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David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement A new integration of the Office of Engagement Initiatives and the Public Service Center

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Engaged Undergraduate Research Grants

High Energy Cost Burdens for Low-to-Moderate Income Rentals in Tompkins County

Establishing a multidisciplinary team of students to work with low-income residents in Tompkins County on solutions to reduce household energy consumption and to determine ways to support communities with high energy burdens.

In a region with relatively long cold seasons, energy costs of living comfortably are a serious concern for many Tompkins County residents, especially low-to-moderate income renters. Due to poor infrastructure, knowledge gaps and fixed incomes, they often struggle with high energy cost burdens. To assess and highlight this issue, a group of Cornell students collaborate with Sustainable Tompkins, a community organization, to survey and interview up to 500 low-to-moderate income residents. The collected data strengthen Sustainable Tompkins’s advocacy for energy-efficiency policies, such as the Home Energy Rating and Disclosure (HERD) project, to aid low-to-moderate income residents with their high energy cost burdens. The student researchers also aid community residents with applications for LIHEAP, a federal program to help pay for heating bills.

Topics: Economic Vitality and Entrepreneurship; Energy, Environment and Sustainability

The Team

  • Christopher Barrett, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

    SC Johnson College of Business

  • Howard Chong, School of Hotel Administration

    SC Johnson College of Business

  • Sara Hwong ’18

    College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

  • Kelly Strohm ’17

    College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

  • Community partner:  Sustainable Tompkins

Engaged Undergraduate Research Grants

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David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement

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