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Home Star Gets A Hearing: Is It Really A Win-Win-Win?

2010-03-11T19:40:53Z

Ah, Home Star – the legislative proposal that has eaten all my time over the last six months. What more is there to say? Creates jobs!…Slashes energy use!…Saves money!

All of that was said today and more, during a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The Congressional Research Service, the Department of Energy, and a collection of business, utility, and state advocates all testified today along those lines.

Home Star is a $6 billion proposal that would create incentives for homeowners who choose to make their homes more efficient. Silver Star would offer rebates for individual measures like insulating your attic or installing an efficient new furnace (capped at $3,000 but always requiring at least a 50 percent match from homeowners), while Gold Star creates a performance path where the homeowner and their contractor figure out what measures to undertake, and the size of the incentive is determined by the percent improvement of the home’s efficiency. Gold Star incentives start at $3,000 for a 20 percent improvement and go up $1,000 for each additional 5 percent from there

From the hearing, it sounds like we all emphatically agree – it’s a great idea. We are big supporters of the program and a member of the Home Star Coalition. But the details matter.

And there are details upon details. Arguments about AFUEs, SHGCs, SEERs, and EERs and other esoteric concepts that most people don’t want to know about. But these nasty acronyms are crucial to making sure this program actually saves energy and creates jobs and doesn’t just sell a bunch of stuff with no long term benefit. In other words, we shouldn’t just spin our wheels.

Some of the issues came up during the hearing today are crucially important.

Do we need an incentive for do-it-yourself insulation?

A tough call, since this wouldn’t create jobs in installation, and the insulation, if not installed properly, may not save energy. But, as someone who likes to DIY whenever possible, I understand the appeal. I think we should be able to figure out some way to make sure the DIYers get the installation right and get the energy savings.

Should we lower all the efficiency requirements that equipment must meet to receive incentives in Silver Star to Energy Star?

NO – and I can’t say that emphatically enough. Just based on last year's sales of Energy Star products, free ridership (folks who would have bought these units anyway) would suck $3 billion from the program budget and no additional energy would be saved. That’s almost 90 percent of the proposed Silver Star budget! These products will be purchased, incentive or no incentive. Bad idea.

The levels currently in the bill were negotiated with industry and advocacy groups at the table, and they thread the needle on maximum job creation and energy savings. We should leave them where they are. Cathy Zoi, DOE's Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said as much in the hearing.

Should we relax the certification requirements for contractors?

I don’t think so. We need good contractors doing the work right to actually save on energy bills. And beyond that, there are safety implications of improper installations. Contractors who aren’t certified but really understand how to improve a home will have no problem getting certified. The extra business they will get as a result of this program will more than outweigh certification costs.

Should states with existing programs play by the same rules?

Everyone wants to see Home Star build on the great work that is happening in the states, largely as a result of the Recovery Act, but we also need to make sure we have consistent standards and quality assurance everywhere. Basically, you should be able to do the work, play by the rules, and get the money whether you are in Ketchikan, Alaska or Miami, Florida.

These are all tricky issues, and we will see how the political process plays out. Home Star is tantalizingly close to being the performance-based program that will create jobs in the ailing construction industry and make American homes much more energy efficient that everyone wants to see. Home Star, in its current form, hits the bulls-eye on job creation and energy savings. It would successfully jumpstart the home retrofit industry and be the bridge to the efficiency programs that accompany comprehensive climate and energy legislation.

Of course, a whole lot more work has to be done by Congress to make sure that the program mechanics are right and the work can start as soon as possible, and that is significant. Congress, President Obama, and the broad based Home Star Coalition have worked incredibly hard to get it this far and we will all keep pushing it forward towards the finish line.

Sometimes We All Agree – A Host of New Consensus Efficiency Standards on the Table in the Senate Today

2010-03-10T15:46:16Z

My fellow efficiency advocates and I have spent countless hours over the last year negotiating with manufacturers of every appliance and piece of equipment imaginable, trying to reach agreements on what the next energy standards will look like. These standards set the minimum level of efficiency that every product covered must meet to be sold and are generally set by the Department of Energy. Sometimes, advocates and industry can reach an agreement before DOE gets involved, using creative solutions that may outside the scope of a DOE rulemaking, and on products that DOE does not yet cover.

Negotiations on these products go back and forth and get into the most obscure technical details. Where do we set the bar? What products won’t make the cut? What is the time frame? How do we deal with this or that niche product? These questions are just the beginning.

In many cases, the sides are just too far apart – but sometimes we can actually make a deal. And against the backdrop of a revitalized DOE, we have crossed the finish line on a host of products that are included in S. 3059, the National Energy Efficiency Enhancement Act of 2010, which was the topic of a hearing in the Senate Energy committee today.

This bill sets new consensus efficiency standards for many products, many of which I have blogged on before,

Huge, huge savings. 70 million metric tons of CO2 per year and over 1.2 quads annually in 2030.

This isn’t the only great bill being considered today that we have worked hard on. S. 1696, The Green Gaming Act of 2009, directs DOE to conduct a study on video game console energy use and consider standards for these products.

Roughly 40% of homes in the US have at least one video game console. These consoles vary widely in energy use - the Nintendo Wii only uses around 20 watts when on, whereas the PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 consume up to 7 times as much energy, depending on the model you purchased.

