Dear Mayor Coss, Santa Fe City Council, and President Obama,

Thank you for this opportunity to be heard on how to promote job growth and our local economy during these challenging times. As business people in Santa Fe we believe the best way to stimulate job growth is through the building industry. It is (or was) the third largest industry in Santa Fe behind tourism and state government before this recession. Now our work has all but vanished and our unemployment is enormous.

As we are sure you know, the Federal Government is making energy efficient home retrofits a priority in their job creation programs. This recent pdf highlights the ways in which they are planning to motivate homeowners and help fund the programs:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/091204-PERAB-Home-Retrofits-Memo-Final.pdf

The concern we have is that by the time this is finally enacted and funded more construction jobs will have been lost in Santa Fe and more business will have disappeared. We cannot afford to wait many more months before some urgent action is taken. We also have concerns that the tax credit incentives involved in this program may not be enough to encourage many homeowners who are struggling financially from taking full advantage of the program and the amounts that will be funded per homeowner (currently $12,000 of which $6,000 would be the tax credit) may not be enough to successfully retrofit our older Santa Fe homes with their unique building styles. On a National level, we encourage the Federal Government to seriously consider Ed Mazria and 2030 challenge’s plan to encourage retrofits through a FHA mortgage write-down and a low interest loan program, which would enable many people to take advantage of serious and comprehensive energy efficiency measures without incurring more personal debt in these difficult times.

http://www.architecture2030.org/news/news_120809.html

We would like to suggest an immediate major stimulus to our local construction industry, which you know has suffered enormously over the last year. There are several models that individual municipalities across the United States are already successfully using to both stimulate the local construction industry and also encourage homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. We would like to encourage you to look at these.

A very successful model which could be implemented fairly rapidly is one similar to that currently underway in Sonoma and Boulder Counties, which fund energy efficiency upgrades through Special Property Tax Assessments:

http://www.bouldercounty.org/bocc/cslp/CSLPintro.html
http://www.sonomacountyenergy.org/energy-improvements.php

Our state has already enacted legislation last year (SB647) to enable counties and municipalities to set up Renewable Energy Finance Districts to encourage homeowners to install solar, geothermal and wind energy on their properties. The special assessment on property taxes which pays for this encourages homeowners to participate in the program as the debt that is incurred is not personal but remains with the property should it be sold.  The addition of broad energy efficient measures to this program would incentivize homeowners to undertake major energy efficiency retrofits to their homes without having to add to their personal debt to do so. As the mechanisms are already being put in place for renewable energy measures, there would not be many further administrative costs involved in the implementation of such a program.

Sonoma County has a very successful program in place that does just this and so far this year has created 800 construction jobs (an 8.4% increase) while neighboring counties continued to lose construction jobs. Beginning Dec. 15, bills can be pre-filed for the New Mexico state legislative session that begins in January. We suggest that a bill be introduced, sponsored by the city, to expand the terms of the Renewable Energy Finance Districts to include major energy efficient retrofits of existing homes that produce trackable energy savings. We encourage the city and county to immediately investigate how this would be implemented so the program could be ready to go as soon as a bill were passed.
Long Island has a very similar program in place but with a limit of $12,000 per house funded as a “benefit assessment” through their solid waste fund.

http://www.ligreenhomes.com/page.php?Page=home

There is also the city’s affordable housing trust fund or a bond issue which could help to kick start any one of these programs. Clearly these kind of programs would make housing more affordable to operate and the city more affordable to live in. The gross receipts and income taxes to the city and state from the stimulated construction industry would more than pay for any outlay of funds to these programs. The demand should also drive green jobs and green job growth.

The existing programs mentioned enable and encourage homeowners to make significant changes to their homes in these difficult economic times. They have added GREEN construction jobs and jobs in the many peripheral businesses that rely on the construction industry. They are already well-studied and have solid track records that Santa Fe could use to rapidly implement something similar before more jobs are lost. In addition these programs would help us cut energy usage and reduce green house gas emissions. These programs will work towards the climate issues that all of us face and that the administration is working on in Washington. This is a win for everyone in our community and on our planet. We hope you will see the logic in these ideas and will seriously consider instituting some of these policies and programs. When you do we would be pleased to offer our knowledge and expertise in support.

Sincerely,

Joe Lewis

Wise Improvements LLC

505 216 7529

admin@wiseimprovements.com

Amanda Evans

Advanced Home Analysts,
505-690-2603
amanda@ahanewmexico.com

At a Middle Class Task Force meeting earlier this year, the Vice President asked the CEQ to develop a proposal for federal action to lay the groundwork for a self-sustaining home energy efficiency retrofit industry. In response, CEQ facilitated a broad interagency process with the Office of the Vice President, 11 departments and agencies, and six White House offices to develop recommendations for how to use existing authority and funding to accomplish this goal. These recommendations are described in detail in the Recovery Through Retrofit Report

Another cold winter is upon us – icy air is sneaking in under your doors and once again your bathroom is freezing in the morning. And this isn’t the right time for those energy bills to be paid, what with all the other expenses this year. What can be done?

You’ve heard talk about caulking and new windows. You know there are tax credits that are available for some of those things but how do you know what to do and in what order?

That’s when an “energy audit” either done by yourself or a professional, is useful.

What is an energy audit? It’s a careful analysis of how and where your house is using (and often wasting) energy. It can be as simple as working through an easy checklist on your own to a more complex and thorough examination of your home with state-of-the-art analysis tools, such as a blower door and a thermal camera.

So let’s start with what you can do yourself.

