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DOE funds to help low-income families weatherize homes

Struggling families in 19 states will be able to lower their energy bills by upgrading their homes with $92.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program.

Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman announced the awards for the 19 states that began their weatherization program year on July 1. Every state, the District of Columbia, the Navajo Nation and the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona will receive weatherization grants this year. The program is administered by states, tribes and 970 local agencies.

The weatherization assistance program performs energy audits to identify the most cost-effective energy upgrades for each home. These typically include adding insulation, reducing air infiltration, servicing heating and cooling systems and providing health and safety diagnostic services. For every dollar spent, it is estimated that weatherization returns $1.40 in energy savings to American families.

Low-income households with elderly members, people with disabilities and children receive priority. Low-income families spend an average of 14 percent of their income on energy. It is estimated that weatherization can reduce an average home's energy costs by $237 a year. Through DOE's weatherization program, approximately 92,300 homes will be upgraded this year.

Study shows energy efficiency getting cheaper

The cost of energy conservation has dropped by more than half in the last decade, according to a new report from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, a four-state agency charged with ensuring affordable, reliable hydropower.

Conserving an average megawatt of electricity cost $3.9 million in 1991. The price for that same megawatt has dropped $1.6 million today. The figures came from surveying regional utilities, calculating savings from new state and Federal energy codes and adding sales of energy-efficient appliances and machinery.

The survey found that saving energy was cheaper than ever, and that the amount of energy saved increased as the cost of saving dropped. Bonneville Power Administration and its utility customers spent almost $180 million on conservation in 2004. Tougher Federal standards and tightened state energy codes saved about 550 MW each.

More savings are possible, the report concluded, now that investments in conservation yield more than twice the energy efficiency than they did 15 years ago. The council's regional power plan predicted that about half the electricity the growing region would need over the next two decades would come from energy conservation instead of new powerplants.

LEED for Homes to set residential standards

The U.S. Green Building Council announced the launch of a one-year pilot program to demonstrate its newest green building rating system, LEED for Homes.

The voluntary Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design for Homes Rating System will recognize and reward the top 25 percent of green home builders for environmentally sound construction. New homes built to the LEED standards will use less energy, less water and fewer materials and provide improved indoor air quality and improved controls of pollutant sources.

The new rating system uses a new approach to provide local support for home builders. USGBC established a group of LEED for Homes providers, local and regional organizations that will provide technical, marketing and verification support services to builders. The 12 local Providers were chosen through a competitive national process based on qualifications and proven experience in supporting builders who build high-performance, sustainable homes.

Home builders interested in taking part in the LEED for Homes pilot can apply online or directly to a LEED for Homes Provider.

Community college goes solar

The Butte-Glenn Community College in Oroville, Calif., recently commissioned a 1.06-MW, on-site solar generating system. It is reported to be the second largest at a community college in the nation.

The 5,700-panel PV array is ground-mounted on a four-acre field. It will generate 1.6 million kWh annually, and real-time data will be posted to the Web and an interactive kiosk on the college campus.

The college estimates that the system will reduce its utility bills by $300,000 annually. It prevents 1,238 tons of carbon dioxide, 870 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 21 pounds of sulfur dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year.

Pacific Gas & Electric's self-generation incentive program gave the college a rebate of $3.7 million toward the system's total $7.4 million price tag. The program helps utility customers offset the costs associated with installing solar, wind, fuel cell, microturbine or internal combustion engine cogeneration systems.

Pennsylvania creates green building maintenance manual

The Pennsylvania Department of General Services has designed a tool to help its government building facility managers adopt the best practices for environmentally preferable operation and maintenance.

The first of its kind in the country, the Green Building Maintenance Manual is designed to help carry out Pennsylvania's Executive Order 1998-1 to "incorporate environmentally sustainable practices into [Executive Agencies'] ... operations."

Chapters cover:

  • Green landscaping
  • Snow removal and de-icing
  • Roofing maintenance
  • Parking garage maintenance
  • HVAC maintenance
  • Lighting maintenance
  • Cleaning procedures
  • Cleaning product selection

Green Seal, a Washington, D.C.-based third-party certifier of environmentally preferable products, partnered with the state to develop the manual. The non-profit organization provides technical assistance to all levels of government in their purchasing, operations and facilities management.