Even though she’s a very technically-minded person (she works on nuclear non-proliferation and carbon sequestration issues), but, like most people, she doesn’t know what she should expect when it comes to an assessment of her home’s energy efficiency. A good home energy audit these days will cost from a few hundred dollars to over $1000, depending on the size and complexity of the house, so homeowners of course want to know what they’re going to get for that investment.

Well, let’s dive in and take a look.

Who’s Qualified?

Although it may be hard to find someone with one of these certifications in every part of the country, you should look for a home energy auditor who’s certified as either a BPI (the Building Performance Institute) Building Analyst or a RESNET certified HERS Rater. Last year I wrote an article about these being the main certifications to look for, and it’s still the case.

What Should They Do?

1. Combustion Safety
2. Building Envelope
3. HVAC
4. Moisture Problems
5. Detailed Report
6. Extras

The first thing to know is that there are different levels of assessment. For simplicity, I’ll focus mainly on the comprehensive energy audit, but a seasoned home energy auditor can tell a lot just by walking through the house. The key is that it’s got to be someone who’s already done plenty of comprehensive audits and knows what to look for.

1. Combustion Safety

The motto of BPI is, “First, do no harm…to life, limb or property.” If your house has any combustion appliances in it, assessing their safety and suitability should be the first thing the energy auditor does. Often, a home energy auditor is the only person who looks at your house as a system and can tell you if there might be problems such as backdrafting that could put carbon monoxide in your home. A good combustion safety test will include checking for spillage of natural draft combustion appliances, the content of the exhaust gases in furnaces and water heaters, and worst case depressurization of the combustion appliance zone (CAZ).

2. Building Envelope

The building envelope is the boundary between conditioned and unconditioned spaces. It has two key components: the air barrier and the insulation, which need to go completely around the house and be touching each other. The home energy auditor you choose check all three parts of the building envelope:

• Integrity of the air barrier
• Adequacy of insulation levels
• Alignment of insulation with air barrier

When insulation is installed without an air barrier, it won’t do its job. Most types of insulation do not stop air leakage, so one thing the energy auditor will do is look for proper alignment of insulation and air barrier throughout the house.

The energy auditor will also look for proper levels of insulation (wherever visible) and check for the existence of insulation behind walls. They’ll check the integrity of the air barrier in two ways: a visual inspection and a Blower Door test. The former tells where the big air leaks are, and the latter quantifies the total amount of air leakage in the house. The auditor can use the Blower Door as a diagnostic tool to locate air leaks, too.

3. HVAC

Most homes use more energy for heating and cooling than for anything else, so assessing how well the heating and cooling systems are doing is vital. One thing that a home energy auditor will do that your HVAC contractor may not, though, is look at the quality of the distribution system. It’s one thing to heat or cool the air with high efficiency equipment, but if you put that high SEER air conditioner or high efficiency furnace on a crappy duct system, the money spent on the equipment is wasted.

The energy auditor should look at both the equipment and the distribution system. If it’s a forced air distribution system, they probably will also measure the amount of duct leakage in each system, especially is the ducts are outside the building envelope. Unless the auditor is also an HVAC technician, they probably won’t give you a full assessment of the equipment, but they can tell you, based on the age of the equipment, how soon you might need to replace it.

4. Moisture Problems

There are three things that cause buildings to fail more often than anything else:

• rain
• moisture
• condensation

In other words, water causes a lot of problems. Energy auditors often look for moisture problems in your home and will help find the source so you can eliminate the problem. Most of the moisture problems originate from drainage issues on the outside of the house and should be solved on the outside (e.g.,by fixing gutters that dump water at the foundation). Vented crawl spaces are a category unto themselves, and the good news is that we know how to fix themnow.

5. Detailed Report

Once the home energy auditor has finished with the onsite assessment of the house, which generally takes three to six hours, they’ll write up a report for the homeowners. Some companies have their templates set up and portable printers in their trucks and can deliver the report before they ever leave your house. Most, I believe, will do the report back at their office and then schedule an appointment to deliver it.

The report should cover all the items above (if applicable). It should give the results of the inspections and testing and put them in perspective by comparing what the auditor found in your house to what’s required by code (in the case of insulation mainly). In the case of infiltration and duct leakage, the comparison is usually to a scale showing what’s good and what’s bad. With the former, they may also tell you what size hole you have in your house.

Finally, with a good home energy audit report, you should get a scope of work that prioritizes the improvements you could make based on their cost effectiveness. Air sealing and duct sealing are usually at the top of the list of energy improvements, though combustion safety issues trump energy efficiency.

The report may also list any rebates and tax incentives that you can qualify for by improving the energy efficiency of your home. These vary by location, and not every home energy auditor can qualify you for every rebate. For example, Georgia Power has a generous rebate program, but you have to use one of the approved assessment contractors to qualify for them. To find out what’s available in your area, you can check the DSIRE or Tax Incentive Assistance Project websites.

