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Insulation is one of the highest payback improvements you can make to a building -- at both new construction and remodeling time. Radiant barriers are a new approach with additional heat resistant benefits.

Heat Transfer

Conduction

Direct heat flow through a solid object like a roof, wall or ceiling.

Convection

Heat movement through air that occurs when air is warmed. Warm air expands, becomes less dense and rises.

Radiation

Movement of heat rays across air spaces from one warm object to another less-warm object. Wood stoves give off radiant heat, for example.

We hear about radiant barriers in applications such as the heat shielding ceramic tiles on NASA shuttles. And the aluminum foil used on baked potatoes. Those are "radiant barriers" that keep heat in... or out.

Heating air is expensive! Cooling air is also expensive -- so it makes sense that if you don't have to condition air as much, you'll save on your utility bills.

Insulation and radiant barriers are used in buildings to keep heat in during the winter...and keep heat out during hot periods and seasons. But most buildings weren't optimized for energy efficiency in both hot and cold temperatures.

Radiant Barriers for Buildings

The bright aluminum surface of radiant barrier products provides insulation properties in two ways:

• The reflective surface reflects long wave radiant heat that strikes it -- up to 97% of all radiant heat.
• Close contact, but non-touching, allows reradiation to happen, and when you reduce the amount of heat that "gets through" the radiant barrier, you will have less convection taking place.

Read more about radiant barrier effectiveness.

On the basis of Frost & Sullivan's independent research, 2008 U.S. HVAC Contractors' Choice: Which Manufacturer Passes the Test...

Trane emerged as the overwhelming leader in the chiller product category among U.S. HVAC contractors.

"Roughly seven out of ten U.S. HVAC contractors ranked Trane as a top chiller brand," says Frost & Sullivan Project Manager, Krishnendu Roy. "While 71 percent voted Trane as one of the top three chiller brands, what is significant is that 40 percent ranked Trane as the number one chiller brand - a 29 percent lead over the nearest competitor."

A positive reputation, coupled with loyal customers, is what positions Trane as a leader. Of the 36 percent of U.S. HVAC contractors' who reported using Trane chillers for non-residential projects/installs, all agreed that Trane was one of the top chiller brands.

The largest proportion of those surveyed said that the manufacturer's sales person is the most important source of information when deciding on purchasing an HVAC component (80 percent).

Interestingly, 22 percent made independent decisions for buying an HVAC component, while 56 percent reported that the decision for HVAC brand were jointly decided along with their customers. Thus, it appears that HVAC contractors have strong influences in choosing brands of HVAC components

The Frost & Sullivan HVAC Contractors' Choice Award is conferred on the company that has demonstrated excellence. The recipient has distinguished itself through its proactive strategies that position it to emerge or continue as an industry leader.

The Choice Awards measure the best brands based upon the highest brand perception index (BPI) score. The BPI is calculated by multiplying the weighted mean score and loyalty index score. Award recipients must have BPI scores of 10 or greater. Trane received a 10 BPI score for Overall Best Brand of Chillers.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Trane

Trane has over 55 years of experience providing chillers to the commercial market. Trane offers scroll, helical rotary, centrifugal and absorption chillers in capacities from 20 to 3950 tons, cooling towers and packaged combinations of all the above. Trane, a business of Ingersoll Rand, improves the performance of homes and buildings around the world with solutions to optimize indoor environments with a energy-efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, building and contracting services, parts support and advanced controls for homes and commercial buildings. For more information, visit www.trane.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan,  enables clients in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides research and best practice models to drive growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com

Many homes have moisture, combustion safety or indoor air quality problem that result from inadequate or non-functional energy systems.

• It is estimated that 40% of basements in Canada are damp and for children, the health effect of living in damp environments is equal to exposure to secondhand smoke (Fugler 2007).
• One in 15 homes in the US has elevated radon.
• 64 million homes have lead-based paint somewhere in the building.
• Over 20 million Americans have asthma and in 1990, asthma was the cause of 4500 deaths annually.  Many asthma triggers are found in indoor environments.

Energy improvements can potentially exacerbate or create new problems as well as fix existing problems.  We need a trained workforce to properly install energy efficiency projects.

