Efficiency First

WellHome President Larry Laseter testifies on behalf of the HOME STAR Coalition

The proposed HOME STAR efficiency retrofit program was the subject of a hearing today before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, with testimony by Larry Laseter, president of WellHome, a subsidiary of Efficiency First founding member Masco Corporation. Laseter testified on behalf of the HOME STAR Coalition, which is comprised of a broad group of industry, labor, energy and environmental supporters, along with more than 600 small businesses representing all 50 states.

“We applaud the efforts of the administration to introduce a jobs creation bill and stand together in support of the HOME STAR program, which will deliver a rare triple win for the American people in the form of jobs, savings for consumers, and a positive impact on the environment,” Laseter told the committee. “The HOME STAR program will put our nation’s skilled construction force back to work, benefit homeowners through comfort and energy efficiency improvements to their existing homes, and result in long-term energy and environmental gains. We urge Congress to expedite approval of this program so that Americans can get back to work.”

The committee also heard testimony from a number of other public- and private-sector experts, including Catherine Zoi, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In her prepared remarks, Zoi provided an overview of the HOME STAR incentive program and concluded that:

Retrofitting millions of American homes may truly transform energy consumption throughout the Nation. It may also put people to work in good, domestic jobs while saving Americans money and enabling significant contributions toward GHG emissions reduction targets. Public investments can lay the foundation for a vibrant private-sector led retrofit industry. Workers can get trained and certified, small contractors can grow their businesses, and millions can save money on their energy bills.

On October 19, 2009, Secretary Chu stated, “In the next several decades, I believe that energy efficiency is our most powerful tool for reducing our carbon emissions and reducing our energy bills.” Home energy retrofits could be critical to realizing both of those goals, while supporting American job creation. I thank the Committee for its hard work on energy efficiency and specifically in crafting the legislative proposal being considered today. I sincerely hope I have the opportunity to implement this program soon with the aim of achieving our interconnected goals of creating good clean energy jobs, reducing our reliance on foreign sources of energy, and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

View prepared testimony from Larry Laseter, Catherine Zoi and others who testified at today’s hearing:
www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=202188fb-fd6b-43ef-9782-fbebc3fe5d1b

HOME STAR Coalition press release about the hearing:
www.homestarcoalition.org/documents/HSC_Release_031110.pdf

WellHome press release about the hearing:
www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wellhome-president-larry-laseter-testified-at-senate-hearing-in-support-of-home-star-proposal-87398762.html

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), one of the largest trade associations in the United States, has joined the growing tide of influential industry groups that have weighed in on the job-creation potential of the  HOME STAR incentive program.

“This has the potential to be a real shot in the arm for the home building industry,” NAHB Chairman Bob Jones said in a statement issued last week. “It will help put America back to work, and it will help families save on monthly energy bills.”

“Making the existing housing stock more energy efficient is one of the most effective ways to achieve national energy conservation goals,” Jones added. “In the long run this can be an important step in reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign energy supplies.”

NAHB economists estimate that every $1 billion in remodeling and home improvement activity generates 11,000 jobs, $527 million in wages and salaries, and $300 million in business income, the statement said.

Read the full NAHB statement here:
www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=122&newsID=10398

Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment

The Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a legislative hearing entitled “HomeStar: Job Creation through Home Energy Retrofits” on Friday, March 12, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.

There will be a bipartisan briefing for staff of Members on the Subcommittee on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at 2 p.m. in room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. A Democratic staff briefing will be held immediately following the bipartisan briefing in the same room.

For more information, please contact John Jimison with the Committee staff at 54407 or Danielle Baussan with Mr. Markey’s staff at 54012.

Link to Home Star on ENR Committee Website – http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=IssueItems.View&IssueItem_ID=7e002a95-53f2-4591-8433-7d5c616a97da

Last week, President Obama announced a $6B program that would give people incentives to make their homes more energy efficient. He also hopes the program will create jobs. We speak to Richard Burbank of Evergreen Home Performance in Rockland Maine.

Here is the program: http://www.hereandnow.org/#5

Link to Interview

The Dow Chemical Company, a leading manufacturer of insulation and weatherization products for the construction industry, released a public statement this week in support of the proposed HOME STAR retrofit program. “Dow applauds the President’s efforts to raise our nation’s awareness and focus on energy efficiency, and urges homeowners to take action to protect their single largest investment,” the statement said.

The statement also includes the following quote from Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew N. Liveris:

We believe the HOMESTAR program will deliver both economic and environmental benefits. Economically, it will stimulate the construction sector, among the hardest hit in the recession, while also giving relief to homeowners, who count energy as their largest cost after their mortgage. HOME STAR has the additional benefit of offering immediate consumer relief through direct rebates rather than tax credits to be accrued in a distant future.

Read the full statement at: www.news.dow.com/dow_news/corporate/2010/20100308a.htm

The New York Times reports that energy panels in the House and Senate will hold hearings this week focusing on efficiency standards and incentives, including the proposed HOME STAR program introduced last week in the Senate. Here’s an excerpt from yesterday’s Greenwire report:

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is a champion for energy efficiency and has pushed stakeholders and focused his staff on improving standards across the board this session. He is also leading efforts to get energy efficiency tax incentives for home and commercial building included in the Democrats’ jobs agenda.