6. Extras

Some other items that your home energy audit may include are a look at your home’s:

• Water efficiency
• Lights and appliances
• Dryer vent
• Energy bills
• Financing options

Some energy audit companies will check the flow rates of your faucets, toilets, and shower heads and make recommendations for improvement. Some check your lights and appliances and can even measure energy use of items like refrigerators with devices like the Kill-A-Watt or the WattsUp. I wrote about the dangers of underperforming dryer vents a while back and gave somerecommendations for improvement there. Some energy auditors will check that as well.

When I was doing energy audits (or home performance assessments, as I called them), I included an analysis of the homeowners’ energy bills. If they could give me 12 months of their bills, I could plug it into a spreadsheet I’d put together and calculate their energy intensity, the energy use per square foot of conditioned floor area per year.

If your intention is to use a home energy audit as a guide to improving your home, then hiring an auditor who can help you with financing options could be a big plus, too. Perhaps the best one available, in my opinion, is the Energy Efficient Mortgage, which you can use either for a purchase or a refinance.

Choosing a Home Energy Auditor

So there you have it. You can use the above information as a guide to choosing a home energy auditor and making sure you get the most bang for your buck. As with any other contractors you bring into your home, you should also ask for references and check them. I’m sure the comments below will have even more good advice.

Two things to be wary of are the ‘free energy audit’ (usually offered by companies who just want to get into your house to sell you their product or service) and the yahoo who bought an infrared camera and thinks it can find everything. Use the guidelines above to choose a home energy auditor, and you’ll get a much better audit.

If you’re in the Southeast, check our list of certified home energy raters to see if there’s one in your area. Many of them have both the HERS Rater and BPI Building Analyst certifications.

So I did what I always do when faced with a question like this. I went to the best source for energy data about the US: the US Energy Information Administration. Here’s what I found (pdf):

Indeed, we do seem to be using less energy per person than we did in 1970. Wow! The shape of this graph tells a lot of American history, too. There’s the sharp increase of the ’50s and ’60s as we suburbanized and accessorized our lives. Then the two bumps in the ’70s showing the downturns after the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and the Iranian revolution of 1979. Then followed the slow rise in energy consumption of the ’80s and ’90s as our economy recovered and took off.

Then, at the turn of the new millenium, energy consumption flattened out and turned down. We started using less energy per person. The decrease is mainly coincident with the economic downturn of the past few years.

Another graph from this same EIA document showed our expenditures per person over roughly the same time period:

Well, there’s the answer. Energy costs have been rising sharply since the year 2000. The only dip in that part of the graph followed the attack of 11 September 2001, when the economy tanked for a bit.

The moral of the story: High prices influence behavior. The back story is that the days of cheap energy are over. Peak oil is a big part of the reason for that.

“Just like you to know I’m glad you aren’t in charge. If you stood between me and my freedoms of choice or others you wouldn’t be standing there long.”

Turns out he’d read two of the articles I wrote last week - The McMansion Penalty in ENERGY STAR Version 3 and Kick the Can! – No Recessed Lights in the Building Envelope. Looking at this fellow’s website, I found that he does nice remodeling work, focusing on kitchens and baths.

But why did he feel the need to send me that message? I reread the articles and nowhere did I call for any kind of government intervention to ban can lights or large houses. The McMansion article was about a voluntary program that aims to foster increasing home energy efficiency. The latter was about the problems with can lights from a building science perspective.

Freedom isn’t a black-or-white issue, though, and it doesn’t mean that we’re all free to do whatever we want. We’re not free to walk into someone’s house and help ourselves to their belongings, for example. We’re not free to yell ‘Fire’ in a crowded auditorium. We’re increasingly less free to smoke in buildings. Heck, in many neighborhoods, we’re not even free to use the color of paint we want on our house.

So what exactly is the issue with this reader? Does he send such emails to homeowners’ associations and governing bodies, too? Or are building science, green building programs, and building codes especially incompatible with freedom? Let’s explore that last question further, splitting it into three separate questions.

Is building science incompatible with freedom?

Science is science. Anyone who works on buildings is free to ignore the principles of building science to the extent that they can get away with it, but someone’s going to pay the price. Maybe it’ll be the occupants, who suffer with comfort problems, poor indoor air quality, frequent maintenance, or high energy bills. Maybe it’ll be the remodeler or builder who has to face constant callbacks.

That’s the point I was trying to make with my article on can lights. To the extent that program guidelines or building codes allow can lights, a remodeler or builder can use them. If they’re part of the building envelope, however, and create a problem with the air barrier or insulation, the contractor is giving their client an inferior product. That’s just building science.

Are green building programs incompatible with freedom?