Information and misinformation abounds and is often contradictory.  This can be overwhelming for home owners.

In many cases, true efficiency improvements are not the function of mere presence of a high efficiency product -- but rather, its appropriateness and correct installation.

Certification and quality assurance programs offered by organization help support a trained workforce.  These organizations offer programs:

• NATE
• BPI
• ACCA
• EPA Home Performance
• Energy Star

Three paradigms influence residential energy efficiency efforts:

1. the products
2. whole house or home performance
3. sustainability strategies

Product Rebate Programs

Products that sport rebates for high-efficiency models such as Energy Star rated appliances, CFLs, LEDs and high performance air conditioners can lower product costs and increase adoption.

Rebate programs can ramp up quickly, are easy to deploy, and fairly easy to evaluate.  While widget-based rebate programs have relatively low savings per unit, the high nuber of units and low per-unit transaction cost can yield significant and cost-effective energy reductions, particularly if the market is truly transformed after the removal of the incentive. 

One problem of rebate programs is that they usually do not address site-specific selection/application, installation, measure interaction or deal with side effects.  Because of these limitations, rebates can sometimes result in lost opportunities for more significant alternatives and create negative side effects.

Home Performance Programs
 
The whole house or home performance paradigm focuses on building system performance ith energy reduction as one part of the greater whole.  To date, whole house programs have mostly been delivered through low-income programs and are beginning to filter into for-profit energy efficiency programs. 

Typical costs range from $3-$35,000 per house; and energy reductions range from 5-35%.

A home performance job may include work and cost tht is directed to solving problems such as correcting a wet basement or crawl space, which may not generate direct energy savings.

Sustainable Paradigm
Current and long erm impact on the community and larger environment are considered in a sustainable paradigm that assesses the life cycle of building components and products consumed in house operation.  Land use, water use, and site environmental impact, as well as building durability and energy use are examined.  This is a "green building" approach.

Interest in USGBC and ASID's green guideline for existing homes, REGREEN, released in 2008 has exceeded the expectation of the developers (Yost 2008).

Deep Energy Reduction Paradigm

The deep energy reduction paradigm builds on the strengths of the previous paradigms.  The deep energy paradigm fits well in a sustainable paradigm that incorporates a design centered approach and inclusion of impacts beyond the homeowner's site.

While many strategies can be used to achieve deep energy reductions, universal principles are emerging.  To summarize them:

• A systems approach is necessary to optimize on-site and off-site benefits and interactions
• Good indoor air quality and building durability are integral elements
• Performance must be verified with a combination of diagnostic equipment and actual measurement of all benefits.
• Occupant behavior and community solutions are an integral part of the strategy
• Deep energy reductions should be viewed as an ongoing process to ensure proper maintenance and operation
• A trigger event can capture opportunities as they emerge, ie: roof, siding or HVAC system replacements.

It's important to identify and target communities or situations that offer the combination of lowest costs and/or greatest benefits, access to resources and motivated occupants.

SOURCE:  Linda Wigington, Affordable Comfort, Inc; "Deep Energy Reductions in Existing Homes; Strategies for Implementation"

Based on an industry conference that identified challenges and solutions for energy efficiency, these are some of the many benefits to a community -- and residents -- for a robust energy efficiency program.

1.  Investing in existing homes maintains and builds on embodied energy and resources already invested.

2. Comprehensive retrofits have the potential to increase building durability, improve indoor air quality, increase comfort, correct health and safety problems and reduce noise and pests.

3. Reduced residential energy use eases strain on energy supplies and distribution networks.

4. Lower loads make it easier and more cost effective to meet a home's energy demands with renewable sources.

5.  Lower utility and maintenance costs mean more money is available to the household for investment or spending on goods and services more beneficial to the local economy.

6.  Lower utility costs reduce the cost of home ownership and can increase home affordability.

7. Low load homes buffer and protect occupants from outdoor temperature extremes that occur during power outages and/or severe weather events and from spikes in energy prices.  This can affect extreme health and survival rates.

8.  Through aggregation of benefits, benchmarking and feedback, occupants can see the impact of their actions, providing a way to reinforce lifestyle choices.

9. Deep energy reductions in existing homes can stimulate product development and deployment  that benefits broader residential and small commercial sectors of the economy.

