Home efficiency pros cross fingers Home Star will pass
Home Star--the program nicknamed Cash for Caulkers designed to kick-start the home energy efficiency services market--stands a chance of passage as part of an offshore-drilling-focused energy bill.
But more than just driving demand for efficient hot-water heaters and insulation, the bill demands that contractors provide data on home efficiency performance for consumers to qualify for the biggest rebates.
The Senate next week is expected to debate a scaled-down energy bill which is largely a response to the Gulf oil spill but includes Home Star and incentives for electric and natural-gas vehicles.
Although passage is not certain, the $5 billion bill would be a shot in the arm for the foundering home performance business and introduce more accountability on contractors, said Matt Golden, the policy director for advocacy group Efficiency First and the president of Recurve, an efficiency services company.
"We're quite bullish that this is a good vehicle but with the politics in the Senate, nothing is easy," he said, adding that in previous years, Home Star would have been a stand-alone bill and faced an easier route to passage.
There are three components to Home Star. (See details in Senate bill starting on page 305 of PDF.) They include two levels of home efficiency incentives and financing for home improvements. The financing, which would be done through states, is particularly important given how Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans linked to a building's property tax are struggling to take hold.
The Silver Star portion of Home Star provides rebates, available for a year, up to $3,000 toward equipment that improves energy efficiency and water conservation. To get the money, consumers need to work with accredited professionals. (The Department of Energy is tasked with setting up a Web site to list eligible contractors, but in the meantime the Building Performance Institute provides accreditation.)
"We're trying to raise the bar because we know that much installing today is not done correctly and we're trying to advance the industry," said Golden.
Gold Star is a two-year program that offers up to $8,000 in rebates but contractors and homeowners need to demonstrate the efficiency improvements.
After doing an energy audit and using simulation software to model energy and water use, a home is eligible for $3,000 in rebates for a 20 percent improvement. Each 5 percent efficiency improvement opens up another $1,000 up to the limit, or half the total cost of the installation, according to the Senate version of the bill.
Having to quantify the results is meant to add more rigor to the home performance industry, said Golden.
"There's no chance that we have money to subsidize our ways to our goals," he said, adding that homes account for 20 percent of the energy use in the U.S. "To get to our goal and to be economically sustainable, we have to create industry where we can predict energy-efficiency gains that are accurate.'
The longer-term vision is to incorporate that efficiency improvement data for planning the capacity needed on the electricity grid, Golden said. With more data, energy reduction forecasts become more accurate and useful to grid planners.
In the meantime, though, passage of Home Star would simply help put the home performance industry on the map, Golden said. And educated consumers who already know about the program may stop holding off on making any home energy-related purchases.
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
A few hundred in tax breaks results in a few thousand in money dumping into the economy. Then when all is said and done we're left with one more efficient home in the country.
I think this bill will only work if we can somehow take the requirement out of it that contractors like us float the discount to the customer for 30 days or longer. Unless this provision is removed, I don't think our company will be able to partake in this bill! If we find a way to handle the cash flow issue, we still won't be able to offer it to all of our customers as the bills authors intended us too.
We have annual sales of just over a million most years and I feel like this bill would absolutely help increase contractor responsibility, but the requirement that we carry the burden of giving the 50% discount to our customers and then hope that those responsible for reimbursing us do so quickly will greatly limit the amount of us that can actually take part in this.
Many other industry organizations have also written letters to senator Reid and other supporters of this bill explaining the limiting factor described above. While I know we want to make the discount to homeowners immediate in order to increase participation in the program, it will hurt many contractors to have to carry that missing cash flow for a month or longer, and unfortunately, many contractors just will not be able to make that leap in cash flow work.
- by sslPro August 5, 2010 9:10 AM PDT
- Inducements and incentives not withstanding all property owners should do the logical things ie weatherstrippping, air sealing attics switching to quality SSL products to add value to their properties. Austin Texas is one of a growing number
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(6 Comments)of towns requiring an energy rating on homes prior to selling. As car buyers rely on Carfax - Vetting properties for preformance and or flaws should become the norm - nationwide - it doesn't need to be a Hers rating at a high cost - Fix flaws
and document all of the improvements benefits - Energy inefficiencies will be
villified - supported by value reductions - Make equity/ value the market driver so
that people feel its not a gov mandate - it becomes a Logical choice thing.