This one’s also a no-brainer. If it’s a voluntary program, how can it interfere with anyone’s freedom? (Well, OK, there’s Henry Gifford and his lawsuit against the USGBC and its LEED program, but I doubt the courts will let it go far.) If anyone has a problem with the new large home penalty in Version 3 of the ENERGY STAR new homes program, they’re perfectly free not to participate. (Although ENERGY STAR is an energy efficiency, not green building, program, I’m lumping them all together here.)

Are building codes incompatible with freedom?

OK, the first two questions were easy, but this is the one, I believe, where the real friction is happening. Building codes contain a lot of prescriptive requirements, mostly to ensure safety and structural stability. Although some contractors may complain about  the details or enforcement of some requirements, I think most people understand the need for these measures.

In recent years, though, energycodes have been gaining a toehold and are even starting to be enforced. For example, we now have a new energy code in Georgiathat requires all homes to meet thresholds for infiltration rates and duct leakage. This requires someone to test the house with a Blower Door and duct tester. Is that an example of the state standing between builders and their freedom of choice? Some argue that it is and that builders should be allowed to build leaky, inefficient, energy hog houses if they want to.

In my opinion, though, we have a serious energy problem, globally and in the US, and energy codes are one way to help us meet the challenges. With thepeak of global oil production (peak oil) being upon us, the price of oil is rising. This is leading to the electrification of transportation, which puts pressure on the electric grid and causes prices to rise there, too. Efficient houses are going to be a necessity, whether we like it or not.

If we’re going to live in a civilized society, we always have to consider not only the needs and rights of others around us, but also the bigger picture of what’s happening globally. Am I saying we all need to live in yurts and ride bicycles? No. But we are facing some serious problems that demand a new way of doing things. Freedom demands a certain amount of responsibility, too.

What do you think? Do the demands of building science, green building programs, or building codes infringe on our freedom of choice?

“China is projected to build the equivalent of 10 New York Cities over the next decade.”

For some, such rapid economic expansion by China is cause for fear. Others see opportunity. The US green energy markets were nudged toward the opportunity-seeker category this week with word from the Department of Energy of the nation’s first export strategy for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

It’s a funny place for us to be.  We tend to be known on the international stage for our energy consumption. We are the world’s largest oil importer, and its third largest producer. And when it comes to green energy, the last few years have been marked by more imports than exports. A flock of international companies have established themselves in the US to build wind and solar energy, sometimes by buying out US companies.

Many US’ green energy companies simply do not export, according to the report “Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Export Initiative,” issued December 7 by the DOE and several other government agencies.  The report pegs US export of renewable energy goods at about $2 billion last year. This isn’t a very big number when you consider that worldwide $162 billion in private capital went toward renewables and energy efficiency technologies and $183 billion in government stimulus funds.

While the report quantifies current US renewable energy exports, it has a tougher time defining the energy efficiency market, not an unusual problem for an industry that encompasses everything from home improvements to combined heat and power plants. However, the export market potential for energy efficiency technologies is “likely substantial,” the report said.

So if you want to export energy efficiency, what countries should you look to?

For a long time the energy efficiency industry operated largely under the two-guys-and-a-truck-model: local businesses made up of small contractors.

Then the ‘super’ energy efficiency service companies (ESCOs) emerged, big operations taking on big contracts often for government, schools or hospitals, like the $35 million deal that Pepco Energy Services signed with the Prince George’s County Maryland Public Schools this week.

The US energy efficiency industry has continued to expand. Is it ready, now, to make serious headway exporting goods and services into international markets?

The International Trade Administration seems to think so. Anna Chittum, research associate for the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy, says in her blog that the ITA has been seeking comment on a national export strategy for both renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Part of a federal goal to double exports by 2015, the strategy is due to the Obama administration in September.

What might US energy efficiency companies export?

Possibilities are discussed in the 2010 Energy Industry Assessment, posted on the ITA Energy Team Home page.

The report points out that little export of energy services has occurred so far, although some US companies have established a foothold in international markets, such as Rockwell Automation, Honeywell, and Johnson Controls. But the potential is large for US ESCOs, especially in parts of the world where demand for energy is rising and reliability questionable. China and India are obvious candidates.

Export opportunity also may exist for companies that develop district energy and combined heat and power, according to industry assessment report. China, the Middle East, and India are prime markets.  For example, China plans to invest $360 billion over the next decade in district energy and US companies could capture at least $8.2 billion in sales, the report says. The Middle East is expected to invest $7 billion in district energy over the next decade and $15 billion over 20 years.

Home Star is a legislative proposal designed to create jobs by providing incentives for residential energy efficiency improvements. The program will drive new private investment into the hard hit construction and manufacturing sectors, while saving consumers money on their energy bills. By building on state programs and existing industry capacity for the retrofits themselves as well as quality assurance, the program will be fast‐acting, in addition to increasing consumer awareness of residential energy efficiency.

The bill provides approximately $6 billion dollars of incentives to the American people, coupled with private investment, to generate an estimated three million home retrofits and tens of thousands of jobs, and to strengthen American industry.

INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

$250‐1500 Silver Star rebates. For the first year of the program, consumers can receive between $250 and $1500 in “point‐of‐sale” rebates for each retrofit involving individual measures, with a benefit not exceeding $3,000 or at least 50% of total project costs (whichever is less). Eligible measures include insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, HVAC systems, windows, doors, and cool roofs. Rebates will be targeted to the most energy efficient categories of upgrades, focusing on products primarily made in the United States. All retrofits must be installed by a certified contractor.

$3000 Gold Star rebates. For the first two years of the program, consumers interested in whole home retrofits would be eligible for up to $3000 “point‐of‐sale” rebate for a comprehensive energy audit and retrofits tailored to achieve a 20% energy savings in the home. Consumers can receive additional incentives for energy savings higher than 20%. The Gold Star rebate program would build on existing whole home retrofit programs, such as EPA’s Home Performance with Energy Star program and DOE’s building programs.

Rebate process. Consumers are eligible for discounted prices of the installation of Silver Star measures at the point of sale. Upon job completion, contractors submit rebate requests to rebate aggregators, such as small independent building material dealers, large national home improvement chains, merchants across the country, energy efficiency installation professionals and utility energy efficiency programs (including rural utilities) and then are reimbursed by the federal government.

$3000 performance tax credit. After the first year, consumers can receive tax credits for whole home retrofits that meet 100 HERS for buildings constructed prior to 2000, and 85 HERS for building constructed after 2000. Homeowners can receive up to $8000 in rebates or 50% of the total retrofit cost. These tax credits will be available until the end of 2013.

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND SUPPORT

Contractor qualifications. Contractors need to be licensed and insured to install the retrofits.

Independent quality assurance providers are responsible for field audits after job completion in order to ensure proper installation and measurable energy savings for consumers. States oversee the quality assurance implementation.

Financing support. Funding is included in the proposal to support State and local financing programs.
The Home Star proposal has garnered widespread support from over 500 supporters in all 50 states from the construction, manufacturing, retail sales, environmental, labor, and energy efficiency communities, and is expected to save program participants $200‐500 per year in energy costs. For more information, please see our website http://energy.senate.gov.

Join the HOME STAR Coalition

The high fuel economy helped the MSU team garner 844 out of a possible 1,000 points, earning its first-place finish. Coming in second place was the Virginia Tech University team, which built an EREV with a 40-mile electric range, also driven by a 21.3-kilowatt-hour battery pack, but with a 90-kilowatt motor. Their extended range was achieved with a flex-fueled, 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine. Landing in third place was Pennsylvania State University, again with an EREV, which used a 12.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack to power an 80-kilowatt motor. Like the MSU team, their backup power source was a 1.3-liter, biodiesel-fueled, turbocharged diesel engine, which powered a 75-kilowatt UQM generator.

The May competition included a series of safety and technical tests at GM’s Desert Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona, marking the end of two years of hard work by the university teams. In the first year of the EcoCAR challenge, the teams determined the design for their vehicles, and in the second year, they had to turn those designs into reality. For the next and final year, the teams will have to refine their vehicles to near-showroom quality. In the meantime, you can participate in a Web chat with the top three teams on Friday, June 4, at 3 p.m. EDT on the EcoCAR blog site, “Inside the Green Garage.” See the press releases from GM and MSU, as well as the EcoCAR Challenge Web site.

But is that the right way to think about power?

Truth be told, new energy sources are likely to play a smaller role in economic recovery than advances in energy efficiency, according to speakers at a recent symposium held by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, as part of its 30^th anniversary celebration.

“Cost-effective investment that can reduce the amount of energy necessary to support a dollar of economic activity is the single most important driver of economic productivity within the United States and around the world,” said John A. “Skip” Laitner, director of economic and social analysis, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

But too often policymakers view energy efficiency not as an economic driver, but as a means to control demand until we can deploy conventional resources, such as nuclear and oil, he said.

Consider the following data that emerged from the symposium:

• America’s economy has tripled in size since 1970 and three-quarters of the energy needed to fuel that growth came from efficiency advances, not by adding more energy.
• Still, the U.S. economy remains only about 13 percent energy efficient, meaning 87% of the energy we use is wasted. We are behind Japan and several European countries, which have a 20% efficiency level.
• Energy efficiency investments can provide up to one-half of the greenhouses gas emissions reductions most scientists say are needed between now and 2050 – while lowering energy bills.

Economic activity and energy use are directly linked. But lately, several reports have noted that the economic slowdown is not the only reason energy consumption is falling. Aggressive energy efficiency efforts also have impact.

That impact will be “major” in the years to come, according to the Energy Information Administration, the chief energy data collector for the US government. The agency this week released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2010” with projections to 2035.

The federal report shows us decreasing energy use significantly if we employ best available efficiency technologies over the next 25 years – that is if we buy the most energy efficient appliances and build homes to the highest efficiency standards. Under this scenario, energy consumption could drop by as much as 27%. But if we stick to the status quo, homeowners will increase energy use by about 0.2%.

