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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. 

Professional training programs focus on providing training for certification and are designed to help professionals increase their knowledge and abilities. There are two main categories of certification courses including new homes and existing homes.

New Homes

Three organizations provide certification courses on new homes. These include:

• Energy & Environmental Building Association (EEBA) is an international organization that provides educational products and services for improved building performance to its members. Members of EEBA have the can register to participate in a "Master Builder" certification program. The program is offered year round through EEBA's Institute of Building Technology. Topics covered in the program include: Building Design Basics, Codes Comprehension, Design Components, Green and Sustainability, Commissioning and Testing, Indoor Environments and Health and Mechanical Systems.
  
  
• Residential Energy Services Network (RESNAT) is comprised of a national group of mortgage companies, real estate brokers, builders, appraisers, utilities and other housing and energy professionals interested in increasing the number of families qualified for homeownership through the expansion of mortgage financing options and home energy ratings. RESNAT in collaboration with other organizations offers its member the opportunity to enroll in a home energy rater certification program based on the HERS Rating Method.
  
  North American Technician Excellence (NATE) offers tests to both Installation and Service technicians. Posted on their website are course descriptions. NATE has a network of hundreds of Testing Organizations across the country, and testing takes place all year.

Existing Homes

A number of state and local government agencies as well as private companies offer weatherization certification programs for their residents. For additional information, please see your local governments' web site or click on the corresponding link above.

Good Installation Practices.

In order to have energy efficient products work well, they need to be installed well. The North American Technician Excellence (NATE) is an independent non-profit that provides comprehensive, nationwide testing and certification for HVAC technicians who work on or install residential and light commercial equipment and systems. NATE training, endorsed by the U.S. Department of Energy, increases the number of technicians skilled in the proper installation and service of HVAC equipment, which ensures that equipment runs at peak efficiency and helps achieve energy efficiency goals.


SOURCE:  HUD

Strategies for net zero energy vary by household, climate, region and housing type.

Passive House Institute

The passive house standards in Germany and Austria have demonstrated that performance and cost savings can result when peak heating loads are reduced significantly.

Building Sciences Corporation completed a comprehensive renovation of a 100 year old home that resulted in a 60% energy savings while increasing the living space by 80%. (Pettit 2008)

Energy Efficiency Strategies That Work

A deep reduction approach with comprehensive insulation and air sealing can make a conventional furnace and air circulation system unnecessary, thus using simpler technical solutions to combustion safety distribution systems, durability and indoor air quality.

A deep energy retrofit could eliminate a conventional chimney, furnace and attic ductwork and replace these building elements with a mechanical ventilation system that manages indoor air quality and moisture control.

The Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently published a study, "Approaching Net Zero Energy in Existing Housing" and concluded that climate, housing stock, energy loads, solar gain and occupant behavior all contribute to the feasibility of reaching net zero energy use in existing homes.   With no incentive available, it is not cost effective to achieve net zero energy in most Canadian housing.

Energy Efficiency Justification

Solving problems with wet basements, radon, outdated mechanical equiment and inadequate indoor air quality can help justify energy efficiency choices.

Reducing heating loads is relatively easy.  It is more challenging to achieve deep reductions in baseloads and cooling loads which are more dependent on occupant behavior and lifestyle.  Motivated occupants are essential.

The California energy crisis of 2000-2001 resulted in a 15% reduction in electrical energy use that was primarily the result of occupant behavior, not technology.  The actions of a small number of supersavers and modest efforts by many residents were deemed responsible for the reduction.

Utility programs can substantially reduce energy use with energy efficient features such as low-e windows and building enclosure improvements that focus on reducing air infiltration and upgrading insulation performance.  Also helpful are replacement of heating nd cooling systems, duct leakage reduction, and use of other controls for electrical and cooling loads.

Community Solutions

Homeowner choices sometimes affect lifestyle choices significantly.  Possible strategies can include use of renewable energy supply or a change in the use of space or the number of people in a home.  Highly effective choices can include co-housing with efficient shared cooking, water heating, clothes washing and entertainment facilities.