So far, Democrats have included a one-year credit extension of $1,000 to $2,000 for new energy efficient homes in the tax extenders bill the Senate is set to take up this week. Bingaman would like to put more efficiency incentives in future jobs bills and is hoping the two hearings may convince more of his colleagues, including ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Thursday, Bingaman’s panel will consider the “Home Star” program (also known as “Cash for Caulkers”) to provide rebates for upgrades to homes; “Building Star,” a similar program for commercial retrofits; and manufactured housing rebates. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will take up the issue on Friday.

Read the rest of the article here:
www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/03/08/08greenwire-democrats-to-turn-spotlight-on-energy-efficien-54735.html

An insider’s guide to becoming a Home Performance contractor

Home Energy magazine has published an excellent guide for contractors and others who want to get into the Home Performance retrofit business.

The article was written by Greg Thomas, president of two Home Performance companies based in Ithaca, New York – Performance Systems Contracting, which provides installation service and Home Performance contracting throughout central New York, and Performance Systems Development, a national consulting firm.

Thomas gives a solid overview of the industry and the kinds of businesses that can succeed, with advice about training, business models and assembling a team. The article also includes a “Toolbox Primer” describing the basic performance-testing equipment used by auditors and contractors.

“So You Want to Be a Home Performance Contractor” can be downloaded from the Contractor and Career Resources page
of Efficiencyfirst.org.

Here’s a direct link: www.efficiencyfirst.org/static/files/how_to_become_a_home_performance_contractor.pdf

Downturn in construction employment presents historic opportunity to build a new clean energy economy

An interactive map and memo jointly produced by the Center for American Progress and Efficiency First’s research arm, the Home Performance Resource Center, clearly illustrates the dire state of the American construction sector – a situation the memo describes as a “tool belt recession.” The memo also outlines the capacity of the Home Performance retrofit industry to quickly generate new employment opportunities for American workers in construction and manufacturing.

Citing the January construction unemployment rate of 24.7 percent and an overall loss of 2.1 million construction jobs since 2006, the memo explains how underutilized capacity in construction and building materials manufacturing can be put to work improving the energy efficiency of American homes:

Looking across the current economic landscape, there are few areas where construction industry jobs seem poised to grow. There is one significant exception, however, in the area of energy efficient retrofits of our nation’s building stock. A program that incentivizes energy improvements would rapidly create jobs within the construction industry directly, and in retail, manufacturing, and local economic activity as well.

The memo goes on to describe how the proposed HOME STAR efficiency retrofit program could achieve this goal:

Smart public policy can help overcome current barriers to private investment in more energy efficient buildings and jumpstart jobs and growth in the construction trades and supporting industries. Currently, Congress is considering HOME STAR, a program of consumer incentives that provides a rebate to homeowners who invest directly in improving energy efficiency. HOME STAR would give homeowners a direct rebate when they buy a new efficient hot water heater, furnace, or air conditioning system, and it could cut the cost nearly in half of replacing leaky windows, sealing duct work, and insulating attics for millions of American homes. Building consumer demand for energy retrofits through HOME STAR will not only give consumers a rebate of as much as $3,000 to $8,000 and
long-term savings on their energy bills, but it will create new demand for construction jobs, putting contractors back to work.

HOME STAR would be fast acting and use the existing marketplace to deliver retrofits to consumers with a minimum of new government overhead. It also builds a well-trained workforce and expands consumer demand for high-quality retrofits that provide guaranteed energy savings of 20 percent or more off existing energy bills. This is a policy that works rapidly to create urgently needed jobs today, even as it builds the robust industry that we will need for the future.

“Current unemployment levels in the building and construction trades have reached crisis proportions,” the memo concludes. “It is time for a national program to roll back these job losses and put hardworking Americans in the construction industry back on the job, rebuilding America for a clean-energy future that saves consumers money, improves health and comfort, and creates lasting value in our communities.”

View the interactive map showing state-by-state declines in construction employement:

www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/03/construction_jobs.html

Read “Taking on the Tool Belt Recession” here:

www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/03/tool_belt_recession.html

Larry Laseter, president of Efficiency First Capitol Circle member Masco Home Services, joined Barack Obama in Savannah, Ga., on Tuesday as the President delivered a speech outlining details of the proposed HOME STAR efficiency retrofit program. Here is a video released by the White House that shows a brief behind-the-scenes conversation between Larry Laseter and President Obama:

“We’re in the business of doing this now, and just like the GOLD STAR program, we actually guarantee their first year of energy savings” Laseter told the President. “That’s the beauty of this, is we know these technologies are proven, and with this bill, it will jump-start thousands of jobs.”

Read Masco Home Services’ press release about the event:
www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/masco-home-services-joins-president-obama-in-supporting-homestar-proposal-85979787.html

In a statement issued following President Obama’s March 2 address at Savannah Technical College, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice to the growing tide of support for the proposed HOME STAR efficiency retrofit program.

“I am excited about the HOME STAR program that the President detailed today,” Schwarzenegger said in his statement. “Offering incentives to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient will help create jobs and save homeowners money while also helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a promising idea, and Democrats and Republicans should work together to enact it into law.”