This drop in energy use will not happen immediately. In fact, EIA sees energy consumption rising slightly as the economy rebounds. It then begins fall in 2013 as higher efficiency standards take effect for vehicles and lighting.

Lighting standards will have the most profound impact on electric consumption. Federal requirements will reduce electricity used for lights by 30% in 2014. When the standards tighten further in 2020, power use for lighting drops 60%.  Overall, by 2035 our lights should eat up 44% less electricity than in 2008.

This drop in energy consumption does not signal austerity. On the contrary, our use of electric devices is growing. The EIA sees us increasing our use of computers, household appliances, water heaters, stoves, heat, air conditioning and microwaves. And for the first time this year we’ll direct more of our electricity into television watching than food refrigeration.

So it appears the predictions of today’s energy efficiency advocates may be correct: the economy can reduce energy consumption without sacrificing creature comforts.

Not once, but twice President Obama mentioned the importance of energy efficiency in his state of the union address January 27. His support for the resource is no surprise; his administration has channeled $20 billion toward energy savings programs. Obama made clear that going into his second year his support will not waver.

“I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.  But here’s the thing — even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future -– because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy.  And America must be that nation,” he said.

For many years, efficiency was the poor sister of the energy world. So continued support from the highest office comes as extraordinarily good news to the range of businesses that provide energy savings services and products – from appliance manufacturers to energy efficiency service companies to the new entrants — smart grid and information technology companies.

But when an industry receives this much incentive money, it inevitably comes under increased scrutiny. Is the taxpayer and the ratepayer getting bang for the buck?

Fortunately, a lot of work is underway to bring to buildings the kind of miles per gallon measure we now have in the auto industry. How many people know how well or poorly their homes and businesses use energy?

To find out, innovations are being developed in use of data loggers and other devices that measure actual energy output of equipment and other parameters. Another interesting approach is use of benchmarking and disclosure mandates to determine building performance.

The goal of such programs is give consumers and businesses information about building performance to trigger “market-based competition to own, operate, lease, finance, design and build the most energy-efficient buildings,” says the Institute for Market Transformation.

The Washington, D.C.-based efficiency group describes on its website several cities and states already using benchmarking and disclosure:

• The New York City Council requires building energy rating and disclosure, periodic energy audits and retro-commissioning. It also mandates building-wide lighting upgrades and the installation of submeters and compliance with a new city energy code.
• Washington, D.C. mandates annual energy performance rating and disclosure for commercial buildings. The district publishes building energy performance data on a public online database.
• Utilities in California must provide data for use in ENERGY STAR benchmarking. Commercial building owners must disclose ENERGY STAR benchmark data to prospective tenants, buyers and lenders.
• Austin, Texas requires commercial building energy rating and disclosure, mandatory energy audits for homes and mandatory audits plus retrofits (in some cases) for apartment buildings.
• Washington state has a building energy rating and disclosure mandate similar to California’s. The city of Seattle has its own benchmarking requirement.
• On the federal level, the House and Senate climate bills would create a national building label.  In addition, the Department of Energy has a new National Building Rating Program to create a label for homes.

Stay tuned for increased city, state and federal activity in measuring and monitoring energy efficiency as activity expands. More details are available at: http://www.imt.org/

Visit Elisa Wood at http://www.realenergywriters.com/ and pick up her free Energy Efficiency Markets podcast and newsletter.

Jon Stewart said it best: Obama is a lousy poker payer. Lucky thing, too, for the energy efficiency industry as it heads into 2010.

Stewart’s December 8 “The Daily Show” aired a clip of Obama recently telling business leaders:  “I don’t want to tip our hand too much, but one of the things I would be surprised if we don’t end up moving forward on is an aggressive agenda for energy efficiency and weatherization.”

Tip his hand? In fact, as Stewart pointed out, Obama has shown that hand broadly to the world for the last year. Starting with his January 2009 inaugural speech, Obama buoyed the clean energy industry by advancing renewable energy, a first for a US president in that forum.  But that turned out to be just the start. In talk after talk this year, he pushed efficiency. If US voters didn’t know the term ‘weatherization’ before, they know it now. What could be better publicity for a product than having it endorsed by the leader of the free world?

To say 2009 was a banner year for the energy efficiency industry is an understatement. Under Obama’s watch, the federal government has channeled $20 billion in stimulus dollars to energy efficiency and now promises more from bailout funds returned by banks.

While the money – and Obama’s support – was the big story for 2009 and continues to be going into 2010, it is important to remember that electric energy is ultimately a local industry in the United States. What happens before state public utility commissions and regional regulatory bodies often has greatest influence.

To that end here a few local trends of 2009 that may grow in 2010.

