Thank you to Everyone Who Helped Make the  2024 WindowDressers Build in York a Fantastic Success!

Our volunteers built 150 insulating window inserts to help keep residents warm this winter!

York Ready for Climate Action hosted a WindowDressers’ Community Build in York from October 21- October 25, 2024, at St. Christopher’s Church. As we prepare for colder temperatures in Maine, window inserts provide a low-cost upgrade for leaky windows in most any home.

WindowDressers is a volunteer-run nonprofit that brings community volunteers together to improve the warmth and comfort of interior spaces, lower heating costs, and reduce emissions by producing custom-fit, low-cost, insulating window inserts. They do this by having Community Builds, a 5-7 day “pop-up” event, where over 100 volunteers come together to build inserts for their community. In York, volunteers helped assemble 150  inserts for local families.

Thank you to St. Christopher’s Church in York for hosting the event, and to York54, Hannaford, First Parish Church and the York Rotary Club for providing food for volunteers.

Each insulating window insert is made of a custom-made pine frame wrapped in two layers of tightly-sealed, clear polyolefin film and finished with a compressible foam gasket. The foam allows enough give for the inserts to be easily slid into place in the fall and removed in the spring, while holding firmly enough to provide a tight, friction-based seal that stops drafts and adds two more insulating air spaces between the home and the window. These inserts insulate homes and therefore lower the need for heating and cooling. They help people and the planet.