Since buildings consume about 40 percent of the energy expended in the country, existing buildings with older systems present great challenges to energy efficiency. Moderated by Robert Wilkins, president, North America Danfoss, the afternoon’s executive dialogue session “Buildings: Breaking New Ground: Economic Recovery Through Efficiency Retrofits” focused on the use of economic stimulus funds to undertake energy efficiency upgrades in existing buildings.
Efficiency = Jobs
Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was first up, on the heels of the House of Representatives’ successful bipartisan passage of the Homestar Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program. “The House of Representatives took an enormous step in advancing the goal we all share,” he said. “Energy efficiency is practical, it’s common sense, it’s a non-ideological approach to addressing one of our nation’s greatest challenges.” If the bill passes the Senate, Welch said, homeowners and businesses could achieve a 20-percent increase in energy efficiency while boosting the economy. “Investing in efficiency is investing in jobs.”
Addressing National Challenges
Dr. Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant for energy efficiency, office of energy efficiency & renewable energy, U.S. Department of Energy, followed with her agency’s perspective on retrofitting. “Energy efficiency polices are critical to addressing national and global challenges,” she said. The amount of savings that can be expected from making existing buildings energy efficient is enormous; an investment of $500 billion over 10 years can yield more than $1.2 trillion in energy savings. However, she warned, dedicated polices and the creation of smart programs will continue to be necessary in order to address all the different barriers that might limit energy efficiency opportunities, such as building skilled work forces and providing consistent results. “We do need policy at all levels,” Hogan said, including federal regional and local, to make retrofitting a long-term success.
One of the main reasons retrofitting existing buildings is so important, said Brad Penney, director of government relations at the Alliance to Save Energy, is because only 2 percent of buildings turn over each year — the other 98 percent that remain in existence need to be dealt with. For instance, about 50 percent of the building stock in 2050 will consist of buildings that exist today.
While we often think of retrofitting for homes, commercial buildings are just as important, Penney said. Energy use accounts for 30 percent of the operating expenses in office buildings. Building STAR legislation, which has been introduced in the Senate and is soon to be introduced in the House by Welch, will create incentives for commercial building owners to retrofit their building, spurring almost double in private investment for each public dollar spent.
California Case Study
Panama Bartholomy of the California Energy Commission discussed some of California’s initiatives in retrofitting its buildings. Of California’s existing buildings, more than 75 percent, or 5.25 billion sq. ft., were built before 1978 energy efficiency standards were instituted. If just 1 percent of California’s owner-occupied homes were retrofitted, 28,000 jobs would be created. “It can play a very important piece of our new economy,” he said.
Although the state faces market barriers like lack of cash, an untrained workforce and coordination between programs, California is instituting a variety of programs that will allow a retrofitting ramp-up. “What we’re doing is not really an industry program…this is an economic development program.” California has created the largest state-sponsored clean energy workforce-training program in the country, combining the workforce, colleges and businesses to create and train for green jobs. “What we’re really trying to create is a vertically integrated workforce.” The session wrapped up with Bartholomy echoing the thoughts of all the panelists: “There’s no place like a home retrofit.”
Tags: Building STAR, Buildings, DOE, EE Global 2010, Homestar, retrofit