Weatherization is an ongoing process. You can install a storm window in the early winter, but chances are that you'll want to remove it in the summer. If you don't remember to re-install the storm window when winter rolls around again, your previous weatherization project was in vain.

This simple example is just one of many. There are plenty of weatherization tasks that require ongoing attention on the part of homeowners: checking thermostat temperatures, checking for water leaks, and everyone's favorite: turning off the lights. For the most part these are simple tasks that only require a few minutes every week or month. But they're also fairly boring, and difficult to integrate into a busy life.

To keep track with weatherization goals, homeowners need a convenient "green task" reminder system - a tool which can keep them up-to-date on the various green maintenance tasks they need to take care of on a regular basis. This tool could take a lot of different forms - it could have a web-based control panel; it could integrate with Outlook or the iPhone; it could send emails and text message alerts; it could produce an RSS feed or add status messages to a Facebook account one tasks are ticked off. It could do all of these things.

Most importantly, a green task reminder system needs to be relevant to each homeowner's particular circumstances - there's no need to remind someone who doesn't have storm windows to re-install them in early November. For that reason, such a system would need to gather some up-front data about what kind of weatherization measures the homeowner has taken, and perhaps provide an interface for a green contractor or weatherization consultant to add additional information. Once the basic information is provided, the system will be able to limit the set of reminders to thos which apply.

There's no need for such a system to limit itself to weatherization tasks, although those are among the most important tasks. It would be easy to adapt such a system to provide car and bicycle owners with reminders for keeping their vehicle in good and efficient condition, or to help urban farmers keep tabs on their plots.

It would be easy enough to monetize a system like this using subscriptions. A more exotic monetization model would sell not just the reminders, but the services as well. For example, the system could automatically schedule a visit from a local green contractor to assist with routine maintenance tasks, and reap a commission from each successfully scheduled appointment. That approach is probably more lucrative, but also a good deal riskier.

There are a lot of different ways to remind people of important green tasks. Hopefully, a variety of approaches will emerge, giving people the tools that best suit their needs and help them save energy most effectively.

Over the past several election cycles, progressive political candidates and organizations have developed and refined the concept of the online political house party. A house party is an event held in support of a political campaign at someone's house. The host invites friends, and possibly strangers, to meet and discuss the issues in the campaign, learn more about what's going on, and perhaps donate to the campaign. The concept of the house party is nothing new; what's new is the development of online tools to help a lot of people organize many house parties all at once, and to build community by helping campaign supporters find one another online.

This same idea, with a few tweaks, can be applied to help weatherize homes across the country. Imagine that some organization with national reach - for example, the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, or even the White House - were to announce a national Weatherization Day, and to call on its supporters to volunteer to either host or attend a weatherization house party. Hosts would be responsible for assessing weatherization work needed at their home, purchasing supplies, and providing refreshments for their volunteers. Volunteers would be responsible to show up and pitch in a few hours of weatherizing work. And, perhaps, there would be an understanding that hosts should reciprocate the favor by volunteering for future house parties.

Anyone could participate in a weatherization house party, but that would probably require that the work carried out during these house parties would have to be very simple - caulking windows, installing storm windows, etc. Also, hosts would need to receive some support from trained professionals, who could help the host assess high priority weatherization tasks, select materials, help the host provide his or her volunteers with the training they need for a successful project, and so on.

Over time, these events could become more sophisticated, because they would slowly build up a corps of people who have the experience needed to assist with future weatherization projects. Moreover, these events are likely to whet the appetite of homeowners for future weatherization projects, which are perhaps out of range of the "low-hanging fruit" that volunteers can handle - for example, insulating a wall, fixing a leaky roof, or perhaps replacing an oil heater with a natural gas heater. The possibility of return business should help provide green contractors with proper incentives to offer their assessment and training services at a low cost.

This idea was inspired in large measure by the Cambridge, MA-based Home Energy Efficiency Team, which organizes exactly these kinds of events. HEET's model is to organize energy efficiency "barn raisings", at which groups of volunteers meet to weatherize a home, school, church, or another type of building. The volunteers divide into task forces; each task force has a leader who provides on-the-spot training and safety instruction. I've attended a HEET barnraising, and am training to help lead future barnraising task forces, and they are a lot of fun! Spreading this approach to weatherization will not only help us save energy, and help homeowners save money, it will also help build community.