A team of Newton high school students is knocking on doors this summer, trying to get 120 homeowners signed up for free home energy assessments before September.

What they're actually offering.

The students are part of Green Newton's Saving Energy Team, known as SET. Their pitch is simple: schedule a no-cost Mass Save home energy assessment, and an expert will visit your house to find where insulation and air sealing could cut your energy bills — with the state program then connecting homeowners to rebates covering 75-100% of approved improvements. There's even a small sweetener: every Newton homeowner who books an assessment through the student team by September gets entered into a raffle for one of six $50 prizes to Johnny's Luncheonette or Cabot's Ice Cream.

Students who did their homework before knocking on yours.

Before pitching neighbors, the team wanted to actually see the process firsthand. Newton resident Garry Miller hosted the students in his own home so they could watch a real Mass Save assessment in person before going out to make the case themselves — the kind of hands-on prep that makes door-to-door outreach feel less like a sales pitch and more like a genuine recommendation.

Part of a bigger student movement on climate action.

A related Newton North High School team, the Newton Youth Energizers, placed second in the 2025-26 MassEnergize Youth Climate Solutions Challenge, a statewide competition that drew 10 teams and more than 55 participants, winning $2,000 at the awards ceremony in May. The team — Madeline Rhine, Leyla Gustin, Alicia Qiu, Nevie Lee, Kendall Swint, Cindy Qiao, Ella Hamel and Theo Evangelinos, advised by Marcia Cooper — captured exactly the spirit driving this whole campaign. As one student put it: "Before this challenge, I knew climate change was a problem but had no idea what I could actually do about it. Now I've tabled at two community events and convinced my family to look into heat pumps. I feel like I can actually make a difference in my neighborhood."

How to sign up.

Homeowners qualify if they haven't had a Mass Save assessment in the past two years. Schedule at masssave.com/community-first/newton. Questions about the raffle or the student team can go to Green Newton at [email protected]. Green Newton also offers free 30-minute energy consultations with energy coach Armela at [email protected].

The deadline to schedule and qualify for the raffle is September 2026.