The energy intensive consoles consume as much or more power to operate as many hi-end computers, except video game consoles do not automatically go to sleep and enter a low power mode when left on. If you leave the XBOX 360 or PS3 on all the time, which a fair amount of users do, then you are looking at the annual energy use equal to roughly two new refrigerators!

Lastly, S.3054, includes new standards for hot food holding cabinets, hot tubs, and water dispensers. Hot food, hot tubs, and cold water, as Sen. Menendez said during the hearing, all obtained much more efficiently.

These bills are examples of what can be done in nearly every industry for energy efficiency. These manufacturers decided it was in their best interest to work with us to figure out how to make their products more efficient, with certainty on dates and levels, rather than starting a lobbying war against energy efficiency and all its benefits. Now that the ink is dry, we will all benefit.

This DOE Means Business: Enforcing Standards and Regulating Wasteful TVs

2010-03-08T17:33:48Z

The Department of Energy has made a couple of unprecedented moves on efficiency in the last few months that have gone unnoticed by all but the most die-hard efficiency advocates.

First, as my colleague Noah Long explained, DOE has begun to actually enforce mandatory minimum appliance standards! Crazy, right? First they announced about $3 million in fines on shower head manufacturers for failure to submit certification reports. These are the first ever fines levied under the federal standards program, and further evidence of the new attitude about enforcement at DOE. They then followed up by fining an air conditioner manufacturer $1.2 million for failing to certify. I am guessing these and other manufacturers will pay a bit more attention to compliance and certification from now on.

Second, DOE issued its annual report to Congress recently, and the big news is that DOE has officially put development of national TV energy efficiency standards on its schedule. We had been expecting this development, since DOE announced last fall that it would begin a TV proceeding "soon" in its notice repealing the outdated federal test method.

Standards for TV sets are long overdue. Congress gave DOE authority to consider TV standards in 1989, but this is the first time they've been considered federally. Of course, it's doubtful the feds would even be looking at TV standards absent the California Energy Commission (CEC) standards enacted last year and heroic efforts to develop and support those standards by the Commissioners and CEC staff through support led by NRDC's Noah Horowitz, Pacific Gas & Electric and the rest of the CA investor owned utilities.

The federal schedule calls for completion of the federal rulemaking in June 2013. Assuming that Consumer Electronics Association is not successful at derailing the federal process -- you can bet they will try -- that means federal standards would take effect in May 2016, at the earliest. In the 3.5 years between the state standards implementation date and the earliest potential federal implementation date, about 20 million TV sets will be sold that will last 7 to 10 years. Even if the feds do all we would want, there is still much value in staying the course in the states.

I think this DOE means business, don’t you?

Don't Overreact to Growing Pains in the Weatherization Assistance Program

2010-03-04T13:00:38Z

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee will hold a hearing today to discuss how Recovery Act funds are being spent, with an emphasis on the weatherization assistance program (WAP). The hearing is in response to a report from the Department of Energy Inspector General that found only 8 percent of the WAP funds had been spent as of last December. Some very negative media reports followed the report.

A little background – WAP is run by state energy offices that weatherize (seal, caulk and insulate) low-income owned homes. This is a good investment by the feds, because low income homeowners spend a larger percentage of their total income on energy and many of those homes’ energy bills are paid through a federal program called LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program). The full cost of the improvements is covered under WAP, up to $6,500 per home, and the program was provided with $5 billion in the Recovery Act.

(Now, this is completely different from the President’s proposed Home Star program, which would provide a rebate to homeowners who invest in an energy efficiency retrofit that will include similar weatherization measures. Home Star incentives would cover a portion of the cost based on how much energy the retrofit saves.)

The media criticism has been a bit off the mark. After all, the Recovery Act funding hasn’t been squandered – it just hasn’t been spent yet. While it makes sense to be disappointed in how long it has taken these programs to get up and running, there is certainly no reason to overreact and attack the program now what most of the growing pains are behind us..

Political opportunists have seized on the program’s difficulties to blame their favorite bogeymen - David-Bacon living wage requirements, in-state hiring freezes, phantom environmental regulations, etc, but the real issue is much simpler:

You can’t attach a garden hose to a fire hydrant.

Of course it is going to be difficult to carry out $5 billion worth of weatherization work nationwide! There have to be skilled people available to do the work, government infrastructure to pay them, and enough people throughout the supply chain to keep the process moving. None of this will happen overnight when a program goes from $450 million to $5 billion! In fact we didn’t expect it to: an April 2009 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that only 1% of Recovery Act spending in FY 2009 would be on energy.

The least astute observers have even used this opportunity to criticize energy efficiency generally, but there is no basis for ignoring our fastest, cleanest, and cheapest energy resource (efficiency) because of the difficulties of one program. I am sure those same folks would prefer to give that money to rich oil and gas companies rather than use it to slash energy bills and stimulate the ailing construction industry anyway.

Certainly we wish more could have been done by now, but it is not the time to cut and run. Remember, 92 percent of the remaining funds will soon be used to retrofit homes, save energy, and create jobs. Hopefully the public, the media, and lawmakers will remember that jobs and energy savings are the goals, and they can’t be achieved if we quit when we just got the ball rolling.

Another Call to Action from Obama on Residential Retrofits

2010-03-02T06:30:38Z

At Savannah Technical College today, President Obama gave us more information about the proposed Home Star program, also known as Cash for Caulkers. The idea behind this program defines the Washington cliché win-win because it will put contractors and other home improvement professionals back to work while reducing home energy costs.