10. Deep energy reductions enable occupants to reduce their personal energy use and carbon footprint.

11.  Deep energy savings can make the US more energy independent and reduce international tensions.

Creating a common language for measuring and evaluating energy efficiency would be helpful.  We have better measures for car performance, such as "miles per gallon".   The equivalent measure for homes and buildings could be "energy use per square foot", as well as "energy use per household", "peak load per household" or "energy cost per household."

Indices of energy performance are needed to provide transparent, inexpensive ways for a homeowner, community or program to benchmark the performance of a home based on actual consumption. 

Green Building is an approach to sustainable development that is designed to result in a property that reduces energy demand, costs less to operate, improves the residents' quality of life, and reduces its impact on the environment. This Notice uses the terms "Green Retrofit Program" and "GRP" to refer to the various authorities discussed above. Issuance of this Notice implements the Green Retrofit Program.

Grants and loans will be made available through HUD's Office of Affordable Housing Preservation (OAHP) for eligible property owners to make energy and green retrofit investments in the property, to ensure the maintenance and preservation of the property, the continued operation and maintenance of energy efficiency technologies, and the timely expenditure of funds.

Physical and financial analyses of the properties will be conducted to determine the size of each grant and loan. Incentives will be made available to participating owners. The terms of the grants or loans will include continued affordability agreements. Grant and loan funds must be spent by the receiving property owner within two years. Full detail of how to apply, and grant and loan terms, will be published in a Housing Notice on May 13, 2009.

Green Retrofit Program (GRP) for Section 202, Section 811, and Project Based Section 8

Information from HUD

All materials noted as being available from the GRP web site may be found at http://portal.hud.gov/pls/portal/url/page/recovery/programs/green or www.hud.gov/recovery .

Trade associations provide a variety of best practices information such as conferences, newsletters, websites and networking meetings.  Here are some of the many trade associations for building contractors.

• ABC -- Associated Builders and Contractors

• ACCA -- Air Conditioning Contractors of America

• ACEC -- American Consulting Engineers Council

• AGC -- Associated General Contractors

• AIA -- American Institute of Architects 

• APWA -- American Public Works Association

• ASCE -- American Society of Civil Engineers

• ASID -- American Society of Interior Designers

• ASA -- American Subcontractors Association

• AWCI -- Association of Wall and Ceiling Industry

• CSI -- Construction Specification Institute

• NAHB -- National Association of Home Builders

• NAWC -- National Association of Women in Construction

• NECA -- National Electrical Contractors Association

• NFPA -- National Fire Protection Association

• NRCA -- National Roofing Contractors Association

• WAPTAC -- Weatherization Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center

• AABE -- American Association of Blacks in Energy

Under federal 2009 ARRA funding, California Community Services Division is receiving $185.2 million for the Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program to install energy efficiency and health and safety measures in low-income California dwellings. Of that sum, CSD may use a portion to defray the cost of training workers in weatherization, energy audits, and post-installation inspection standards - all of which are considered "green" jobs.

Over the next 27 months, CSD estimates its local providers will expend approximately $15.7 million ($9.6 million per CSD's estimates and $6.1 million reserve set-aside to be used for the inclusion of new grantees) to support sending their field supervisors, weatherization and energy audit employees, and dedicated subcontractors to CSD-approved weatherization training centers to meet DOE training requirements.

Six Core Subjects of Weatherization Job Training

CSD's weatherization training curriculum consists of 6 core subjects, to include:

Basic Weatherization - instruction on performing the basic and more simplistic forms of energy-efficiency measures, including: caulking, CFL installations, weather-stripping of windows and doors, minor home repairs, etc.

Advanced Weatherization - instruction on performing the more advanced forms of energy-efficiency and health and safety measures, including but not limited to: lighting fixture replacements, window and exterior door replacements, small appliance assessment and replacements, CO alarm installations, advanced forms of minor home repairs, etc.

Diagnostic Testing - instruction on the protocols for carrying-out pressurized diagnostic testing to determine the integrity of heating/cooling duct systems for leakage and the extent of outside air infiltration with indoor condition living space

Combustion Appliance Testing - instruction on the proper testing methods for evaluating the operational safety (carbon monoxide emissions) of combustion appliance located with living spaces and procedures for mitigating appliance hazardous conditions.

