Biden Talks home energy efficiency programs
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 7:58PM
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, November 9 unveiled a new federal program (click here for more information) for Americans to make their homes energy efficient to save money and create new jobs for contractors.
The program is a three-step program, called Recovery Through Retrofit. The programs offers new software for contractors to produce cost savings and assist in financing (PowerSave Program) to assist homeowners pay for home improvements. This program will assist in setting new guidelines for contractors to assure the public the work is done correctly. Biden, who announced the plan at the White House, said that it will give families "the tools they need to invest in home energy upgrades. Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy." The loan program will be provided by the Federal Housing Administration under a two-year pilot program, it will offer low-rate loans that could be repaid over periods as long as 20 years.
The Home Energy Score Program software will score 1 to 10 in a graphic that will compare the efficiency of the home in comparison other homes within the same area and climate zone. The software will supposedly assist in providing the cost saving for the retrofit and provide a list of improvements.
Steven Chu the Energy Secretary says, "The Home Energy Score will help make energy efficiency easy and accessible to America's families by providing them with straightforward and reliable information about their homes' energy performance and specific, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements that will save them money on their monthly energy bills."
The problem we face is that the US housing stock is old and performing comparisons home-to-home without accounting for yearly upkeep and there health will bring about skewed data. The analogy is like eating a filet mignon versus a tube steak. Yes, we are eating steak but the cut, taste, size, costs and chef will be ultimately different.