The Gutmans never thought they would be able to afford heat pumps…until the Climate Fund came into their lives! As 20-year residents of Ithaca, NY, Wendy, Aaron, their two teenagers, and two dogs were ready to make their downtown home more energy efficient. The big switch off of natural gas! They were already signed up for community solar, so the Gutmans were poised to become a fully net zero family. Collaborating with their good friends at Snug Planet, Wendy and Aaron not only installed a new air-source heat pump system, but also insulated and airsealed their home. This was made possible by the generous community offsetters we have here in the Finger Lakes! Through these measures, they reduced a future 34.5 tons of CO2 from escaping into the atmosphere, with the support of our $2,000 low-income qualified heat pump incentive and an additional $893 carbon offset grant. Congrats to the Gutmans’ dream becoming a reality and winning our 44th Climate Fund grant award!!