*Efficiency as a first fuel. Environment Northeast has been successful in convincing several New England states to consider efficiency to be the first fuel in portfolio planning. That means when utilities plan resources, they must secure all cost effective energy efficiency before pursuing power plant development or power purchases. http://www.env-ne.org/

*Decoupling. Utilities have little incentive to encourage energy savings if they earn their profits from selling power. Decoupling changes utility accounting and cost recovery by delinking profits from sales. California and Massachusetts are examples of states with full decoupling and their utilities have among the most aggressive efficiency programs in the country.  Several other states partially use the approach; others are considering adopting it.

*Energy efficiency portfolio standards. Similar to renewable portfolio standards, EEPS require that utilities, and in some cases competitive retail suppliers, achieve certain energy savings goals. Federal proposals are under consideration for a national EEPS. That may or may not happen. But 19 states now have the standards; look for more to pursue the approach.

What else does the EE industry have to look forward to in 2010?  Please post what you see in your crystal ball.

What are President Obama’s targets for GHG reductions?  Initially, the U.S. will pursue a 17% reduction below 2005 levels by 2020 (to put this goal in historic context, the modest Kyoto targets were 7% below 1990 levels).  This proposed target corresponds to the GHG limits contained in the climate change legislation passed by the U.S. House.  It is worth noting that the U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would set a more aggressive target of 20% below 2005 levels by 2020.  Long term, President Obama has a stated goal of an 83% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050.  These long-term goals have been incorporated into pending climate change legislation by targeting 30% below 2005 levels by 2025 and to 42% below 2005 levels by 2030 (the same year that the Department of Energy is targeting affordable zero energy homes for all Americans).

In addition to President Obama, several top White House officials and cabinet members are also expected to attend the Copenhagen conference, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu.  For the first time in history, the United States will establish a Center at the conference where top U.S. officials will deliver keynote speeches on energy efficiency and climate change.  In a sign of the times, the U.S. Department of State has established a “COP-15″ Facebook page and website to track the event.

See the White House press release, the COP-15 Web site, and COP-15 Facebook Page.

In a parallel move, the day after the White House announced U.S. GHG targets, China announced a reduction of the “carbon intensity” of its emissions by 40%-45% by 2020.  This measure of emissions, which differs from the U.S.’s emission measurements focuses on the amount of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP.  China’s measurement would mean that total GHG emissions in China would actually increase from today’s levels, but would result in far less GHG emissions than the expected increases associated with the rapid growth of the economy in China.  To achieve these binding goals, China will focus on research, development and commercialization of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and encourage low-carbon lifestyles.  In addition, China’s Premier will attend the Copenhagen conference.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

I get calls but so few want to actually pay or the kinds of calls I get are for services I don’t offer. In that case I have to decide if I want to build those services and skills or continue to turn them away as it may not be a sufficient enough trade off for the time and expense to garner those skills.

Since my long term goals are to move into commercial retrofitting I have decided to take the necessary steps that will aid that including relocating to find the kind of work I am seeking. That decision is based on the need to have meaningful work and financially supportive work but also the desire to live in a city that offers more than I have in the way of social and personal interests. This almost seems antiquated but I still believe in the idea that work is there if you work to find it and that is the major reason for the switch.

I would have liked to continue helping those in the residential fields but that likelihood seems dim due to the current economic situation (aka the “jobless recovery”) and the fact that 1 in 10 Homeowners are currently delinquent on their mortgages. Today’s article in the New York Times discusses the bleak future regarding the state of foreclosures and housing market. I, like many others, believe that the extension of the tax credit will do little to stimulate house sales, the October build stats are at the lowest in decades and the amount of surplus build both in residential and even multi-family (apartments) are at glut levels. So it doesn’t appear I along with many of my colleagues will be doing much in that field for quite some time. So I am using that time to build new skills and get out of the residential market – for now.

U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies Reach a Record High

by DAVID STREITFELD
Published: November 19, 2009

The economy and the stock market may be recovering from their swoon, but more homeowners than ever are having trouble making their monthly mortgage payments, according to figures released Thursday.

Nearly one in 10 homeowners with mortgages was at least one payment behind in the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its survey. That translates into about five million households.

The delinquency figure, and a corresponding rise in the number of those losing their homes to foreclosure, was expected to be bad. Nevertheless, the figures underlined the level of stress on a large segment of the country, a situation that could snuff out the modest recovery in home prices over the last few months and impede any economic rebound.

Unless foreclosure modification efforts begin succeeding on a permanent basis — which many analysts say they think is unlikely — millions more foreclosed homes will come to market.

“I’ve been pretty bearish on this big ugly pig stuck in the python and this cements my view that home prices are going back down,” said the housing consultant Ivy Zelman.

The overall third-quarter delinquency rate is the highest since the association began keeping records in 1972. It is up from about one in 14 mortgage holders in the third quarter of 2008.

The combined percentage of those in foreclosure as well as delinquent homeowners is 14.41 percent, or about one in seven mortgage holders. Mortgages with problems are concentrated in four states: California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. One in four people with mortgages in Florida is behind in payments.

