Many of us live in vintage homes with varying degrees of insulation and energy efficiency. Among that group, many of us would like to make our homes more efficient but lack the resources to make those changes, instead paying high energy bills month after month (after month).

One remedy that may fit some homeowners and small businesses is the GreenStreet Lending program at Umpqua bank- a joint venture with Energy Trust of Oregon. The program makes loans to qualified customers from $1,000 to $50,000 for improvements such as insulation, air and duct sealing, windows, solar energy systems and efficient heating and cooling systems.

The loan can be secured by your home or unsecured, though the rate is currently 8% for an unsecured and 6.75% for a secured loan set up on auto pay. Of course a home equity line may still be an option and the current rate is about 5% right now.

If you are considering improvements along these lines it makes more sense to take out such a loan rather than put these improvements on a credit card with rates in the double digits. For more details check out the GreenStreet Lending website, or speak to a real person as I did this morning: Aaron Labadie of Umpqua Bank at 503-449-2027.