Last year, I sat at a Home Depot in Alexandria, Virginia as the President first announced his desire to give homeowners a financial push to make their homes more energy efficient. It is encouraging to hear the President continue to preach home energy efficiency today and I hope Congress will continue to work hard to make this a reality.

And there is certainly work to be done, since Congress has the final say on this program and it is certainly not a done deal. Legislators are hard at work figuring out the mechanics of this program, and everything is subject to change. New programs like this, no matter how beneficial, must be thoroughly scrutinized before becoming law to make sure that the money gets to where it needs to go in a timely fashion. Certainly, this is not an easy job.

Today, Obama explained that the Home Star proposal would provide rebates that would go to consumers making improvements when they are purchasing efficient products and efficiency services. The program has two types of rebates: Silver Star and Gold Star. The Silver Star rebates would provide $1,000 to $1,500 to consumers for each straightforward upgrade, like adding insulation, duct sealing, or purchasing new efficient water heaters, HVAC units, roofing and doors. Consumers may get up to $3,000 in Silver Star rebates.

The Gold Star Rebates are where consumers get the best bang for the buck. Gold Star would offer a $3,000 rebate for a retrofit based on a home energy audit that will save at least 20 percent on energy consumption. The Gold Star rebate would increase for every additional 5 percent of energy saved. No rebates, Silver or Gold, could exceed 50 percent of the total project cost.

A bit of simple math is all it takes to get motivated about this program. The average energy bill in this country is around $2,400 a year. A retrofit resulting in 20 percent savings is $480 per year, or about $40 a month. A 50 percent savings would be $1,200 a year, or about $100 per month. Of course the actual monthly savings will fluctuate, but you get the idea.

Not only are American homes so wildly inefficient that billions and billions of dollars in wasted energy are holding back our economic recovery, but fixing our leaky homes has the potential to create countless high quality jobs that cannot be sent overseas. There are well over 100 million homes in this country and nearly all of them can slash their energy use by half with off the shelf technology. With home efficiency, we will not be limited by the amount of work that needs to be done, but rather the amount of people out there to do the work.

Questions about the Recovery Act’s State Building Code Requirements? NASEO Has Answers

2010-02-24T22:20:50Z

Last year’s Recovery Act left some confusion about states’ commitments to improve building energy codes. As discussed in previous blogs, when Governors accepted Recovery Act funds they agreed to update and enforce their state building energy codes, but controversy in the state of Alaska left many confused. To address these concerns the National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO) along with other code stakeholders have worked to clarify and provide guidance on the exact requirements of stimulus funding through workshops and explanatory statements. This Friday they will be having a free webinar to provide further guidance on complying with the Recovery Act’s code requirements as well as other valuable information for anyone involved in state codes. See below for full webinar description and information.

Webinar on Building Energy Code Training,
Compliance and Enforcement

February 26, 2010 - 1:00pm – 3:30pm (eastern time)

Please join us on Friday, February 26, 2010, from 1:00 – 3:30 pm EST, for a NASEO Webinar for state and local energy and code officials on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) and the specific provisions, under Section 410, related to Energy Code Training, Compliance and Enforcement. In addition to providing guidance on compliance with Section 410 of ARRA relating to building energy codes, the no-cost Webinar will deliver practical information that will help states and municipalities improve their knowledge of building energy use, code development and implementation, technical assistance and training, code enforcement and compliance verification.

This special, 2 ½ hour Webinar session condenses the key aspects of the previous February 4, 2010, Energy Code Workshop in Washington, D.C., into a manageable time for those that were not able to attend the workshop in person. If you are at all involved, or expect to be involved, with building energy codes in your state, you should not miss this valuable opportunity.

State and Territory energy offices, local jurisdictions, and code officials are encouraged to partner with their respective state building regulatory agencies, along with staff in the Governor’s office involved with building energy issues, and participate in this important ARRA related Energy Code Webinar. The coordinated involvement of these segments of government is critical to achieve the energy, environmental and economic opportunities associated with building energy codes.

To participate in this Webinar, please use the following conference call number for audio and the webinar address to view the presentations (No pre-registration is required, just call in and double click on the webinar address link below at the designated start time):

Conference Call Information:

The call in number is: 1.800.250.2600
Participant PIN: 5753 9633

Webinar Address:

https://webconf.anywhereconference.com?P=AnIkYSoxKEEXSxNEVE4vcihhITFOQUNLU0QDTnJ
yeGF2MX5BRktRRDFOEXICYQoxTkFHS1ZEBE5ycnJhcjF9QUFL
Participant PIN: 5753 9633

WEBCAST AGENDA

Introduction, Welcome, Overview of the Webcast and the big picture on ARRA
State and Local Roles
Update on IECC and ASHRAE Codes and Standards Initiatives
Overview of Status of Code Adoption and Available Supporting Resources
Implementation and Enforcement Challenges and Successes
Compliance Evaluation

Speakers:

David Terry, Executive Director, NASEO
David Karmol, Vice President, International Code Council
Susan Gander, Director, Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources, NGA
Ryan Colker, Manager, Government Affairs, ASHRAE
Jean Boulin, Building Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy
David Conover, Senior Technical Advisor, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Aleisha Khan, Executive Director, Building Codes Assistance Project
Strategy discussion with representatives of DOE, NASEO, ICC state and local energy and code officials and Governor’s energy staff

If you have any questions regarding this Webinar, please contact Brian Henderson (bhenderson@naseo.org).

