VP Biden Launches DOE Home Energy Scoring Program
7th Large Solar Project on U.S. Public Lands Approved
Big Boost for Building Energy Efficiency Codes
2011 Fuel Economy Guide Released
$1B in Transportation Investment Voted In
Online Retailers Fined for Not Posting EnergyGuide Information
World Government Policies Inadequate to Address Climate Change
Vice President Biden Launches DOE Home Energy Scoring Program
On November 9, Vice President Biden launched DOE's Home Energy Score pilot program, designed to offer homeowners reliable information about their homes' energy efficiency.
Under the voluntary program, a report provides consumers with a home energy score between 1 and 10, and shows them how their homes compare to others in their region. The report includes customized, cost-effective recommendations that help energy costs while improving comfort.
The Home Energy Score program will empower trained and certified contractors to use a standardized assessment tool developed by DOE and DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. With the tool, contractors can quickly evaluate a home and generate useful, actionable information for homeowners and prospective homebuyers. With only about 40 required inputs, contractors can analyze a home's energy assets, such as its heating and cooling systems and insulation levels, usually in less than an hour.
A home with excellent energy performance gets a "10"; a home that needs major energy upgrades gets a "1." Along with the score, the homeowner will receive a list of recommended home energy upgrades and specific improvements, as well as the estimated utility bill savings, payback period, and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
The Home Energy Score tool initially will be tested with local government, utility, and non-profit partners in 10 pilot communities and states in diverse climates including: Charlottesville, Virginia; Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; Minnesota; Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Indiana; Portland, Oregon; South Carolina; Texas; and Eagle County, Colorado.
The pilot ends in late spring 2011. Based on its findings, DOE plans to roll out the program nationally later in 2011. See the DOE press release, the Home Energy Score Web site, and an example of a score and recommendations .
At the same time, DOE released Workforce Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrades for workers in the residential energy efficiency industry. The guidelines will help develop and expand the skills of the workforce, ensuring high quality work, while laying the foundation for a more robust worker certification and training program nationwide.
The announcements highlighted the progress that has been made on implementing the recommendations of last year's Recovery through Retrofit report. See the residential retrofit guidelines Web site including a link for public comment. Also see Recovery Through Retrofit .
7th Large Solar Project on U.S. Public Lands Gets OK
On November 4, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) approved the Genesis Solar Energy Project, a 250 MW solar thermal plant on 1950 acres in California.
The project is expected to power 75,000-187,500 homes and create over 1000 solar jobs at peak construction, along with 50 permanent positions.
Genesis Solar, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, is eligible for grants up to 30% of the $300 million project costs through the Recovery Act's grants in lieu of tax credits program. See the DOI press release and the Genesis fact sheet .
In October, DOI approved six other large-scale solar projects, which will produce a total of 2,837 MW of electricity - enough to power 851,000 to 2.1 million homes - and creating 3,700 construction jobs and more than 600 permanent plant operations jobs. See the DOI press release.