Some of the delinquent homeowners are scrambling and will eventually catch up on their payments. But many others will slide into foreclosure. The percentage of loans in foreclosure on Sept. 30 was 4.47 percent, up from 2.97 percent last year.

In the first stage of the housing collapse, defaults and foreclosures were driven by subprime loans. These loans had low introductory rates that quickly moved to a level that was beyond the borrower’s ability to pay, even if the homeowner was still employed.

As the subprime tide recedes, high-quality prime loans with fixed rates make up the largest share of new foreclosures. A third of the new foreclosures begun in the third quarter were this type of loan, traditionally considered the safest. But without jobs, borrowers usually cannot pay their mortgages.

“Clearly the results are being driven by changes in employment,” Jay Brinkmann, the association’s chief economist, said in a conference call with reporters.

In previous recessions, homeowners who lost their jobs could sell the house and move somewhere with better prospects, or at least a cheaper cost of living. This time around, many of the unemployed are finding that the value of their property is less than they owe. They are stuck.

“There will be a lot more distressed supply entering the market, and it will move up the food chain to middle- and higher-price homes,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist for MFR Inc.

Many analysts say they believe that foreclosures, instead of peaking with the unemployment rate as they traditionally do, will most likely be a lagging indicator in this recession. The mortgage bankers expect foreclosures to peak in 2011, well after unemployment is expected to have begun falling.

There was one sliver of good news in the survey: the percentage of loans in the very first stage of default — no more than 30 days past due — was down slightly from the second quarter. If that number continues to decline, at least the ranks of the defaulted will have peaked.

“It’s arguably a positive, but it doesn’t undermine the fact that there are still five or six million foreclosures in process,” Ms. Zelman said.

The number of loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration that are at least one month past due rose to 14.4 percent in the third quarter, from 12.9 percent last year. An additional 3.3 percent of F.H.A. loans are in foreclosure.

The mortgage group’s survey noted, however, that the F.H.A. was issuing so many loans — about a million in the last year — that it had the effect of masking the percentage of problem loans at the agency. Most loans enter default when they are older than a year.

When the association removed the new loans from its calculations, the percentage of F.H.A. mortgages entering foreclosure was 30 percent higher.

The association’s survey is based on a sample of more than 44 million mortgage loans serviced by mortgage companies, commercial and savings banks, credit unions and others. About 52 million homes have mortgages. There are 124 million year-round housing units in the country, according to the Census Bureau.

A recent White House task force on the middle class finds that our homes generate more than 20% of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions. If we make our houses more efficient, we can significantly cut emissions and reduce energy use by 40%, a move that could lower our bills by $21 billion annually.

But who has the extra cash in this economy for better windows and an updated heating system?

The report recommends leveraging some of the $80 billion in energy and environment stimulus funds to set up financing mechanisms that let homeowners pay over time and avoid the upfront hit.

Already, to that end, several states have created low-interest revolving loan funds. Nebraska has set aside $11 million. Florida is offering $10 million, particularly for solar hot water installations. And yes, Dorothy, you can go home again. Kansas has gotten into the act with $34 million in efficiency loans.

In addition, the task force encourages federally funded pilot programs using ‘Property Assessed Clean Energy’ financing. Now available in a handful of cities, these programs finance clean energy efforts on property tax bills. Ideally, the efficiency retrofits will reduce energy bills at least as much as property payments rise, so that the homeowner faces no net increase in expenses. Particularly interesting, the loan stays with the property – not the owner. So if the homeowner decides to sell, the new owner, who reaps the benefits of the efficient home, also pays any remaining costs of the retrofit.

Similarly, the report calls for making energy efficiency mortgages more available. The US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development needs to work with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to establish uniform procedures for such mortgage products, the report says.  In addition, the home appraisal industry must develop methods to evaluate a home’s energy efficiency.

Listen to Mississippi Public Radio interview of Bo Smith, Cornerstone Lending and Dr. Ben Mokry, Senior Vice President at MHC explain the program

“This program will have an enormous impact on the 48 communities statewide that have been identified as having high foreclosure rates,” said Dianne Bolen, Executive Director of MHC. “Over the next twelve months, the Home Buyer Advantage program will help homebuyers get good value for their money while simultaneously helping their neighbors protect the value of their homes. It’s a real win-win situation for everyone involved,” she continued.

MHC estimates the Home Buyer Advantage program will help home buyers purchase 600 to 700 foreclosed properties in Mississippi. Qualified home buyers purchasing a foreclosed property are immediately eligible for a $14,999 grant. The second component of the Home Buyer Advantage Program provides an additional grant of up to $25,000 based on the buyer’s credit score. The grants are forgiven over a period of five years for the initial grant and an additional five years for the credit score-based component.