A $22 Billion Decision on Water Heaters? Tell DOE to do the right thing

2010-02-17T15:43:26Z

Most of us only think about water heaters when forced to take a cold shower – shudder – but those boring tanks in the basement actually account for up to 25% of the energy used in your home. No surprise then that the current rulemaking on new federal minimum standards for water heaters would turn out to be one of the big ones.

Take Action

Tell DOE to set the water heater standard that will save consumers $22 billion dollars over 30 years. Who doesn’t like a hot shower that’s cheaper and uses less energy?

Once you follow the link above you can send the suggested letter direct to DOE, or create your own.

Background

The Department of Energy is about to make a final decision on the minimum standard for water heaters, meaning the benefits of a more efficient product are so overwhelming for consumers that all water heaters must be at least as efficient as the standard selected for that particular size and type. DOE takes into account the benefits and costs of the more efficient technologies and sets the standard at the maximum level that is “technically feasible and economically justified”, so consumers are big winners.

This program is responsible for our modern refrigerators that use a fraction of the energy they did 20 years ago, while keeping our food just as cold and with more storage capacity to boot. Similar story on air conditioners, furnaces, and other household appliances. Now it’s time for water heaters to go around again.

I explained a bit more about the technical issues in this blog entry last year.

The Draft Letter

The Department of Energy's proposed water heater standard is a step in the right direction for saving energy. As you prepare the final standard due in March, I urge you to take the additional step of strengthening the requirements for the largest water heaters. Stronger standards for the biggest units would boost total national energy savings, economic benefits for consumers, and global warming emissions reductions by more than 40 percent compared to the proposed rule. Just as importantly, the DOE would be helping advanced technologies become mainstream products and speeding the transition to next-generation water heaters.

By switching to a higher efficiency level for water heaters with more than 55 gallons of storage capacity, the DOE would essentially require new technologies to be used. Condensing gas and heat pump water heaters would meet these higher levels, delivering roughly 30 percent and 50 percent energy savings, respectively, compared to conventional gas and electric products. These advanced technologies are commercially available today. Units larger than 55 gallons make up a small portion of the overall market, but add considerably to national savings because they typically are used to deliver more heated water than the more common, smaller sizes.

By strengthening the standard for the large-volume products, the following additional savings could be achieved over 30 years:

1.1 quads of energy or enough to power more than five million typical U.S. homes for a year;

$6.4 billion dollars in net savings to consumers and businesses; and

63 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of 25 coal-fired power plants.

With water heating representing the third largest energy use in the home, it is essential that the DOE seek substantial changes in water heater efficiency to meet national energy savings and global warming emission reduction goals as well as to provide savings for consumers and businesses. I strongly urge you to adopt stronger standards for the larger volume water heaters and capture these significant savings.

Don't wait, hit send and make your voice heard.

State of the Union: Inefficient

2010-01-27T20:08:18Z

The State of the Union is in a few hours, and folks are abuzz about what the President will say. Count me among those who are expecting a strong push for clean energy to create jobs and jumpstart our economy, but I wonder if the President will spend much time discussing where we are right now as a country.

There is one word that comes to mind when I think of the state of our union: inefficient. We waste energy and money in our homes and workplaces as if we had an infinite supply of both.

Just consider the situation in the average home –

The air that we have paid to heat and cool us leaks out of the ducts before it ever gets to us.
Some of the air that does make it to us gets sucked outside, so we keep reaching for the thermostat in frustration.
The windows are single-paned and leaky, only slightly better than a hole in the wall.
The lighting is provided by little space heaters designed over 100 years ago.
The hot water takes minutes to arrive at the faucet, wasting water and energy in addition to time.
The air conditioner is old and on its last legs and can’t keep drafts and cold spots from popping up.

Not a pretty picture, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As the President has pointed out repeatedly, this is actually an incredible opportunity to improve our economic and environmental health. Why not fix all those leaky ducts and windows while replacing those old water heaters and furnaces? We can put Americans to work saving Americans money while slashing carbon emissions. We need significant performance-based incentives for homeowners to retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient, ala HomeStar. Folks who get hung up over the cost of a program like this are missing the point – we could be stimulating the economy with the money we waste on energy. And generally speaking, the unemployed don’t pay income taxes, so let’s get them back to work. The status quo of high unemployment and wasteful energy use will cost us all much more than any efficiency program.

This is only one component of the push for clean energy and lower carbon emissions, but it is a crucial one. We need to put a price on carbon to support the fledgling home efficiency industry as it grows to be millions of jobs strong, while we simultaneously shift away from wasteful old technologies.

There is actually one answer to our climate and energy and jobs questions and hopefully the President will continue to hit the nail on the head tonight.

Is Your Governor Keeping His/Her Promises About Efficiency?

2010-01-05T15:00:40Z

As mentioned previously in this blog, as a condition of receiving money from the Recovery Act, all Governors had to agree to make some efficiency improvements, namely by updating their building energy codes and adjusting their utility rate structures to remove the incentive for the utility to sell more power to make more money, if they haven't done so already. Despite Sarah Palin’s grandstanding, all 50 governors agreed to make these improvements.

So what exactly did they agree to do? Well, a group of stakeholders, including NRDC, the National Association of State Energy Offices, code setting organizations like IECC and ASHRAE, and other interested parties put out the following statement to clarify.

