Policy Initiatives

25E: The Cut Energy Bills at Home Act
REEP (Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Protection)
Energy Efficiency Tax Credits
Electric Consumer Right to Know Act” or “E-Know
Labeling
Utility Data Access
Financing and PACE Alternatives
The GOLD STAR Standard
Quality Assurance
State and Local Policy

Bipartisan Support Needed for Efficiency Retrofit Programs

Efficiency First urges all members to call or write to their Senators and Congressional Representatives in support of two critically important public policy initiatives that would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in construction and related industries by stimulating demand for Home Performance retrofits.

25E: The Cut Energy Bills at Home Act

The Cut Energy Bills at Home Act has been introduced in the Senate with bipartisan support. If passed, the bill would create a new 25e tax credit -- the first residential performance-based tax credit given to homeowners who make energy efficiency improvements. The proposed bill would provide performance-based tax credits of up to $5,000 per project for homeowners who install qualified energy efficiency measures. To learn more about the bill, download our 25e Fact Sheet.

REEP Legislation

The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program has been passed by the House of Representatives as part of the Waxman-Markey climate bill. Before the legislation can be sent to the White House for a Presidential signature, the Senate must pass its own version of the bill. Senators in particular need to get the message that REEP will reverse the employment crisis in construction and related industries while lowering energy costs for American consumers.

Click here to find contact information for your senators and representatives. Then call and/or write their offices urging them to support REEP.

Sample letter and background information: Use these links to download a sample letter which you can modify and personalize in any way you choose, and some background information on the REEP legislation.

Energy Efficiency Tax Credits

25C: The 25C tax incentives currently exist in the tax code and provide a tax credit to a home owner for an incremental energy efficiency improvement in the home (windows, insulation, etc.). The current tax credit expires at the end of 2011. Efficiency First supports continuation of the 25C tax credit and advocates for including labor costs as applicable under the credit (the current code only allows for a credit toward material costs).

December 10: Efficiency First Calls for Labor and Installation to be included in the 25c extension proposed in the "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010".

"Electric Consumer Right to Know Act” or “E-Know"

In May 2011, Senators Mark Udall (D-CO) and Scott Brown (R-MA) introduced S. 1029, the “Electric Consumer Right to Know Act” or “E-Know". Efficiency First applauds the legislation as an important step to ensure that a home owner, or a third party they designate, will have easy access to their electricity usage information. While supporting the legislation as a key step toward energy data access, Efficiency First recommends members of Congress consider expanding this, or subsequent legislation, to include access to natural gas data.

To read the full press release,Click here

Home Energy Labeling

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a Request for Information (RFI) on its newly proposed national energy rating program for homes. The RFI states that the rating program is primarily aimed at existing homes, but does not state that it will be restricted to existing homes. It also does not mention BPI, RESNET, or their market based efforts over the past decade. Furthermore, it does not commit DOE to work with existing programs and stakeholders in the same manner as the Vice President's Recovery through Retrofit paper did. The RFI is posted at http://www.buildings.energy.gov/home_rating_rfi.html. Efficiency First supports the goals and objectives stated in the RFI, and we excited to work with DOE in addressing the barriers of the rating of existing homes. However, the federal government should work with existing organizations such as the Building Performance Institute and RESNET. Any new effort should build on our experience and track record. If the federal government sets up a competing rating system, it could affect all of the hard work and achievements that we have achieved over the past years. It could also sow confusion in the marketplace. The success of the DOE labeling effort should be measured by its impact on actual retrofits.

Efficiency First, in collaboration with BPI, RESNET and the ECOBROKERS, has drafted a summary of comments to DOE. This set of statements, and an Efficiency First Cover Letter, were the foundation of the DOE RFI submittal set by Efficiency First, EcoBrokers and RESNET.

Utility Data Access

Rational for Legislative Action: Energy efficiency programs around the country are handicapped by the inability of the customer to easily obtain ongoing information on the performance results of their home's energy efficiency. All program participants (contractors, state officials, consumers, community development institutions, etc) need to be able to measure and verify energy savings resulting from the installation of energy retrofits on an on-going, aggregated and verifiable basis. Without cost effective access to verifiable results, demand for energy-efficiency retrofits will be difficult to affect the behavior of those who may require more proof of the cost-effectiveness of such retrofits. By allowing those purchasing electricity to simply have access to the data about their energy use, Congress returns the power over their home and their energy consumption to the energy user.

Legislative Support: Efficiency First supports H.R. 4860 the "Electric Consumer Right to Know Act" or the "e-KNOW Act" introduced by Rep. Markey on March 16, 2010. This legislation is a vital step in the direction of giving electricity consumers important access to data about their energy use. While Efficiency First has recommendations for improving H.R. 4860, we are strongly supportive of its goals and message and applaud Rep. Markey for its introduction.

Click here for an Efficiency First memo on Utility Data Access legislation.

Financing and PACE alternatives

Efficiency First believes in providing a variety of traditional and creative financing options for customers to use for energy efficiency retrofits.

With many Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs on hold do to action from the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), Efficiency First board member Doug Donovan and National Director Jared Asch wrote an article on alternatives to PACE financing. View the article here.

The GOLD STAR Standard in HOME STAR

The GOLD STAR performance path offers an incentive to households that choose to conduct a comprehensive energy audit and then implement a variety of measures that are designed together to provide greater total returns in energy savings. This performance path represents the future of home efficiency: state-of-the-art building science is used to identify problems, present solutions and deliver verifiable energy savings, generating confidence among homeowners and investors alike. This technology-neutral approach is based on performance, not specific products, so market forces will direct funds to solutions that achieve the best results. A certified professional with accreditation from the Building Performance Institute (BPI), the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) or an approved equivalent conducts an energy audit before work begins, and a test-out when the performance retrofit is complete. Consumers receive $3,000 for modeled savings of 20%, plus an additional $1,000 incentive for each additional 5% of modeled energy savings, with incentives not to exceed $8,000 or 50% of project costs. Contractors implementing the GOLD STAR performance path must be BPI accredited.

Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance and quality control (QA/QC) of Home Performance work is critical to assuring that promised benefits are delivered to the household receiving the services and the public interest associated with the work. As important, is the role that a well-conceived QA/QC infrastructure will play assuring a level playing field for contractors in this emerging residential market place. To a large extent, the elements of a national quality assurance (QA) infrastructure is already in place, consisting of Home Performance programs, BPI affiliates, QA Providers, and Home Energy Raters operating in all 50 states.

Efficiency First endorses a National QA/QC infrastructure to support public or rate payer subsidies of Home Performance work which comprises of three major elements:

  • Assuring Competency through Setting National Industry Standards
  • Quality Implementation through a State-based Infrastructure
  • Quality Assurance through Third party review of work and compliance

Download our full memo on Quality Assurance.

State Policy

Efficiency First chapters conduct policy work at the state and regional levels. Recent policy work includes:


Best Practices Working Groups

As new programs and business models are tested in the emerging Home Performance market, analysis and dissemination of best practices data will facilitate rapid growth and successful nationwide implementation of residential energy retrofit measures. Efficiency First’s Best Practices Committee manages separate working groups focused on business models, financing and incentives, workforce development and marketing.
Learn more about our Best Practices Working Groups

State and Local Policy

Efficiency First chapters advocate for policies that will lead to industry growth at the state and local level.
Learn more about Efficiency First chapters and the policy areas they are working on.