This is the second year in a row that Matt has been named to this illustrious list. For more, check out the full list here.

The first 50 homes will receive double the incentive (normally $1,000), and the program is only open to 433 homes total.

More on the program details here.

Included are provisions limiting window incentives to $200, oil and gas furnace and boiler incentives to $150-200, and water heater and wood heating system incentives to $300. As part of the legislation, Congress tightening the specifications for oil furnaces and boilers and gas boilers to 95% efficiency, up from the 90% efficiency in current credit.

“Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle-class families save money and energy,” says Vice President Biden

The program is designed to encourage homeowners to make energy-saving upgrades and to jump-start the industry for home energy retrofits, Biden said in a statement. It will also include financing for homeowners (up to $25,000) and software that will let energy contractors give consumers the home efficiency equivalent of miles per gallon for cars.

Sources:
CNET
USA Today

Here’s how it works:

• The rebate amount is based on the software-modeled energy use reduction in your home as a result of a home energy upgrade
• A 20% reduction earns $2000 in rebates. Each 5% reduction beyond that earns another $375, up to $3500
• This is a limited pilot program

Here’s how you get the money:

• Hire a home performance contractor (that’s us!) to perform an energy audit of your home
• Work with your specialist to choose and implement cost-effective improvements to achieve the desired energy use reduction
• Receive your rebate money as you enjoy your newly efficient, comfortable home!

Why Recurve?

• We provide all necessary steps in one place (audit, remodel, retest) and we manage the application process for you
• Our team is the most experienced in the Bay Area in comprehensive energy audits and home energy remodels
• We’re Building Performance Institute (BPI) Accredited

Learn more here. Call (415) 728-9726 or click here to get started!

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, supports S. 3434, the “Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010,” which would provide a solid framework for a worthwhile, incentive-based program that would create American jobs while saving energy.

The home retrofit industry is a uniquely American industry: the vast majority of windows, doors, and insulation for these retrofits are manufactured in the United States. Since 2006, this industry has been decimated, with more than 650,000 jobs lost. The incentives provided by S. 3434 would create good, living-wage jobs for American workers, while providing homeowners the ability to make a substantial dent in their overall energy costs.

The Chamber supports S. 3434 and hopes this important legislation is considered by the full Senate in the near term.

Visit www.efficiencyfirst.org/home-star to learn more about the proposed HOME STAR incentive program, and about how you can join the trade association Efficiency First and other national organizations in supporting this important legislation.

A free Webinar recording at www.utilityexchange.org/webinar/20100701 will help your shop get ready for HOME STAR’s performance-based GOLD STAR incentive with a road map to BPI accreditation.

PACE programs stalled by federal mortgage regulators
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs across the country have been suspended following recent actions by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored corporations that back most home mortgages in the United States. The problem is that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie and Freddie, doesn’t like the idea of PACE liens taking precedence over mortgages in foreclosure proceedings—despite the fact that energy improvements typically increase the value of a home, and the potential financial impact on the mortgage industry is comparatively small.

PACE programs, which allow property owners to pay for a wide range of energy improvements with loans attached to their property tax assessments, have been lauded as an innovative, transformative financing model for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. But in May, Fannie and Freddie started spreading the word among commercial lenders that properties with energy improvement liens that are senior to mortgage debt would not meet FHFA underwriting standards. The FHFA confirmed the new policy on July 6 when it issued guidelines that have effectively made it impossible for homeowners to get approval for mortgages on homes with pace liens attached. (A grandfather cause exempts PACE loans issued before July 6.)
That leaves homeowners and contractors caught in the crossfire as most PACE programs have stopped making loans, projects are being suspended, and $150 million in federal stimulus funding allocated to PACE financing is being diverted to other programs. However, at least one prominent PACE program—the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) in Northern California—has announced that it will continue to issue energy improvement loans in defiance of federal mortgage regulators, “predicated on the SCEIP providing full and complete disclosure about program participation to any potential applicants and ensuring the public fully understands the consequences of participation.”

PACE advocates around the country are pushing for a judicial or legislative solution to the impasse. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed suit in United States District Court seeking reversal of the FHFA ruling, and on July 15, Rep. Mike Thompson and 29 other members of Congress introduced the PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010, which would force Fannie and Freddie to adopt underwriting guidelines that support PACE lending. But for now at least, most homeowners will have to find other ways to finance energy improvement projects.

Unfortunately, the discussions between the Obama Administration and the FHFA have not been successful. DOE and the White House have informed us that the senior lien — regardless of how structured, accelerated, or insured — is not acceptable to the regulators. New guidance from Fannie and Freddie to this effect is due out soon. DOE has begun notifying ARRA grant recipients that they probably want to start moving their grant funds away from residential PACE.