**********************************************************************

Explanatory Statement on Section 410, Recovery Act (HR1) by National Building Community Stakeholders (November 18, 2009)

Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in February, 2009, State Energy Program (“SEP”) funding tied to building energy code adoption and enforcement has been the subject of much discussion and debate. The objective of this statement is to clarify the intention of the statute and to offer assistance to state and local governments to advance building energy efficiency codes, including code adoption, training in the operation of the codes and efforts at compliance and enforcement. We recognize that success in this area will not be easy but we have joined together to help. In an effort to provide accurate, understandable, and actionable information to states, local governments and the organizations and entities that support greater energy efficiency in the built environment, the undersigned groups offer the following information about Sec. 410, of ARRA.

The actual statutory provision is as follows:

Section 410 (a) (2)

The State, or the applicable units of local government that have authority to adopt building codes, will implement the following: (A) A building energy code (or codes) for residential buildings that meets or exceeds the most recently published International Energy Conservation Code, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings. (B) A building energy code (or codes) for commercial buildings throughout the State that meets or exceeds the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings. (C) A plan for the jurisdiction achieving compliance with the building energy code or codes described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) within 8 years of the date of enactment of this Act in at least 90 percent of new and renovated residential and commercial building space. Such plan shall include active training and enforcement programs and measurement of the rate of compliance each year.

Some of the descriptions of this statutory language provided by third parties have resulted in inaccurate information and confusion among those who are involved in meeting the requirements of this Act.

The key points are as follows:

1- Conditions for Acceptance of ARRA funding. All 50 state governors have submitted letters to the Department of Energy, providing assurances that their states would comply with the terms of Section 410. All 50 states have accepted SEP funds that were conditioned on these assurances. Therefore, all 50 states have committed to do three things:

Adopt a building energy code for residential buildings that meets or exceeds the 2009 IECC;[1]
Adopt a building energy code for commercial buildings that meets or exceeds the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, and;
Develop and implement a plan, including active training and enforcement provisions, to achieve 90% compliance with the target codes by 2017, including measuring current compliance each year.

2- Achieving 90% Compliance in 8 Years Requires Prompt State Code Adoption. While ARRA, out of respect for the variations in state and local adoption procedures, includes no specific date by which states must adopt compliant building energy codes, the legislation does specify that State plans for demonstrating 90% compliance with the codes should be designed to achieve that compliance level within 8 years from passage of ARRA, i.e., 2017. In order to ensure compliance with the law, it is in a State’s best interest to begin the process of adopting target codes (or better) as soon as possible. The measurement of compliance “each year” means states will need to begin assessing their rate of compliance with the target codes in February 2010.

3- Code Adoption Integral to Compliance. While there is not yet a published common means of measuring and reporting compliance with the target codes, we recommend assessing compliance with the existing codes. DOE is currently developing these common means. It is clear that unless a compliant building energy code addressing both residential and commercial buildings is adopted in the state, it will be extremely difficult to provide compliance statistics that are based on the target codes.

4- A Long Way to Go. As of this writing, only a few states have adopted codes that “meet or exceed” the target codes.

5- Training & Enforcement Essential to State Compliance. To achieve the required levels of compliance, training and enforcement must match the adopted state code or codes, so the process of adopting these codes in tandem with the development of such training and enforcement provisions is critical.

6- Funding Available for Enforcement and Training. Funding for enforcement and training can come from fees imposed for inspections, from grants (including SEP and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)), from existing state and federal energy efficiency funds and from new funding supported by the groups who are working together to increase building code-related funding in the pending climate and energy bills.

7- The First ARRA Compliance Deadline is Approaching. The Department of Energy will begin requesting that states report their rate of compliance with the target energy codes in the near future, and we expect DOE to require regular reporting in conjunction with ARRA compliance.

8- Funding Opportunities For Jurisdictions Congress is considering tying future funding for states to progress towards satisfaction of the assurances made in accepting ARRA funds.

The undersigned groups are committed to providing support to any requesting state and local government to achieve adoption of the target codes, to develop workable plans for training and enforcement, and to assist them in developing a plan to address the measurement and reporting of annual compliance with the target codes.

Supporting

Alliance to Save Energy

American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy

The American Institute of Architects

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

Building Codes Assistance Project

Building Energy Efficient Codes Network

International Code Council

National Association of State Energy Officials

Natural Resources Defense Council

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance

Southwest Energy Efficiency Project

U.S. Green Building Council

[1] U.S. DOE has determined that the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) does not meet the energy provisions of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).

President Obama to talk "Cash for Caulkers"

2009-12-14T22:57:14Z

On Tuesday morning, President Obama is expected to add details to a new program that will create jobs and cut needless energy consumption through home retrofits. This follows Obama’s request to Congress last week to create a new program to provide incentives to home owners who retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. I am lucky enough to be able to attend the announcement, which is expected to take place at 11 a.m. at the Home Depot in Alexandria, VA.

The President has rightly identified retrofits as a way to put Americans to work saving Americans money. Not only are our homes so wildly inefficient that billions and billions of dollars in wasted energy are holding back our economic recovery, but fixing our leaky homes also has the potential to create countless high quality jobs that cannot be sent overseas. There are well over 100 million homes in this country and nearly all of them can slash their energy use with off the shelf technology. We will not be limited by the amount of work that needs to be done, but rather the amount of people out there to do the work.

