Supporters of energy efficiency often talk about the tremendous untapped opportunity to squeeze energy savings out of the existing building stock. This fact has been proven time and time again.
However, choosing the right measures that will achieve the deepest levels of efficiency in the most cost-effective way remains
If you are planning to buy a new appliance or carry out some home improvement, or even retrofitting to make your home more energy efficient, you may want to check out a new web tool that searches for rebates in your area.
Hosted by Ennovationz, a Silicon Valley startup that connects consumers to green
Last week, the President visited manufacturers in Wisconsin who are focused on creating the clean energy products of the future. Today, he continues taking his agenda for innovation and a new energy economy on the road, visiting an Energy Innovation Hub in State College, Pennsylvania.
Lighting is one of the biggest electricity guzzlers in a commercial building – 40% of it, to be precise.
One of the best ways to find out what to do to save electricity is using a web app that can provide data that can reveal how some retrofitting can benefit the building from an energy-saving and environmental point of
As our economy continues to sputter, one little-noticed industry has been booming for a while now: energy efficiency. The sector is hiring like crazy — a fact that speaks volumes about the close relationship between clean energy and the economic recovery that we’re all waiting for. Energy efficiency could save us all.
My firm works with utilities, government
In seeking to establish new standards for home improvements that would increase energy efficiency, the EPA is asking for comments from the public. They have released a draft protocol which contains a series of best practice tools that would protect indoor air quality during a home energy retrofit. The goal is to devise a set of standards that would ultimately ensure
Last fall, the Middle Class Task Force and the Council on Environmental Quality released a report called Recovery Through Retrofit, which identified the key barriers standing in the way of strong and sustainable home energy-efficiency industry. For the past year, we have been
Does the word ‘audit’ give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? Not likely. Yet it’s typically the first service an energy efficiency contractor offers to a prospect. Sometimes the audit is even free, much like the unwelcome kind we receive from the IRS.
Use of words like ‘audit’ ‘retrofit’ and ‘weatherize’ turn off customers. Unless the
We have seen a marriage of the energy efficiency and solar energy industries as the US has worked to green its buildings. In fact, some financing programs require that all cost-effective efficiency
As most parents are giddily aware of, this week marks the annual migration back to school for children and teens across the US and Canada. For the next ten months, kids will be ensconced in their daily routines, busy learning how to grow up to become mostly coherent, socially acceptable adults. Parents left with a delightfully quiet house during the day are not the only ones
If you live in Connecticut, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey or Ohio your state is doing something right – a lot right – when it comes to energy efficiency.
The ten states deserve kudos, in that order, for policies that encourage energy efficiency, according to a report issued this
One of the best and most exciting parts of my job is helping make homes and businesses more efficient. Why? The places where we live and work consume 40% of the energy we use in the U.S. Through tune-ups to existing homes or new construction, doing more while using less energy is key to improving our buildings and energy future.
Picture a neighborhood block somewhere in your town. It might have single-story homes for 10 families — complete with front porches, sidewalks and green lawns. Or instead that block might have a single apartment building that houses 50 families over five floors. What we know is that each of the families — whether they’re living in a detached house or a mid-rise apartment — pays away some of their hard-earned dollars to pay for energy. And for many low-income Americans, these energy bills absorb a significant amount of the family income.
Now imagine that teams of trained experts come down that block and install measures to help those families save energy. Insulation, caulking, weatherstripping, windows, better furnaces or water heaters. So families’ energy bills go down and their comfort goes up. We call this ‘weatherization’ — and it’s happening in more than 82,000 homes as part of the Recovery Summer.
Currently winding its way through the legislative hoops of Capitol Hill is HOME STAR, a highly touted piece of legislation by President Obama. The program is perhaps the most important piece of legislation, outside of the Recovery Act and will provide for direct energy efficiency incentives for homeowners.
HOME STAR’S potential benefit to homeowners is simple: money. There are two proposed tracks: Silver and Gold. Under the Silver Star track ($3,000 cap/homeowner), homeowners will be eligible for rebates from individual energy efficiency measures such as replacing air conditioning units, water heaters or adding insulation.