A subsequent report in the New York Times confirmed that Cathy Zoi, the DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, had contacted DeVries to say that “the administration needed to begin contingency planning on what to do with stimulus funding for PACE.” The Times also quoted Ben Pearlman, a county commissioner in Boulder, Colorado, who received a similar call from Secretary Zoi saying that “in light of the circumstances we should look at other ways of financing energy efficiency with the stimulus money.”

Although Fannie, Freddie and the FHFA have yet to issue formal guidelines regarding PACE liens, local governments across the country are freezing their property-assessed lending programs pending government action that would clear the way for PACE lending to resume.

Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman, head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have sent a letter urging administration officials to “quickly identify, agree on and publish guidelines that would allow PACE financing programs to continue while ensuring that both taxpayer and private mortgage investments are protected.” And the Washington Post has cited an anonymous source within the Department of Energy saying that the DOE is “seeking protection for homeowners who have already taken on PACE financing.”

Minimal financial impact: Earlier on Friday, before these latest reports began to surface, the Times‘ Todd Woody posted a thought-provoking analysis suggesting that the potential liability related to PACE liens would be tiny:

Putting aside whether such liens are any different from the property tax assessments commonly used to finance municipal improvements, how big a potential liability would Fannie and Freddie face?

Not very big, according to an analysis by the California attorney general’s office.

In a June 22 letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, Ken Alex, a senior assistant attorney general, cited the example of a homeowner who obtains $15,000 in financing from a PACE program to pay for a solar array and energy efficiency upgrades.

With a 7 percent interest rate and a 20-year payback term, the annual assessment on the homeowner’s property tax bill would be about $1,500.

“At the time of foreclosure for failing to pay the mortgage, it is likely that at most, one PACE assessment of $1,500 would have achieved priority lien status,” Mr. Alex wrote.

“This exercise suggests that with a portfolio of Fannie/Freddie mortgages that have PACE liens, assuming a high foreclosure rate of 10 percent, PACE seniority would average $150 per home,” he added. “Using a more reasonable foreclosure rate of 5 percent, average PACE seniority per home would be a mere $75.”

More on this topic:

• Energy Lien Is Little Threat to Loan Giants (New York Times, 7/2/2010)
• Obama Admin Unable to Resolve Shutdown of PACE Clean-Energy Program (Grist, 7/3/2010)
• Loan Giants Opt to Block Energy Programs (New York Times, 7/3/2010)
• U.S. Lawmakers Urge Guidance for Clean Energy Loans (Reuters, 7/3/2010)
• Green Initiative’s Future Murky as Regulators Weigh Risks to Homeowners (Washington Post, 7/4/2010)
• Fannie and Freddie to clean-energy program: Drop dead (Grist, 7/6/2010)

How Does the ME2 Program Work?

• You must get a home energy audit to qualify for the rebates
• Since the program is sponsored by the city of Berkeley, you must own a single-family home or duplex in the city and meet certain income guidelines. You must be up-to-date on your taxes and liens.
• Recurve will help you apply for the ME2 rebate program which is available based on a lottery system based on applications received during a 2 week period (July 6- 20). People who will get the rebates will be selected at random from the pool of applicants after July 20th at midnight
• Special financing is available through Recurve – if you want to finance the net (after rebate) cost of your home improvements

When is the ME2 Program Available?
Sign up for a home energy audit now. The ME2 Program is taking applications for the lottery July 6 – 20, 2010. It’s likely the money will run out during these 2 weeks, but if it doesn’t, they’ll accept applications on a first come, first serve basis after the 20th. The PG&E Pilot Program will have money available for a longer timeframe.

Full details here: http://www.recurve.com/what-we-do/financing/berkeley1/

As a reminder, a PACE bond is a bond where the proceeds are lent to commercial and residential property owners to finance energy retrofits (efficiency measures and small renewable energy systems) and who then repay their loans over 20 years via an annual assessment on their property tax bill. PACE bonds can be issued by municipal financing districts or finance companies and the proceeds can be typically used to retrofit both commercial and residential properties.

The advantages of PACE programs include significant job creation, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy bills and substantially reduced upfront cost for energy improvements, increase in property value, improved return on investment, and many more.

Check out the article in the New York Times here.

Read the full article in the New York Times here.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement after President Barack Obama outlined more details of a new Home Star program that encourages American families to invest in energy saving home improvements which will also help create jobs. Said Governor Schwarzenegger:

“I am excited about the Home Star program that the President detailed today. Offering incentives to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient will help create jobs and save homeowners money while also helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a promising idea, and Democrats and Republicans should work together to enact it into law.”

Obama has previously said that shifting the U.S. toward cleaner, renewable sources of energy and making homes — particularly older houses — more energy-efficient will help accomplish three goals: reducing America’s dependence on foreign energy sources, creating much-needed jobs and saving consumers money on their utility bills.