There is no question that we should pursue home retrofits in a big way, but how we do it and how soon we can get started remain to be answered. The President will explain his thinking on the issue tomorrow and also solicit ideas from stakeholders.

Many of these stakeholders, including those from the environmental and efficiency community, labor, and industry, have coalesced around one structure. This has been commonly referred to Home Star, but also gets tagged as Cash for Caulkers. The idea is simple and an extension of the work done on the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance program (REEP) that was in the House passed climate bill earlier in the year. The basic idea is to take this great structure and get it started early.

In a nutshell, Home Star would have two options: Silver and Gold. Both would be designed so that the more energy saved, the larger the incentive received by the homeowner. Silver would be simpler to implement and more prescriptive – do this (seal up your ducts, insulate your attic, etc) and get some cash. This would jumpstart the job creation and energy saving in a big way as soon as possible.

The Gold path would be a whole home performance model. Sophisticated contractors and raters would perform audits and determine what measures would save the most energy in the home. This is where the best jobs will be created and the most energy will be saved, because much larger savings are possible by considering the whole home as a system (e.g. being able to use a smaller AC or furnace because your home no longer leaks out conditioned air). All technologies that save energy can benefit from this program rather than just incentivizing one improvement. The Gold path would also be incredibly flexible from the consumer’s perspective. Basically, as long as the work gets done and the contractor plays by the rules, then you get the incentive.

Playing by the rules is a key point, because if the work is done badly, then no one wins. This is also incredibly important for creating good jobs, because it takes a real building science professional to know all about mechanical equipment, insulation, windows, and everything else in a home and to make sure the measures are installed correctly. This is why quality assurance is a cornerstone of the Home Star proposal that is crucial to making sure money stops leaking out of our homes every day.

Presidential attention to home retrofits and a program like Home Star is an incredibly positive sign that Congress will move to take advantage of our efficiency opportunity. It will be interesting to see when and how they act, but we will continue to try to push a performance based home retrofit program across the finish line.

"Cash for Caulkers" Coming As Soon As Congressionally Possible

2009-11-18T21:12:14Z

Today the New York Times highlighted the growing consensus around a national focus on retrofitting American homes to save money and create jobs, all tagged as "Cash for Caulkers".

This is a great idea, and certainly not new (but the catchy name is a substantial improvement). NRDC advocated for a retrofit program in the Northeast during the oil price spike two summers ago (because we could save more oil from these retrofits than we could drill from the outer continental shelf and faster), joined with other forward thinking groups to push it in the original Recovery Bill, and worked very hard on the retrofit incentives that can be found in all pending energy and climate legislation. We are also working on tax credits to encourage a suite of energy improvements to homes.

The only question now, given the groundswell of support, is how soon can we start? The incentives in the climate bills will not begin with until the carbon cap takes effect, so proposals to start them earlier, as mentioned in the NYT, should be a priority.

In reality, we can't afford to wait any longer. The efficiency of most homes is simply appalling, and we literally let the money we spend to heat our homes escape through the cracks. Our construction industry is also one of the hardest hit by the recession. Out of work builders could harness their understanding of building science to join the growing residential efficiency industry. This industry can grow, create jobs that can't be sent overseas, cut carbon emissions, and put money in people's pockets. There is no downside.

There is one issue to watch in all this talk -we must get what we pay for. We can't afford to pay for energy savings that do not occur, so the verification component to these proposals is incredibly important. And in this area, they are not all created equal. The final product must make sure that tax dollars are spent in a way that lowers homeowners' energy bills, and not just to keep contractors busy.

In the meantime, there are still simple steps homeowners can take to make their own houses and apartments more efficient themselves. Check out -- Cold Weather Planning: Seven Steps To a Warmer Home.

How It All Fits Together: New Outdoor Lighting Standard the Third Strike for Inefficient Lights

2009-11-04T20:15:07Z

I blogged yesterday on the release of our negotiated agreement with the lighting industry on standards for street lights and parking lot lights that could save consumers over $5 billion annually. We had a press conference yesterday, attended by members of Congress from both Houses and from both parties in support of the agreement. Congress will now happily roll this into legislation and the Department of Energy will get started on a new rulemaking soon after it passes.

This is the culmination of a long journey undertaken to stop burning money on inefficient lights. It started in the 2007 energy bill, where Congress enacted standards on the everyday consumer lamps to eliminate the pear-shaped, incandescent space heater that poses as lamp. That standard could save $18 billion annually by 2030.

Next came the recently completed standard from the Department of Energy (DOE) that I blogged about repeatedly, covering the ubiquitous tube shaped fluorescent bulbs that are in every office building. That standard is the largest energy saver of any in the history of the program. It will eliminate the big tube fluorescent lamps (T12s) in favor of smaller versions that provide the same amount of light and fit in the same fixtures while using less energy (T8s). Net savings over 30 years will be $71 billion (DOE did not calculate annual savings in 2030).

And now we have the final pick of a winning trifecta ticket. With the newest standard for street lights and parking lot lights, we have started on the path towards much more efficient street lights by eliminating the worst products from the market. A new rulemaking from DOE will set the stage for super efficient technologies like LEDs and Ceramic Metal Halide lamps to become the norm where they are most economical - in lamps that run all night. This standard will save another $5 billion a year by 2030.

We now have standards that will bring us efficient lights inside and out. We are going to avoid wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on energy that provides no service and we are going to keep billions of metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere. Incredibly large numbers that are cause for celebration.