“The Home Buyer Advantage program will provide much-needed stability to communities across Mississippi that have been impacted by foreclosures,” explained Dr. Ben Mokry, Senior Vice President at MHC. “By this time next year, we will have helped these communities avoid the blight of foreclosure to remain healthy and vibrant. That is our ultimate goal with the program,” he added.

The Home Buyer Advantage program is funded by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was created in 2008 by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. MHC has until September 2010 to utilize its $20.7 million grant before the unused funds must be returned to the federal government. The following communities are eligible for the Home Buyer Advantage program: Batesville, Booneville, Brandon, Byhalia, Canton, Carthage, Clarksdale, Cleveland, Clinton, Coldwater, Columbia, Columbus, Corinth, Greenville, Greenwood, Grenada, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Holly Springs, Horn Lake, Itta Bena, Jackson, Kosciusko, Laurel, Lumberton, Madison, Magnolia, McComb, Meridian, Natchez, Nesbit, New Albany, Olive Branch, Oxford, Pearl, Petal, Pontotoc, Raymond, Ridgeland, Senatobia, Southaven, Starkville, Sumrall, Terry, Tupelo, Vicksburg, Walls, and Yazoo City.

For more information about the Home Buyer Advantage program, including detailed program guidelines and a list of approved lenders, visit www.mshomecorp.com/hba. Parties who wish to learn more about the Mississippi Home Corporation should contact MHC directly at 601.718.INFO (4636) or at www.mshomecorp.com.

As you can see on the map, while many states have adopted the 2003 or 2006 International Energy Conservation Code (or the “IECC”), there are many states that still lack state-wide energy codes.  You can also see from that map that of all the states that have adopted the 2003 IECC or better, Colorado and Tennessee are the only two states where jurisdictions within the state have set above-code requirements for home energy performance.  In addition, Texas, which has state-wide implementation of the 2001 IECC, also has some jurisdictions that require more aggressive levels of home energy performance.

Keep an eye on the Department of Energy’s energy code map!  In the near future we’re sure to see more and more states adopting the 2009 IECC and many jurisdictions setting more progressive above-code standards for home energy performance.

As residential energy codes become more and more mainstream, adequate education and training is essential to ensure proper implementation.  Oftentimes, additional training is needed so that building code officials, municipal staff, local governments, contractors and architects understand the building science behind high-performance homes.  For example, as homes become less leaky and “tighter,” it’s important that contractors understand the importance of indoor moisture control measures and proper ventilation.  Home energy performance can be quantified with the Home Energy Rating System (or “HERS”) – for many architects and developers, the HERS system can be a “black box,” as it’s not readily apparent how changes in building design and specifications will change the energy score of a home.  An experienced HERS Rater should be able to explain the “behind-the-scenes” operation of energy modeling software and give architects and contractors the information that they need to understand how changes in home design, insulation and mechanical systems will impact the overall energy performance of the building.

Populus Sustainable Design Consulting, a Boulder-based residential energy consulting firm, has worked with municipalities nationally to aid in the implementation of performance-based energy codes, particularly those that target above-code levels of energy performance.  Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop targeted to municipal staff, code officials, county commissioners, city council and/or local building trade organizations.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Design Workshop which gives architects and builders hands-on, real world experience working with an energy rater to design buildings that achieve above-code home energy performance within a budget.

If Harry Truman were running for president today, he’d probably ‘Give ‘em Green,’ rather than ‘Give ‘em Hell.’ Bill Clinton’s campaign slogan would be, ‘It’s the environment, stupid.’ And Herbert Hoover might be promising a solar panel on every roof, rather than a chicken in every pot – and the pot would sit on a smart-metered stove, powered by a plug-in hybrid, eligible for renewable energy certificates.

Today, green credentials count. Hardly a day goes by without a mayor, governor or legislator claiming some sort of first, best or highest green energy goal.

That’s why the state energy efficiency scorecard, released this week by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, is significant. It carries political currency.

Bragging rights go to California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon and New York,* the top five states (in that order) doing good by energy efficiency.  Some red faces, however, might be found in Nebraska, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Wyoming, the group that ACEEE says “most needs to improve.”

States are expected to continue their pursuit of energy efficiency into the next decade. The ACEEE reports that utility ratepayer-funds for efficiency will likely grow from $3.1 billion in 2008 to $5.4-$12 billion in 2020.

What’s most interesting is that so much money and effort is being put into energy efficiency now – during the Great Recession – when states face deficits. This defies conventional behavior: Historically, Americans worry about the environment only when the economy is sound.  It appears that green energy advocates have successfully imprinted in the American psyche a link between renewable energy and efficiency and economic prosperity.

In Part 2 of this interview, Lisa Cohn of Energy Efficiency Markets continues her interview with Josh Schellenberg, senior analyst at Freeman, Sullivan & Co. about California’s statewide base interruptible program, one of the largest DR programs in the country, with nearly 1,000 MW of load reduction capacity. Josh has a blog at www.energydsm.com.