Reduce the Load First

Marc Rosenbaum suggests a simple maxim, "Invest as much as you can afford to reduce the load, even if it means completing a project in phases."  These load-reducing options that can help achive optimum results are major systems such as siding and roofing. 

Choices for Thermal Comfort

Thermal comfort accounts for 25 - 80% of residential energy use.   Some of the options available include:

Community Solutions

• Comfort centers
• Cogeneration or micro-cogen
• Community thermal storage
• Community-based renewable energy supply
• Use of waste heat from industrial processes
• GHG reduction campaigns
• Feedback, benchmarking, aggregation
• Competitions and challenges
• Technical, financial and regulatory support

Behavioral Choices

• 24/7 set point adjustment or setback
• Apply comfort zone
• Change use of space with new thermal boundaries
• Adaptive comfort (clothing, surface temperature, air movement)
• Increase occupancy
• Reduce internal gains with behavioral cooling loads
• Decrease occupancy size with relocation or demolishing space

Technical Solutions with Higher Cost

• Superinsulation (walls, ceiling, floor, foundation - climate specific for R25-R80)
• Efficient windows  (U 0.1 to 0.3)
• Super air tightening  (0.2 CFM/ftx2 floor space)
• High efficiency mechanical ventilation
• Ultra high efficiency HVAC system
• Automatic movable window insulation
• Highly insulated doors

Technical Solutions with Lower Cost

• Fill cavities with insulation
• Air sealing
• Do-it-yourself superinsulation
• Seal / insulate attic ducts or eliminate ducts
• Point heat or cooling source
• High performance storm windows
• Manually controlled movable window insulation
• Reduce internal gains with technical fix of cooling loads
• Control systems to optimize comfort, indoor air quality and humidity

On-Site Renewable Energy

• Increase solar gain through windows
• Sunspace or solar buffer to reduce heat loss
• Active solar thermal
• Solar PV
• Wood heat
• Trees vegetation or other shading to reduce cooling loads

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."

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.

GOAL:  6 million new green-collar jobs.

Efficiency First is a nonprofit trade association that unites

• Home Performance contractors,
• residential energy consultants,
• building product manufacturers
• and other key members of America's growing green-collar workforce

Efficiency First advocates using the federal Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program as a standard model for efficiency retrofitting, including third-party verification. National contractor and auditor certification and accreditation should be mandated through RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network), BPI (Building Performance Institute) or other qualified accreditation agencies who conduct independent, third-party quality assurance on the work performed.

Together they intend to escalate the fight against global warming. Efficiency First was founded in 2009 to represent its members in public policy discussions at the state and national levels, to promote the benefits of Home Performance retrofitting, and to help our industry grow to meet unprecedented demand for quality home retrofitting services.

Our mission is to collaborate with legislators, government agencies and professional organizations in the advancement of a performance-based market for energy efficiency that will enable rapid growth in our industry while maintaining profitability and quality of service.

"Our goal is to see a steady run rate of
10 million home retrofits per year by 2020."

According to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, residential buildings alone generate over 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption in the United States.

Because the vast majority of America's 128 million homes do not operate anywhere near peak efficiency, large-scale retrofitting of existing residential buildings will play a key role in achieving significant greenhouse gas reductions, while lowering residential energy bills, improving indoor air quality and thermal comfort, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating millions of new jobs for American workers.

The home retrofitting industry can achieve a 25% or greater decrease in non-renewable energy consumption by America's housing sector, leading to a 5% decrease in the country's overall carbon emissions - equivalent to taking half of all current passenger cars off the road.

The industry will employ at least 1.25 million American workers directly, and with the inclusion of manufacturing and other supporting industries, will generate up 6 million new green-collar jobs.

The Center for State Innovation (CSI) promotes solutions for America's current challenges that with bold, innovative, progressive leadership from states.

CSI's commitment is to supply interested governors and other state executives with the best policy solutions and technical and strategic expertise in providing that leadership.

CSI is committed to a "high road" of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and efficient democratic government.