New Standards for Street Lights More Than Just a Bright Idea

2009-11-03T19:00:00Z

The Natural Resources Defense Council, along with our fellow efficiency advocates, announced the results of successful negotiations with the lighting industry on standards for street lights and parking lot lights.

Standards on outdoor lights are such a no-brainer because these lights stay on through the entire night. Daylight Saving Time brings an early end to the day and an early start to burning electricity for streetlights. More efficient technologies pay off quickly in this high use application and the savings rack up.

Thanks to this standard, you will save money everywhere you drive or park your car. The lights along streets, highways, and in parking lots will be covered. Basically all the bright lights on poles (or walls) are going to stop wasting so much energy. These lights are currently not subject to any efficiency requirements and therefore the performance is all over the map. With new super efficient technologies, like light emitting diodes (LEDs) and ceramic metal halide (CMH) lamps, the potential savings are gigantic.

You may recall that I blogged early this year about a last second amendment to the House Climate bill (the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) that severely and arbitrarily limited the excellent standard on street lights, and this agreement is the next step in the fight for more efficient outdoor lighting. The agreement isn't as good as the original language, but it does have a lot going for it and will still save a tremendous amount of energy and money

ACEEE crunched the numbers, and the standard will save 25 to 42 Terawatt hours (billion kWh) per year by 2030. This is the same amount produced by 6 to 10 dirty coal-fired power plants, or enough to power between 2.5 and 4.5 million homes for a year. This shakes out to carbon savings of up to nearly 8 million metric tons a year (the same as about 5 and a half million cars off the road), and is worth $2.8 billion to $5.1 billion annually saved on energy costs in 2030.

The standard is structured so that,

The least efficient products will be removed from the market beginning around the end of 2012, so fully mature technologies that are more efficient will be the norm, like advanced halogens, high pressure sodium, and on up to LED and CMH. The standard levels vary depending on the type of fixture and how they are designed, so lights that direct light only where it is supposed to go aren't penalized.
The standard will also require controls and sensors so you won't see anymore of those street lights on in the middle of the day. That is always a very depressing sight, because we all pay for that energy eventually.
A few months after this becomes law, the new Department of Energy will begin a rulemaking for outdoor light standards and they will issue a new, better standard by the beginning of 2013. This standard will be set to maximize energy efficiency at the level that is "technically feasible and economically justified" as defined by statute. This rule should continue to push the more efficient technologies and save consumers billions more.

We need to stop wasting money and pumping carbon into the atmosphere with inefficient lights. And don't forget, we all pay to run these lights eventually, whether through the utility, city, or county. It's time stop throwing that money away.

New Reports Show Successes and Failures of Energy Star

2009-10-27T21:23:29Z

The media has been taking the Department of Energy (DOE) to task over a recently released audit by the Inspector General (IG) which highlighted some well known shortcomings in the Energy Star program. The conclusions were not surprising - there needs to be more testing of products to ensure compliance with Energy Star requirements and the efficiency levels required may be too weak. The new DOE has vowed to take of these problems, and in fact the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DOE, which jointly manage Energy Star, agreed to increased testing and quicker updates in a Memorandum of Understanding that was released a few weeks ago, actually before the IG report.

There isn't any real reason to lecture the agencies at this point, since they are addressing the major issues and are moving forward. When you have a program like Energy Star that has been saving energy and putting money in consumers' pockets for decades, it is better late than never. And the bottom line is still the same - you are much better off buying an Energy Star product than anything else. The agencies are now going to make sure you will save even more.

As part of the agreement, EPA will be taking the lead on all Energy Star specifications, which is a significant change. There are over 60 products that can earn Energy Star, meaning over 60 different decisions have to be made about what level of energy performance to require. Now with the new agreement, it also means that there are at least 60 different markets to monitor so that the requirements can be changed if the market share of Energy Star grows to over 35%. That is a lot of work.

EPA also recently released their market share report for 2008, and it shows that some products are already well over the 35% threshold and perhaps in need of a revision. This data is great for an advocate, as it tells you how the market is transitioning to more efficient products. Market share over 35% does likely mean Energy Star has become too easy, but it also might mean that energy could be saved with a new federal minimum standard. If Energy Star has 90% market share, then the maximum level of efficiency that is "technically feasible and economically justified" (where federal standards must be set by DOE) is at least this high. If the market share is low, then incentives or education might be needed to encourage folks to invest in more efficient equipment. Lots of food for thought here.

A few numbers that jumped out at me,

The Audio/DVD category sits right at 35% market share and thus is ripe for revision. DVD players dominate this category and 44% meet Energy Star. Time to reassess.
Energy Star residential boilers have market shares well over 50%. These boilers must be at least 85% efficient which implies that the new standard level for boilers, which will be 82% and won't even take effect until 2015, is too low.
49% of laptops earn Energy Star. This is not surprising, since more efficient laptops run longer on battery power and consumers value this feature. The good news is that laptop sales dwarf desktop, which are generally less efficient.
Copiers and scanners have Energy Star market shares of around 90%, meaning it's time for a new Energy Star and probably a federal standard. The remaining 10% of machines are wasting energy and actually hurting manufacturers' profits because of the capacity they have to devote to inefficient equipment just to satisfy a tiny niche.
Residential gas furnaces are at 43%, meaning almost half that are sold are 90% efficient and use condensing technology. This is very good, since our agreement with the furnace manufacturers will make this the minimum standard in the chilly northern US and a new Energy Star will help push even more efficient units.
Almost 80% of Televisions are Energy Star. TVs are the elephant in the room when it comes to potential energy savings (easily billions of dollars wasted every year). The Energy Star requirements have been increased and we expect most manufacturers will meet them without upping prices, so market share will probably stay high. There is just so much energy to be saved here so cheaply that we must stop ignoring TVs. California is taking the lead with the first minimum standards, but a federal standard to lock in these savings for the rest of the country is likely to follow.

