By Jonah Beleckis for the Wisconsin Independent.
Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Wisconsin News Connection reporting for the Wisconsin Independent-Public News Service Collaboration
A Dane County program is working with rental property owners to make multifamily homes more energy efficient through renovations that make the buildings more environmentally sustainable while lowering energy bills, all at no cost to renters.
The Efficiency Navigator has helped small- and medium-sized apartment buildings in Madison, Middleton and Fitchburg for about five years, said Claire Schaefer Oleksiak, the executive director of Sustain Dane, a sustainability group that offers the Efficiency Navigator program.
“When you reduce the cost of energy for a person living in the rental buildings, it makes it more affordable for them to be able to live in that unit,” Schaefer Oleksiak said. “Also, when you address weatherization and change out systems to more energy efficient systems, you’re reducing the amount of CO2 [carbon dioxide] that’s going into our community.”
The efficiency program often helps building owners improve insulation and HVAC equipment, moves that can reduce energy bills for renters. Wisconsinites dealt with rising costs charged by utility companies in 2025 and could see other increases later this year.
“Someone may rent a place that, it looks on paper that it’s affordable to them, but then they get their first utility bill and they realize that this is huge, and it’s beyond what they can afford,” Schaefer Oleksiak said.
The Efficiency Navigator program reached about 200 residents last year when Peter Tan and Rachel Durfee took advantage of the program for the Madison property they own, which was built in 1964 and has eight apartment units.
For years, Tan said, he knew the nearly three dozen windows in the building were drafty and frosted up during the winter. Durfee said they looked at replacing the windows for a long time, but they couldn’t financially justify replacing them all on their own.
“We were saving and saving and trying to make the numbers work,” Durfee said.
They have tried to keep their rents in check over the years, and rising costs were a key consideration for them when they applied to the program, Durfee said. The Efficiency Navigator program specifically targets multifamily homes that are affordable to residents at or below 80% of the area median income.
“It was a game changer for us because if we had blown every bit of money that we had on the windows, we would not have any money to do any other things on the building,” she said. “It’s an older building. It needs stuff.”
Durfee felt relieved that they could improve the building without making rents skyrocket for tenants. The program also allowed the building to get better insulation.
The process starts with an application. Schaefer Oleksiak said there’s next an assessment of the building to see what measures are available to most improve its efficiency and environmental sustainability. Then, the program looks at the funding it has and decides what building projects would have the largest impact.
“Those buildings and measures are selected. We bring in contractors to get specific quotes and help them, the owners, go forward with implementing the measures,” Schaefer Oleksiak said. “We are able to cover 100% of the costs of the work that happens.”
Beyond making housing more affordable, Tan said the environment was important to him, too. He heard about the program at an event in Sustain Dane’s sustainable breakfast series, which brings together organizations and individuals interested in environmental, social and economic sustainability. He pointed to the so-called triple bottom line of sustainability: people, planet and profit: “So with people, we are creating sustainable communities. With the planet, you’re creating a sustainable environment, and with profit, you’re creating a sustainable economy.”
“We’ve owned this building for 30 years, and so we appreciate that this program makes it possible for us to be there for the tenants, be there for the long term,” Tan said.
Jonah Beleckis wrote this article for the Wisconsin Independent.
Related: WATCH: Wisconsin families face soaring energy bills