Health and Safety Environmental Awareness - instruction on the proper techniques to minimize exposure to lead paint hazards during the course of performing weatherization measure activities, and other safe practices intended to ensure the safety and will being of both weatherization crew members and recipients of weatherization services.

Dwelling Assessment - instruction on the proper method for performing health and safety assessments and energy audits of residential dwellings.

Weatherization Training In The Classroom and Online

CSD's weatherization training curriculum is hosted and delivered at two training centers within the state, the PG&E Training Center located in Stockton, California and the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County Training Center. CSD will further supplement training center efforts by developing a series of online training courses, employment recruitment tools, and field trainings all intended to further improve the competency and skill of the weatherization workforces. The online training will offer refresher courses and other educational resources to prepare new employees for the classroom training offered at the state's training centers.

Weatherization Green Job Training Recruitment Tools

Recruitment tools will assist agency providers in their recruitment efforts for hiring new staff or retaining the services of subcontractors to ensure that these recruitment efforts result in the hiring individuals possessing basic skills and aptitude to perform weatherization work, and competent subcontractors.

Quality Control

Lastly, CSD will retain the services of a third-party consultant to evaluate the quality of weatherization work and provide infield training to agency employees and subcontractor workforce.

CSD anticipates expending approximately $7.9 million for these various forms of training and technical assistance activities.

Initial results from a research study in East Tennessee shows that energy-efficient upgrades can pay off for homeowners by reducing heating costs by 35 to 65%.

"The retrofit unit provided 35% measured heating energy savings from the builder home, yet offers a package of technologies that are considered to be a reasonable upgrade for many homes in the United States," says Jeff Christian,  Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

While the study focuses on improvements to existing homes new, unoccupied homes were used in order to keep the results as unbiased as possible.

The houses are typical two-story models built on insulated slabs with similar solar orientation, lot slope, wall areas, wind exposure and size.

The study uses three similar homes in the same development to gather real-world data about various energy-efficient improvements that can be made to an existing home.  The study is sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority and is being conducted in cooperation with researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Computers and instrumentation are programmed to simulate occupancy, including opening refrigerator doors, automatic clothes washing and drying, showers, lights and plug loads in all three homes. But that's where the similarities end.

The Control Home
The control or builder home was built to meet current building codes and earned a Home Energy Rating System score of 90, slightly better than a typical code-compliant home. It is equipped with two heat pumps, one for each floor, that have a total capacity of 4.5 tons.

The Retrofit House
The retrofit house includes energy-efficient upgrades that focus on the building envelope and mechanical equipment. These allowed the HVAC system to be reduced to one, three-ton heat pump located inside the conditioned envelope. The retrofit home earned a HERS rating of 66 - a better score than the builder's home.


Energy Improvements
Improvements to the home include installing

• low-E gas-filled windows
• changing all light bulbs to compact fluorescents
• replacing the ceiling insulation with spray polyurethane foam insulation on the underside of the roof deck and attic walls to make it an unvented, semi-conditioned space.

Attic-based HVAC Configurations
"An unvented attic is particularly helpful in climates where heating and cooling equipment is located in the attic," said Chris Porter, building science manager for BioBased Insulation®. "Modifying the attic to create an indirectly conditioned space helps significantly reduce energy consumption and improves mechanical equipment performance."

BioBased Insulation® donated the insulation for the study, and Endless Supply, a BioBased Insulation® certified dealer based in Ashville, NC, donated the labor to install the product.

Deep Retrofit Home
High-performance improvements to the third home made it a near zero energy home with a HERS rating of 34 and a measured space heating energy savings of 65 percent compared to the builder home.

While more extensive, some of the improvements could still be made to a deep retrofit of an existing home. They included,

• 2.5 kW solar panels,
• solar hot water heater,
• triple-layered windows with an R-value of 7,
• structurally insulated sheathing and
• BioBased Insulation® in the walls,
• R49 attic insulation with radiant barrier sheathing.
• The builder was able to downsize to one, two-ton heat pump because of the envelope improvements.