Under the first level of energy rebates, Silver Star, consumers would be eligible for rebates between $1,000-$1,500 for a variety of home upgrades, including adding insulation, sealing leaky ducts and replacing water heaters, HVAC units, windows, roofing and doors. There would be a maximum rebate of $3,000 per home.

Under the second level, Gold Star, consumers who get home energy audits and then make changes designed to reduce energy costs by at least 20 percent would be eligible for a $3,000 rebate. Additional rebates would be available for savings above 20 percent.

The administration expects household demand for energy upgrades to be boosted once the program is underway, similar to how Cash for Clunkers boosted demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Read the full article from Associated Press here.

Read the full article here.

Following yesterday’s test vote on a $15 billion job-creation package proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the first in a series of bills aimed at lowering the nation’s unemployment rate is poised to pass the Senate later this week. Congressional leaders have indicated that three to five more job bills are in the works, including legislation authorizing the proposed HOME STAR retrofit incentive program.

The current bill creates or extends tax breaks designed to encourage hiring of unemployed workers and retention of existing employees, and allocates funds for various labor-intensive infrastructure projects. Five Republican Senators voted in favor of the legislation, including newly elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. The 62-30 vote blocked a GOP filibuster and virtually assures passage of the bill when a final vote is taken.

Efficiency First continues to be actively engaged in the legislative process, and is working closely with members of the House and Senate to assure inclusion of the HOME STAR language in subsequent legislation.

Late last year the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) quietly handed down a set of policy decisions that will have a profound impact on energy management here in California.

The provisions set forth in the document – which was developed in response to regulatory obligations imposed on all states by the federal Energy Information and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 – will guarantee access to electricity rate and usage information for most of the state’s utility customers, and for third parties that have been authorized to receive the information. With the widespread deployment of smart grid and smart meter technology, this data will give utility customers and energy efficiency businesses the tools they need to monitor and control household electricity, leading to lower energy bills for millions of California homeowners.

“Data access is the key to maximizing the effectiveness of smart grid technology,” said CPUC Commissioner Dian Grueneich, who has been a tireless advocate for making energy efficiency a cornerstone of state energy policy. “These rulings will play an important role as we strive to transform the way Californians think about and use energy.”

The CPUC decision is part of an ongoing process that was launched to align state energy policy with EISA requirements, and with federal requirements pertaining to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for electricity grid modernization.

The CPUC set a goal for the state’s three largest power companies (Southern California Edison Company, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric Company) to make usage information available to customers and authorized third parties by the end of this year. Ultimately, the three utilities will be required to install smart meters for all customers and make usage and price data available on a near-real-time basis. Four smaller utility companies were excluded from the ruling on the basis that doing so would “both increase the costs and diminish the benefits of the EISA requirements.”

The decision states that next phase of the proceeding will be to “consider rules to provide customers and third parties with access to usage and price data consistent with Energy Information and Security Act of 2007 standards, the general public interest, and state privacy rules.”

A pair of articles in yesterday’s edition of the San Jose Mercury News shed light on the growing national interest in energy efficiency and on the proposed HOME STAR retrofit incentive program. “Solar and wind power may get the headlines and attention,” the newspaper reported, “but green-tech experts say 2010 will be dominated by energy efficiency, the mundane but critical process of cutting the amount of gas and electricity that homes and offices use.”

Of particular interest to business leaders in the construction and related manufacturing sectors is the fact that investors are increasingly betting on the profitability of reducing energy waste:

Venture capital investment in energy efficiency hit a record in 2009: at least 115 deals worth nearly $1 billion, according to a preliminary tally by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte. That’s up 39 percent from 2008. Meanwhile, solar, which had 84 deals worth about $1.2 billion, was down 64 percent from 2008, and there’s increasing talk about solar being “overfunded.”

“In 2009, there was a pullback and realization by investors that because of the capital intensity of solar, there may be safer places to put their money,” said Scott Smith, U.S. cleantech leader for Deloitte.”

Mercury News staff writer Dana Hull also emphasized the wider economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency: “It’s increasingly seen as an effective way to create desperately needed jobs, save struggling consumers money, wean America from its dependence on foreign oil and reduce carbon emissions – all at the same time.”

A second article provides an overview of the HOME STAR incentive program:

Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, who serves on President Barack Obama’s board of outside economic advisers, is a leading champion for Home Star, which he describes as “Cash for Caulkers.” The idea has widespread support from big-box retailers, labor unions, environmental groups and the construction and contracting industries, which have been devastated by the collapse of the housing market. Although national unemployment remains at about 10 percent, almost a quarter of the nation’s construction workers are unemployed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

We are in an urgent moment where we desperately need jobs,” said Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an architect of the Home Star legislation. “You have business and environmental interests aligned around making this happen, and happen now. I have never seen a coalition this broad and this committed.”

