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Rio Vista Pilot Project

Florida Atlantic University

Climate Resilience Program Update

ast Fall, Rio Vista was chosen to participate in an
innovative project to promote resilience among homeowner
Lcommunities in Broward County. The project is headed
by Daniel E. Meeroff, Ph.D., a professor of civil engineering
at Florida Atlantic University. The project is funded by The
Community Foundation of Broward.

The project’s objectives are: 1) to help coastal Broward
County communities like Rio Vista improve flood management
and energy efficiency and 2) to improve resilience literacy so
that homeowners become empowered and actively involved
in advancing their own neighborhood-level resilience on a Nearly 10% of typical home energy usage is accounted for by
sustained basis. The goal of the project is to interact with at appliances that are “always on.” To deal with items that are
least 200 homeowners during this pilot project to help reduce always on (phantom loads) that draw power even when not
flood insurance premiums and improve energy conservation.
in active use, homeowners can use smart power strips, power
There are two training modules to complete the program save mode, or even unplug the equipment.

• Module 1 Coastal Resilience: “Introduction to flood risk The FAU team recommends using the “Whole-house
management and coastal climate resilience” Systems Approach”, which starts with a home energy audit.
(https://youtu. be/AxxThd7mOIA) These can be done by contacting FPL or a Home Energy
• Module 2 Energy Conservation: “How to cost-effectively Rating System (HERS) provider or you can do it yourself
reduce residential energy consumption without sacrificing (myfloridahomeenergy.com).
quality of life (https://youtu.be/pysFNoOw3v4) Typical components to evaluate in the home include:
Participants submit a short quiz via email to Dr. Meeroff • Effective insulation
(dmeeroff@fau.edu) after each short module to receive a • Shading
Certificate of Completion from FAU. • HVAC systems
• Water heating
Congratulations to our initial class who completed Module1: • Efficient lighting
Lori Sterling, Jim Naugle, Jean-Jacques Rajter, Charles • Energy Star rated appliances and electronics
Tatelbaum, Julie Hough and Christina Currie. • Solar
To learn how to reduce residential energy consumption The team is also working on an information sheet with
without sacrificing quality of life in Module 2, the FAU team resiliency tips for new Rio Vista residents. For more on this
will introduce the concepts of energy efficiency and provide project, contact Dr. Meeroff (dmeeroff@fau.edu) or visit the
examples of strategies to maximize energy conservation in project website at http://labees.civil.fau.edu/p2.html#CFB.
your own home. Energy efficiency is defined as the ratio
between the amount of energy actually used over the amount Support for this grant has been provided by the following
of energy consumed. In other words, the higher the efficiency, Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward:
the less wasted energy you have to pay for.
Jan and Ed Crocker Unrestricted Fund
Did you know that a typical house in southeast Florida located General Unrestricted Fund
in a very hot, humid climate zone requires more than 50% of Fred and Mary Ruffner Fund
the electrical bill for cooling? Mary and Alex Mackenzie Community Impact Fund

14 rio vista civic associartion • www.riovistaonline.com

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