"With three houses with actual identical simulated occupancy we will have research capabilities that are world-unique," Christian said. "And the really exciting thing is that these homes will be available for research for seven years, so we will be able to replace, test and accelerate the development of even more efficient technologies."

How much do energy-efficient upgrades cost?

The upgrades included in the retrofit home cost $4 per square foot or about $9,800 more than the control home.

Upgrades to the near zero energy home cost $21 per square foot or $51,576 more than the control home.

Payback and ROI
Based simply on projected energy savings, homeowners who implement the retrofit upgrades would recoup their costs in 8.5 years.

It will take homeowners who implement the near zero energy upgrades 22 years to recoup their costs.

While the current round of results includes the heating season only, monitoring will continue during summer, and results for a full year of the homes' operation should be available this fall.

Rebates and Tax Deductions
"We're excited to be part of the study," Porter said. "Recently we've seen an increase in the number of homeowners taking advantage of the $1,500 Federal Tax deduction and other rebate programs. Many are doing upgrades similar to those found in these test houses. Even though these are only initial results, they are still very helpful in quantifying the energy savings from these retrofit options."

Funding announced June , 2009

California ($74,324,424 awarded today) will leverage a network of over 50 non-profits, local governments, and community action associations to perform weatherization services at over 50,000 homes.

Prior to weatherizing a home, weatherization providers will use national auditing tools to conduct home energy audits that will help inform which weatherization activities should occur in a particular home.

In order to ensure quality, the state will also mandate that a third party inspect all weatherized properties, measuring performance based on the quality of work and the speed in which it is implemented.

Additionally, since the program will greatly increase the demand for jobs in the energy efficiency sector, the state will follow the recommendations of the California Green Collar Jobs Council by employing members of the

• California Conservation Corps,
• Youthbuild,
• and other youth employment groups.

Outreach for the program will be conducted through canvassing neighborhoods, local advertising, and by cooperating with landlords and property managers.

After demonstrating successful implementation of their plan, the state will receive more than $92 million in additional funding, for a total of more than $185 million.

On June 18, 2009, the Department of Energy  announced provision of more than $453 million in Recovery Act funding to expand weatherization assistance programs in 15 additional states.

These funds, along with additional funds to be disbursed after the states meet certain Recovery Act milestones, will help these states achieve their goal of weatherizing more than 165,000 homes, lowering energy costs for low-income families that need it, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and creating green jobs across the country. 

The following states will receive 40% of their total weatherization funding authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act today:

• California,
  
• Delaware,
  
• District of Columbia,
  
• Florida,
  
• Maryland,
  
• Montana,
  
• North Carolina,
  
• North Dakota,
  
• Nebraska,
  
• Nevada,
  
• Ohio,
  
• South Carolina,
  
• South Dakota,
  
• Utah, and
• West Virginia.
  

Under the Recovery Act, states may spend up to 20% of funds to hire and train workers.

"These awards demonstrate the Obama Administration's strong commitment to  creating jobs and doing important work for the American people--while ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly," said Secretary Chu. "Today's investments will save money for hard working families, reduce pollution, strengthen local economies and help move America toward a clean energy future."

DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program will be available to families making up to 200% of the federal poverty level--or about $44,000 a year for a family of four.

Weatherization projects allow low-income families to save money by making their homes more energy efficient, which results in average savings of 32% for heating bills and savings of hundreds of dollars per year on overall energy bills. States will spend approximately $6,500 to weatherize each home.

The funding allocations for the Weatherization Assistance Program follow a stage-gate process: on March 12, funding allocations by state were announced and the initial 10% of total funding was available to states and territories to support planning and ramp-up activities; comprehensive state applications were due on May 12; following a DOE reviews for each state, 40% allocations are awarded; and the remaining 50% of funds will be released when states meet reporting, oversight, and accountability milestones required by the Recovery Act.

This installment adds to the initial 10% of the states' funding allocations that were awarded previously for training and ramp-up activities. Following a review of their comprehensive state plans, these 15 states have now received 50% of their Recovery Act Weatherization Assistance Program funding. Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi and Oregon previously received this 40% funding allocation.

The Recovery Act includes a strong commitment to oversight and accountability, while emphasizing the necessity of rapidly awarding funds to help create new jobs and stimulate local economies.