Here are links to the full articles:

“Energy Efficiency to Shine in 2010”
www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14241691

“Government working on ‘Home Star’ Plan for Energy-Efficiency Rebates”
www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14261182?nclick_check=1

In this article, Cisco discusses a shift in financing models for energy efficient improvements and renewable energy projects by funding them through loans attached to property tax. Dozens of states and municipalities, including several in the Bay Area such as Berkeley, Sonoma, and San Francisco, have already hopped on the bandwagon – thus demonstrating support for a public-private hybrid financing model that will achieve several goals at once: cutting energy use and carbon emissions, putting Americans back to work, and stimulating economic growth.

• The increase in net zero energy building. Check out the Palo Alto historic retrofit we did here: Palo Alto Net Zero
• Energy efficiency retrofits finally get financing support. CA has set aside over $3 billion, most of which will come from utility rebates.
• Property assessed clean energy loans (PACE) gain popularity and are implemented in several states and municipalities.

See Greentech Media’s Top Ten in Green Building in 2009.

Mayor Newsom, Recurve founder Matt Golden, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, and others announce SF Sustainable Financing Program

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that San Francisco is introducing legislation to help finance new residential and commercial energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. San Francisco Sustainable Financing Program (SF²) is modeled after similar programs adopted by cities such as Berkeley and Palm Desert, in which the loan for improvements is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and will be paid back through property taxes over the life of the financing.

San Francisco Sustainable Financing (SF2) Highlights:

• Establishes a citywide “Mello-Roos” Special Tax District.
• Residential and commercial buildings of all sizes will be eligible.
• Some of the eligible upgrades include: insulation, replacing windows, upgrading heating systems; water efficiency upgrades—such as installing low flow toilets, potable water offsets, irrigation measures, storm water management improvements; financing will also be available for installation of renewable energy generation on buildings, such as solar arrays, solar water heaters and wind turbines
• Program phases in a mandate of a whole home energy efficiency audit and the installation of energy efficiency upgrades before renewable energy generation improvements.
• Private capital to fund the retrofits through Renewable Funding, LLC.
• Program participants can deduct the interest component of their solar financing tax on their tax returns.
  Similar programs exist currently in Berkeley and Sonoma, and others are under development around the state, but San Francisco’s is the most aggressive and includes comprehensive water and energy efficiency improvements as well as renewable generation like solar.

According to Inhabitat, the genius of San Francisco Sustainable Financing is that it will leverage private market lending and available state and federal grant dollars to help home and business owners overcome the costs of green improvements without financial risk to San Francisco taxpayers. Up to $150 million has been set aside for this new program. This is different than cities with similar “repayment through property tax” solar and environmental improvement programs, where public or City investment dollars are used for financing instead.

And we’re not the only ones – all across the country, companies large and small are voicing their support for the HOME STAR program that was recently proposed to President Obama by venture capitalist John Doerr.  And now that it was covered by the New York Times last night, we’re hoping that the Obama administration will see the program as we see it: enabling a long-term industry with hundreds of thousands (and potentially millions) of new, sustainable jobs that cannot be outsourced, that helps the U.S. achieve our energy and climate goals.

Why does HOME STAR matter?

• Jobless recovery and unemployment stats are daunting; nationwide unemployment is at 10.2%, with the construction industry being one of the hardest hit at 17%.
• The program has the potential to be as successful out of the gate as Cash for Clunkers. However, it is much more than a way to get old homes retrofitted — it’s the ticket to creating new jobs to offset job losses.
• It dovetails nicely and contains the same highly vetted language found in the Waxmen-Marky Bill and Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP), Recovery Through Retrofit and ARRA investments for worker retraining.
• Through HOME STAR, $23 billion would go to support 5.9 million home energy retrofits and create more than 500,000 and up to over 1 million new jobs.

This is the piece of the puzzle that we’ve been waiting for. It’s a win-win for helping American families.

John Doerr, a venture capitalist with Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, proposed creating a Cash for Caulkers program to encourage Americans to improve their homes’ efficiency. Doerr made the suggestion at Monday morning’s meeting of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB).

In addition to creating energy savings, Doerr suggested that retrofitting more than 100 million American homes would also create “high-wage, permanent jobs that will not be out-sourced.”

“Just as the Cash for Clunkers program mobilized American car dealers to promote their fuel-efficient cars, so could a Cash for Caulkers program engage private enterprise, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, to put private capital to work,” Doerr said.

Read the full article here: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/02/cash-for-caulkers-program-infrastructure-bank-proposed/