers, who are nonprofit community-based organizations. We are also a workforce training organization, and a technical assistance and direct energy services provider. We take great pride in the diversity of our member agencies, our employees, and the customers and communities we serve. We know this diversity makes us a stronger organization and network. It is embodied in our mission to deliver the benefits of energy efficiency and housing affordability to all New Yorkers – regardless of race, ethnicity, age, income, or disability status. We are only able to thrive in the important work we do – predominantly in communities of color – because of the myriad voices and perspectives all our stakeholders bring to the table.
In the past few years, and especially in recent months, our country has had to face some ugly truths about racial disparities, and human and civil rights violations that lay bare how much work we still have to do in order for black people to feel safe and secure in their own country. All persons of good will recoil when the behavior of police mirrors acts of violence against African Americans in their own homes and communities. We are distressed at repressive tactics by law enforcement, and unnecessary injuries to peaceful protestors. We are alarmed by damage inflicted on local businesses, and even more alarmed by divisive rhetoric and threats of military force against U.S. citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.
AEA unequivocally condemns all racist violence and systemic racial injustices that communities of color face across our nation, and we pledge to do our part to advocate for change. We denounce the violence against people making their voices heard and stand in solidarity with those working to dismantle the structural inequity and injustices of our society.
Our member agencies and coalition partners have pioneered the green movement and served on the front line in the struggle for racial equity, many for forty years or longer. We reaffirm our commitment to the struggle, and pledge to continue the fight with renewed vigor and focus.
We will continue to embrace and better understand each other through productive and thoughtful conversations, and combat ignorance, divisiveness, hate and racism.
David Hepinstall, Executive Director
Joseph G. Barden, Board Chair
A note to our Friends, Clients and Partners about COVID-19
Posted by David Hepinstall on June 3, 2020 ·
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AEA’s offices have been closed since mid-March in both New York and California. Government and utility energy efficiency programs we implement required us to suspend direct installation of energy efficiency measures in occupied homes during this time; however, those employees who were able to work from home have been doing so. We have continued to provide energy consulting for new construction and existing buildings clients, and to plan new and improved services to help you meet your energy goals. many of us will continue to work from home when feasible to enable those in the office to better maintain social distancing.
We hope that you and your loved ones and coworkers have been safe and healthy during this period.
We want you to know that your health and the health of our workforce are of paramount concern to us.
We look forward to our resuming services to clients as public health authorities allow, following strict guidance for employee health screening, social distancing, use of personal protective equipment, and procedures to prevent the spread of infection. We will contact you when site visits are needed to complete required tasks for those projects to ensure that all parties are prepared to handle inspections or installations safely.
We will begin scheduling work in the common areas of buildings shortly. We expect a longer wait before most in-unit work will restart. In the meantime, if your building was undergoing or preparing for work that was interrupted or deferred due to COVID-19 policies in effect, feel free to email your AEA account manager or project manager to discuss your scheduling needs or any other concerns.
Please be advised that we will be discouraging personal visits to the office by persons other than AEA staff for the near future. If you do need to be here, schedule your visit with the person you will be seeing so that we will be expecting you, and be prepared to comply with our screening protocols on your arrival.
Weatherization Day 2019
Posted by Kay Stewart on October 30, 2019 ·
October 30 is Weatherization Day. This year, AEA celebrates the many energy efficiency retrofit projects completed under the Weatherization Assistance Program by community-based nonprofit agencies located throughout downstate New York.
We hope you will enjoy and learn from this slide show highlighting the measures we install and some of the many homes and multifamily buildings weatherized by our member agencies in recent years.
As advanced energy efficiency measures become more cost-effective, the Weatherization Assistance Program is continually upgrading measures eligible to be installed in buildings, including solar photovoltaic and other renewable energy systems, strategic electrification, and more.
2017 Benchmarking deadline extended to Feb. 15
