Recovery Through Retrofit

[ChrWright]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/09/1917403/biden-rolls-out-home-energy-efficiency.html

Biden rolls out home energy efficiency program

BY STEVEN THOMMA
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a new federal program to make it easier for Americans to make their homes more energy efficient, saying it will help people save money and create new jobs for contractors.

The three-step program, called Recovery Through Retrofit, will offer new software for contractors to easily show people how much they can save, offer low-cost financing to help people pay for home improvements and set new guidelines for contractors to assure the public the work is done right.
Biden, who announced the plan at the White House, said that it will give families "the tools they need to invest in home energy upgrades. Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy."

The Obama administration didn't immediately release estimates of either the costs of the program or how many jobs it could create.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/09/1917403/biden-rolls-out-home-energy-efficiency.html#ixzz14qL73MCz


I'll be very curious to hear the details on this program and how they've come up with their "Home Energy Score Program".

Anyone hear of this program or who the brains are putting it together?

[ChrWright]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/09/AR2010110904455.html

The program is starting up on a pilot basis in several places this fall before going nationwide: Charlottesville, Va.; Allegheny County, Pa.; Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; Omaha and Lincoln, Neb.; Portland, Ore.; Eagle County, Colo.; South Carolina; Texas; Minnesota; and Indiana.

Another new program, PowerSaver Loans, will offer homeowners federally insured loans from private lenders to make energy improvements. Lenders will be able to borrow for terms as long as 20 years. It will start as a two-year pilot program early next year.

[ChrWright]

White House fact sheet:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/fact_sheet_recovery_through_retrofit.pdf

Sample report:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/homeenergyscore/index.html

[SLS-Construction]

I just F$%^&g calmed down & you want to get me started again...

HES is done by Lawrence Berkley Labs & this one is just a revamp of the one that they had out there before & I mentioned at the bottom of this article. http://blog.sls-construction.com/2010/resnet-new-energy-auditor-standard - Basically instead of letting HO's fill it out online they now will have to pay a certified individual to walk through the house & fill it out online for them to get a "score" to see how much they will save

Personally it is a complete joke as announced & flies directly in the face of their afternoon webinar where it was mentioned quite a few times that a "walk through" does not qualify as an audit nor is it worth anything for determing what needs to be done on the house - not including the study they just released that says this type of info doesn't promote retrofitting work to be done

Now if you want to get your blood flowing - you ought to check out their "Voluntary National Residential Guidelines" that were quietly opened up for public comment today --- the big catch besides them making the RRP look well written is it won't be "voluntary" (i.e. it doesn't need to go through the Federal Registrar process) for long & will spill over into all aspects of the remodeling fields

One fun aspect is that respirators are listed to be worn for everything, including walking into the room that holds the furnace - yeah like the respirator with a particulate filter will protect you from Carbon Monoxide

[ChrWright]

you ought to check out their "Voluntary National Residential Guidelines" ...

632 pages?!? :surrender:

Where's the Cliff's Notes?

[SLS-Construction]

Read my article, the comments above & imagine the worst... Just kidding (sort of), I will have one out in a day or so but it reads real pro-union for sparkies, but not any other trade

I love that annual maintenance on furnaces is only listed as a comfort & energy savings not under health & safety so why bother getting it looked at yearly, etc... Most of the issues I pointed out in my article were not addressed & still there in spades, etc...

[Decoramould]

Thanks for posting this up! It sounds like the "Retrofit Rebate Program" we had going on up here in Canada - home owners loved it, insulation contractors got a nice boost to their business. Looking forward to hearing more details about it.

[SLS-Construction]

Not exactly the Clif notes version yet but a good look & links to all the relevant info:
http://blog.sls-construction.com/2010/recovery-through-retrofit

Oh & no, this is nothing like Canada's program, more like RRP for everyone

[SLS-Construction]

Needless to say - no clif notes for it - I had barely hit page 187 and was up to 3 pages of issues relating to reality and a few code violations before the document /program had an issue and was gone

http://blog.sls-construction.com/2010/recovery-through-retrofit-nrrg my public comments sent into DOE on the whole mess