An easy first step is to walk around your house when it’s cold outside and feel with your hand for any cold air leaks – check inside cabinets too as often there are plumbing fixtures that aren’t sealed well and cold air leaks in around them. If you see spiderwebs that’s a good place to check – spiders like to spin their webs in drafty places where there is air movement to catch insects. Make a note of all the drafty places so that you can go back and seal those leaks.

Walk around and check your heating vents if you have forced air heat. Is there furniture blocking any of them? This will really affect the quality of your heating system. And when did you last change the filter? If you have forced air heat a simple programmable thermostat can save you a lot of money if you program it to turn down when you are not at home or when you are sleeping.

If you have heating ducts that are in an attic or crawlspace that is not heated, they should be checked. Seal all the joints with duct mastic and insulate them – there are big energy savings to be had here! And you can also save money by insulating your hot water heater and pipes – be careful you don’t insulate near the gas vent and burner however.

Fireplaces without dampers suck huge amounts of heat out of your house. Either arrange to get the damper fixed or buy a “chimney pillow”, which is a re-usable inflatable pillow that you put in your chimney. If you start a fire by mistake it disintegrates, so it’s safe too.

Do you have recessed can lights? Older recessed lights leak enormous amounts of heat. You may not feel comfortable replacing them yourself, but put them on a to-do list for later.

Skylights are also often very leaky. Sealing around the edges can stop warm air leaking out. Replacing skylights for more insulating types is an option too but usually there are cheaper things you can do in your home first that will give more energy savings for less money.

Like skylights, windows are often far more expensive to change out than the energy you will save by doing so. However, if your windows are single-pane with metal frames you will definitely feel a lot more comfortable with new windows. Windows, doors and skylights all qualify for federal tax credits but make sure that you are indeed buying qualifying items. Go to the Energy Star website to check. If your windows are newer but you still feel cold when you are near them, consider putting insulating blinds up in the ones that you particularly notice. You’ll feel warmer near them.

Now for some things that won’t really change how comfortable you are in your home but WILL save you money and energy.

What type of lighting do you have? Compact florescent lights really do save you a lot of electricity and now you can buys bulbs that don’t flicker and do have a nice warm color like the light bulbs you’re used to. Try buying ones rated at 2700 K and start with just one or two until you find exactly which you like most. And if you have outside lights consider using motion sensors on them.

We use a lot of energy with electronic items that are always on – you can tell which they are by walking around your house at night and looking for the glowing lights. These should either be turned off when not in use or put on a “smart strip”, a newer power strip that turns off items when they are not being used.

Is your refrigerator more than 15 years old? Newer models are much more energy efficient and will quickly pay for themselves if you replace them. There may well be a “cash for old appliances” program this winter that you can take advantage of (ask your local appliance store to notify you when it happens) and PNM will pay you to come and take away your old refrigerator! Also, front loading washing machines will save energy AND water. The City of Santa Fe will give you a $100 rebate if you buy an energy efficient model.

If your boiler or furnace is very old, now might be the time to consider replacing it. Newer models use a lot less energy and are a lot safer. Ask a professional about sealed combustion units which exhaust all the gasses directly outside. More efficient models qualify for a federal tax credit – see the Energy Star website.

Lastly a few safety checks – do you have smoke detectors that work? And if you have any gas appliances you should have a carbon monoxide detector – they only cost around $30 and you’ll be a lot safer. And if you have a gas stove without an exhaust fan you really need a CO detector!

A professional energy auditor will do all these checks for you plus a lot more that also take into account your health and safety. Using equipment such as a blower door and a thermal camera, an energy auditor can more directly pinpoint air leaks and areas where insulation may be missing. And the blower door also gives an excellent indication of the ventilation needs for your home. As you seal your house up, less of your expensively heated air is leaving your house, but now you may not be getting enough fresh air. Providing true fresh air through measured ventilation is much healthier than relying on “fresh” air that leaks into your house past that dead mouse in the crawl space or the pollen-filled chamisa bush. An energy auditor can recommend inexpensive ways to make sure your house has good indoor air quality.

Another byproduct of making your house more energy efficient is that you may make it so tight that leaky gas appliances that were never a problem are now a concern with back-drafting and gas spillage. Many energy auditors can do simple combustion checks to ensure that your appliances are safe once all your air leaks have been taken care of.

And energy auditors are trained to understand how to prioritize any work that needs to be done so you know you are doing the most cost-effective work first, with the best energy savings.

Whether you choose to go it alone or hire a professional, you can save money and save energy this winter. Why not start now?

If you want to listen to the webinar you can go to the NSEC website in a few days and watch a recording of it there.

Well, now that we have some great legislation to encourage people to add PV to their homes, (see here), PNM is trying to change their part in our solar incentives, it seems. They have gone to the PRC to request a change to their renewables program - to cap the program at 920 KW a year, or the equivalent of around 450 houses!! They have also put in a request to become a Solar Distributed Generation Company, where PNM would build, own and maintain systems for people, selling them the electricity.

Just as solar is really going to get a great boost in New Mexico it seems as if we might end up with a cap on some of the incentives. Sad!

July 20, 2009

The U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program (BTP) is offering a webinar on Tuesday, July 28 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT titled “Measuring and Labeling Home Energy Performance with the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale).” The E-Scale is an easy-to-understand tool that helps homebuyers and homeowners make smart energy decisions when purchasing, renting, or updating a home.

The presenters will be Edward Pollock, BTP residential team lead, and David Roberts, National Renewable Energy Laboratory senior engineer. They will discuss the benefits of the E-Scale in the process of building, buying, and selling homes.

The webcast is free of charge, but you must register in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call-in phone number. Learn more about the webinar.

The E-scale is a much more home-owner friendly HERS visual - it makes the HERS rating look much easier to understand and it is more colorful and friendly.