Home energy upgrades 'sexy'?

> Jan 06 - USA TODAY - By Julie Schmit -
>
> The recession-driven drop in new home construction is forcing more
> companies to seek work upgrading the energy efficiency of U.S. homes.
>
> But consumer demand remains weak because of the cost and the dearth of
> strong financial incentives, which President Obama is now pushing
> Congress to provide.
>
> "The big companies are coming to this area. But it's been difficult to
> get consumers to dig into their pockets," says Larry Zarker, CEO of
> the Building Performance Institute trade association.
>
> In December, President Obama declared insulation "sexy" and pressed
> Congress to provide incentives to homeowners to improve home energy
> efficiency.
> Supporters call the idea "cash for caulkers" because it's similar to
> the government's "cash for clunkers" rebates that sparked auto sales
> last summer.
>
> Supporters say incentives, matched by homeowner dollars, would drive
> energy retrofits, and the U.S. would cut energy use while putting
> construction workers back to work.
>
> A home retrofit can range from minimal (sealing leaky windows and
> holes) to
> the involved (adding insulation or solar water heaters, changing
> appliances or windows, or redesigning duct work).
>
> Historically, about 150,000 U.S. homes have received energy upgrades
> annually, most via government programs for low-income Americans,
> estimates Kevin Pranis, research director for Change to Win, a labor
> union coalition.
> Some 100 million U.S. homes could use upgrades, Pranis says.
>
> "We look at this as rescuing an industry," says Matt Golden, co-
> founder of Recurve, a San Francisco-based energy audit and retrofit
> firm.
> Recurve has
> been in the business five years, but other companies are stepping up
> home energy retrofit efforts, including:
>
> *Masco Home Services. A subsidiary of home improvement and building
> products supplier Masco, it recently opened offices in Michigan and
> New Hampshire to do $99 home energy audits and the follow-up work.
> Masco Home Services expects to expand the service to 20 cities within
> months, President Larry Laseter says.
>
> *Grupe. The central California home builder, at the peak of the
> region's housing boom in 2005, built 400 homes. In 2009, it built
> none. Last year, Grupe launched a home energy retrofit business, Green
> Home Solutions. "It could be a large market," Chief Financial Officer
> Mark Fischer says.
>
> *Owens Corning. The leading insulation maker estimates that 80 million
> U.S.
> homes are underinsulated. It recently launched new efficiency
> products, including a sealing system for home cracks and joints. CEO
> Michael Thaman says job-creation efforts by Congress should include
> money to cut home energy use. "It has the biggest payback," he says.
> (c)
>
>
> New Bill Funds Transit Projects, Home Retrofits, and Global Clean
> Energy EERE Network News - Jan. 6, 2010 -
>
> President Obama signed the fiscal year (FY) 2010 appropriations bill
> for a number of federal agencies, including the Department of
> Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development
> (HUD), and the Department of Labor, on December 16, 2009. The DOT
> funding includes
> $2.5
> billion for high-speed rail projects and intercity passenger rail
> projects.
> It also includes $8.3 billion in FY 2010 spending for transit formula
> grants, which support investments in transit systems throughout the
> country.
> In addition, the bill includes $75 million in grants for public
> transit agencies to make capital investments that reduce the energy
> consumption and greenhouse gas emission of their transit systems, such
> as buying more fuel-efficient buses or powering their transit systems
> with renewable energy.
>
> As part of the funding for HUD, the funding bill includes $50 million
> for an Energy Innovation Fund, which will enable the Federal Housing
> Administration
> (FHA) and the new Office of Sustainability to speed innovations in the
> residential energy efficiency. The fund is also designed to help
> create a market for home energy efficiency retrofits. Half of the
> funding is designated for an Energy Efficient Mortgage Innovation
> pilot program, directed at the single-family housing market, and the
> other half will support a pilot program directed at the multifamily
> housing market.
> To help
> provide labor for those programs and other clean energy efforts, the
> Labor Department will receive $40 million to prepare workers for
> careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
>
> Last but not least, the bill provides funding for international
> efforts, including $300 million for a U.S. contribution to the World
> Bank's Clean Technology Fund, which is primarily focused on renewable
> energy and energy efficiency. The bill also provides $1.26 billion for
> a variety of international programs related to climate change and the
> environment, of which $108.5 million will go toward clean energy
> programs, as specified in the conference report for the bill. The bill
> stipulates that at least $10 million of that funding will support
> microfinance renewable energy programs, which help finance renewable
> energy systems for the poor.
>
>
>