Jacksonville area home builder Providence Homes was recently awarded the ENERGY STAR partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the seventh time.
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On behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building America Program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) issued a request for proposal (RFP) for multi-disciplinary expert teams to address the technical challenges of decarbonizing the U.S. residential housing stock.
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While the federal government is ramping up measures that increase building energy efficiency, home builders in a handful of states, including North Carolina, are pushing back against more stringent building energy efficiency measures. But what is in the best interest of homeowners?
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America has more than 100 million leaky homes that are prime for energy efficiency and electrification upgrades, including air sealing and insulation. Without serious engagement by utilities and contractors to address the issue of thermal leakage, the lofty goals the Biden Administration has set for carbon reduction and electrification will not be achieved, says Rick Barnett, a green builder and remodeling contractor. Barnett has been an advocate for thermal envelope efficiency and green building for more than 30 years.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of State and Community Energy Programs has issued a grant funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for public K-12 schools. These grants are available to make energy improvements that result in direct reduction to school energy costs, increase energy efficiency, and lead to improvements in teacher and student health, including indoor air quality. Applicants must submit a baseline energy needs assessment to qualify.
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In part one of this post, guest contributor Jeremy Begley talked about why equipment replacement without any kind of thermal measures was rarely done. In part two this week, he details why that’s the case.
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NAIMA just released a new guide designed to help schools apply for grant funding available through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by making pipe insulation upgrades using our free 3E Plus pipe insulation thickness calculator tool.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last month released the latest version of the Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) requirements for single-family homes. Version 2 of the ZERH requirements included an update of the thermal envelope insulation levels to those required by the 2021 Residential IECC, whereas the previous version (V1 Rev 8) stipulated 2015 IECC thermal insulation requirements. DOE also highlighted the new tax credits available to builders through the 45L builder energy efficiency tax incentive.
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Whew! How did 2022 go so quickly?!
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With the high cost of utilities, a federal mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and a renewed push for more energy-efficient buildings, some states have implemented programs and policies that ramp up energy efficiency. In fact, 10 U.S. states are on the leading edge of efficiency because of state policies that prioritize it. Unfortunately, other states are laggards, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) newly released 2022 Energy Efficiency Scorecard.
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