{"id":13601,"date":"2021-05-04T08:27:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T12:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/?p=13601"},"modified":"2021-05-04T08:27:20","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T12:27:20","slug":"helping-the-hauschka-family-green-needhams-ask-the-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/2021\/05\/helping-the-hauschka-family-green-needhams-ask-the-expert\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping the Hauschka Family \u2013 Green Needham\u2019s \u201cAsk the Expert\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Barbara and Peter Hauschka were interested in adding rooftop solar PV<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 to their Needham home, and possibly buying an electric vehicle (EV)<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 as a way to lower their carbon footprint, so they contacted<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Green Needham with their questions\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>about solar\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>and EVs.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ed Quinlan (Green Needham volunteer and retired Energy Engineer), met with the Hauschkas to help answer their questions.\u00a0 In the course of the discussion, Ed realized that they were also a perfect candidate to convert their home heating system to air source heat pumps – their existing oil system was expensive to run and their ducted air conditioning system was ready for replacement.\u00a0 Ed ran some calculations for them to determine how big the solar system would need to be to power their existing electrical needs, plus the new heating system and future EV.\u00a0 Ed also provided them with suggestions for who to contact for quotes, and roughly what the work should cost.\u00a0 Asked about their experience,\u00a0 Barbara and Peter said “We found Ed to be extremely knowledgeable and informative about strategies to reduce our carbon footprint with a cost-effective plan.”<\/p>\n

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With this information in hand, the Hauschkas are now in the process of getting quotes for the solar and heating systems for their home.\u00a0 With these changes, their home will be nearly 100% carbon free, powered by renewable energy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em>have a question<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em>about \u201cgoing solar\u201d?\u00a0 Are you considering an EV<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 as your next car?\u00a0 We’ve been getting more and more inquiries from Needham neighbors like the Hauschkas looking for help<\/em> \u00a0<\/strong>getting started on clean energy and energy efficiency projects.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To help out, we’ve developed Green Needham’s Ask the Expert program<\/b>. We’ll connect you with a knowledgeable individual who has worked in the field and\/or been through the process themselves to answer questions about the technologies and your project, just like Ed did for the Hauschkas.<\/p>\n

Start<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em>with our pages\u00a0<\/strong> <\/em>for the project areas you’re interested in:<\/p>\n