Obama Administration Beats the Drum for Efficiency Retrofits

2009-10-19T21:53:45Z

The White House released the "Recovery through Retrofit" report today, which reaches familiar conclusions - retrofitting homes and developing a residential energy efficiency industry can save money, slash carbon emissions, and create jobs right now. The report also had specific policy recommendations that won't be new to any reader of this blog. They fit perfectly with the policies that NRDC has worked hard to get into both the House and Senate Climate and energy bills and this report only strengthens the case for making sure those provisions become law.

The recommendations are,

Develop Energy Performance Label for Homes
We propose to do for homes what ENERGY STAR® has done for appliances, helping consumers identify energy efficient products. New homes can already earn the ENERGY STAR® label - but no such label is available for existing homes. The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are working together to develop an energy performance label for these homes. The end result will be an easily recognizable benchmark that energy auditors, retrofitters, lenders, realtors, and consumers can use to compare home energy performance and identify the most energy efficient homes.

Develop a National Home Energy Performance Measure
Before we can develop an energy performance label for existing homes, we must establish a standardized home energy performance measure applicable to every home in America. This measure will make it much easier for consumers to understand how much they can save by retrofitting their home. It will also give lenders the information they need to work with homeowners who are looking to invest in home energy improvements.

Indeed, developing a robust building energy label could be a very powerful policy. And key words, "applicable to every home in America". Don't let a special interest group like the National Association of Realtors try to convince you that we should pretend that all homes are equally efficient. We will continue to work with the agencies and Congress to make sure a building energy label becomes a reality.

Support Municipal Energy Financing
Property tax or municipal energy financing allows the costs of retrofits to be added to a homeowner's property tax bill, with monthly payments generally lower than utility bill savings. This arrangement attaches the costs of the energy retrofit to the property, not the individual, eliminating uncertainty about recovering the cost of the improvements if the property is sold. Federal Departments and Agencies will work in partnership with state and local governments to establish standardized underwriting criteria and safeguards to protect consumers and minimize financial risks to the homeowners and mortgage lenders. The Department of Energy will support model financing programs to provide much needed upfront capital utilizing Recovery Act funding provided for the Department's Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant and State Energy Programs.

Improve Energy Efficient Mortgages
Expanding the use of Energy Efficient Mortgages will simplify the process of obtaining and financing energy retrofits at a home's point of sale. This effort will also work to lower the cost of home energy audits as well as the monthly financing payments, and ensure that retrofits are accurately valued in the appraisal process. Federal Departments and Agencies will work collaboratively to: advance a standard home energy performance measure and more uniform underwriting procedures; develop procedures for more accurate home energy appraisals; and streamline the energy audit process.

Expand State Revolving Loan Funds
Expanding state revolving loan funds from 16 states to all 50 states will leverage private capital and achieve economies of scale necessary to produce consistent and affordable loan products. This will allow consumers to borrow money for home energy retrofits from private firms at lower interest rates. In addition to funding new programs through the Recovery Act, the Federal Government will work to provide examples of successful revolving loan programs and technical assistance to states without revolving loan programs in order to encourage their adoption.

Removing the financing barrier would indeed help encourage more retrofits. When you improve the value of your home by investing in energy efficiency and reduce future operating costs, why shouldn't you be able to finance it easily? The lenders should encourage the investments in homes that also make them cheaper to operate and less likely to default on a mortgage.

Establish National Workforce Certifications and Training Standards
A uniform set of national standards to qualify energy efficiency and retrofit workers and industry training providers will establish the foundation of consumer confidence that work will be completed correctly and produce the expected energy savings and benefits. Consistent high-level national standards will spur the utilization of qualified training providers that offer career-track programs for people of all skill levels, promote and expand green jobs opportunities, and facilitate the mobilization of a national home retrofit workforce. Federal Departments and Agencies (including the Department of Labor, the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency) will work in collaboration to assess existing standards and training programs and develop consistent models, guides, and best practices for training and certification. The Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, and the Small Business Administration will assist in implementing the best practices developed by the other Departments and Agencies.

This is something we are very keen on. While we grow a residential efficiency industry that is capable of retrofitting every single home in this country, we have to make sure that the work is done well or energy will not actually be saved. This is why the retrofit incentive programs before Congress are performance based (so the more energy you save the bigger incentive you get) and utilize the best industry standards. It is also crucial that the standards be consistent across the country, so the incentive provided for a kilowatt hour reduction in Vermont is the same as a kilowatt hour saved in Texas. There is so much work to do and so much energy to be saved and money to be made that we should not settle for anything less.

Overall the report points towards tapping our cleanest and cheapest energy resource by improving the efficiency of our existing building stock. It is great that so much attention is being paid to this issue in the White House, and hopefully this will help push Congress to enact the efficiency policies we need to start creating jobs and saving billions.