Technical Assistance for Effective Policy Implementation In addition to policy experts on its own staff, CSI has organized a national network of leading technical assistance providers with proven track records in effectively implementing progressive policies at the state and national level. CSI connects state executives and staff to this network.

Energy and Infrastructure Reports

Center for State Innovation
http://www.stateinnovation.org

The Clean Energy Corps proposes combining job creation, service, and training to combat global warming, grow local economies, and create green pathways out of poverty. The CEC aims to launch a national effort to comprehensively apply cost-effective, energy-efficiency measures - from adding insulation to replacing inefficient boilers - to over 15 million existing buildings.

The Center For American Progress, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Energy Action Coalition, Green For All, and Laborers' International Union of North America - with the support of over eighty leading national and local labor, environmental, civic, and policy organizations - unveiled the Clean Energy Corps (CEC), a 2009 national effort to secure America's economic recovery and environmental health.

"At a time of severe hardship in the construction sector, retrofitting residential buildings to cut energy use can save consumers money, expand economic growth, reduce pollution, and create jobs," said Bracken Hendricks, senior fellow at Center for American Progress.

By retrofitting millions of structures, the Clean Energy Corps will create at least 600,000 living-wage, career- track jobs in green industries, train people for them, and directly engage millions of Americans in diverse service-learning and volunteer work related to climate protection.

"The beauty of the Clean Energy Corps is that it doesn't just create jobs," said Green For All Founder Van Jones, "it also creates pathways out of poverty." Jones continued, "By providing robust job training and ample service-learning opportunities, the CEC helps people with barriers to employment gain access to these new career opportunities in the green economy."

The CEC will work with employers, unions, educators and community organizations to offer job training and job placement programs.

It will also work to engage disconnected youth and jobseekers from disadvantaged communities and connect them to further education and training that result in industry- recognized credentials and places them on sustainable career paths.

"The Clean Energy Corps will be the vehicle through which the growing consensus to combat global warming through the creation of long-term, family-supporting jobs becomes a reality. We look forward to working through CEC with the full range of stakeholders - governmental bodies at the national, state and local levels, community organizations, environmental groups and our signatory employers - to improve and protect the lives of working men and women," said Theodore T. Green, advisor to the General President at Laborers' International Union of North America.

In addition to generating hundreds of thousands of jobs, the CEC would dramatically reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions.

Buildings Use 40% of Our Energy

Currently, buildings account for 40% of our nation's energy use and carbon emissions - more than transportation. By making our buildings more energy efficient, the CEC will not only curb global warming but will also lower utility bills for Americans.

CEC - Collaborative National Initiative

The CEC is intended as a collaborative and cost-effective national initiative entailing minimal new bureaucracy.

Retrofits would be financed out of a federal revolving loan fund, where the loan is paid back out of a portion of the savings on energy bills.

The CEC envisions funding running through both established programs -Department of Energy, Department of Labor, and Corporation for National and Community Service - and new programs.

CEC at State and Local Levels

The real work of the CEC will occur at the state and local levels. The CEC will encourage the alignment and coordination of complementary programs and strategies to realize its ambitious goals and award its grant funds directly to state task forces and local CEC partnerships.

Kentucky Clean Energy Corps

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is leading the way and proving that this model works with its recent unveiling of a Kentucky Clean Energy Corps pilot program. Under the stewardship of Governor Steve Beshear, the program is working with 100 low-income Kentucky households to make the homes more energy efficient and, in turn, reduce utility bills and engage Kentuckians in service.

RESOURCE:

The CEC will maintain a website, www.greenforall.org/clean-energy-corps, featuring the full Clean Energy Corps report, a petition in support of the proposal, Congressional updates, and a complete list of endorsers. 

The Clean Energy Corps is a proposal of the Clean Energy Corps Working Group. The Working Group includes representatives of the Apollo Alliance, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Corps Network, Energy Action Coalition, Green For All, Innovations in Civic Participation, and 1Sky. For more details on the Clean Energy Corps and to view a complete list of endorsers, visit www.greenforall.org/clean-energy-corps.