“Cash for Caulkers” is nearly here. Last month the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5019 – also known as the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 or “Cash for Caulkers” – to kick-start construction, create jobs and cut back carbon emissions. While the bill still needs to clear the Senate, supporters predict it will pass this summer.

This is great news for homeowners and contractors alike. The bill provisions $6 billion for energy-efficient or “green” retrofits. It is expected to fund renovations for 3 million families, create 168,000 new jobs and save consumers $9.2 billion on energy bills over the next 10 years.

But in order to cash in on upcoming rebates, homeowners and contractors will need to do their homework. There are 13 types of retrofits eligible for funding. Each retrofit has unique eligibility requirements and set rebate amounts. You can read the full text here.

Who is Eligible and How to Qualify?

The Home Star bill offers two rebate programs, the “Silver Star” program and “Gold Star” program. Here are details for each:

Silver Star – Unless another amount is specified in the “Rebate Amount” column above, homeowners will receive a $1,000 rebate for each retrofit listed in our table. The maximum amount of rebates paid out will be $3,000 or 50% of the total cost, whichever is lower. For example, if a homeowner spends a total of $4,000 on eligible retrofits, they will get $2,000 or 50% back as a rebate. If they spend $8,000 on eligible retrofits, they would only receive $3,000 in rebates instead of $4,000 (which would be 50% of the cost).

We made it really easy to wade through the legalese. Here is a table that breaks down the 13 retrofits of the bill, along with the requirements and rebate amount for each. In addition to the requirements we listed, each retrofit must comply with Building Performance Institute (BPI) standards or other procedures to be approved by the Secretary of Energy.

Gold Star – To qualify for the Gold Star program, homeowners must reduce their total home energy consumption by 20%. A $3,000 rebate will be rewarded for this reduction. Homeowners can receive an additional $1,000 for each additional 5% reduction, up to a total rebate of $8,000 or 50% of the total retrofit cost. Rebates may be provided for any of the retrofits listed under the Silver Star program, or for any other energy-saving measure, including: home energy management systems, high-efficiency appliances, highly reflective roofing, awnings, canopies, and similar external fenestration (window) attachments, automatic boiler water temperature controllers, energy-efficient wood products, insulated vinyl siding, and mechanical air circulation and heat exchangers in a passive-solar home.

The Home Star bill also includes rebates for do-it-yourself (DIY) homeowners that are confident in taking on the renovations themselves. DIY’ers can get up to $250 in rebates for products purchased without installation service. This rebate is limited to attic insulation, crawl space insulation and/or air-sealing retrofits.

Seal Your House Envelope and Improve Insulation

Before carrying out any serious retrofit, homeowners need to weatherize and seal their house “envelope.” The envelope includes outer walls, windows, doors, floors and the ceiling. If the house is not properly sealed and insulated, then subsequent HVAC retrofits won’t be as effective.

So how much does it cost to seal all the air leaks in a home? Prices will obviously vary based on where you live, how big your property is and the scope of the retrofit. But it will likely cost a few thousand dollars to hire a contractor for this type of renovation. In this example from the New York Times, the author spent $3,760 for insulating and sealing the envelope of his 1,200 square foot home.

How much can homeowners expect to save? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that homeowners can save 20% on heating and cooling costs by sealing leaks and adding insulation. In New York – one of the most expensive places to heat a home with an average annual cost of $1,513 – this would be a yearly savings of $300 just for heating.

Continuing with the example from the New York Times, the Silver Star program would provide $1,880 (50%) in rebates for their retrofit. At an annual savings rate of $300, the renovation would pay for itself in six years (or less if you include cost savings from reduced air conditioning bills).

Repair and Replace Leaky Ducts

Duct replacement and sealing is eligible for funding under the Home Star bill. Many homeowners will want to outsource this project to a qualified HVAC contractor. Contractors have equipment to detect leaks that otherwise may not be immediately visible. They also have methods to seal ducts that are inaccessible. For example, by spraying an adhesive or sealant through the duct work.

Replacing and sealing ducts can also be a DIY project, especially when ducts can be easily accessed in an attic or basement. Leaks should be sealed with mastic sealant or metal tape (not duct tape), then insulated to reduce heat loss and to further improve efficiency. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has an excellent guide on how to seal and insulate ducts.

Upgrade Your Furnace and Water Heater

Heating is the largest energy expense in homes, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). In colder parts of the country, it makes up 30 to 50% of annual energy bills. So improving the heating efficiency of your home will have the biggest impact on lowering your energy costs. Sealing air leaks is a good start, but replacing your heating system could provide real leverage towards cost savings.

If your furnace or boiler was purchased before 1990, then it is time to consider an upgrade. Modern furnaces are much more efficient than those that are older than 20 years. You can use rebates from the Home Star bill to replace your furnace, but you will need to meet their guidelines:

Water heaters are typically the second largest energy users after home heating and cooling systems. Replacing convention oil-fired water heaters with high-efficiency gas or electric heaters can save homeowners thousands of dollars over a 10 to 15 year period. The Home Star bill includes a variety of replacement options eligible for rebates.

Additional Financing Resources

With other legislation in the queue, it might take weeks or months to hear the Senate’s final decision on the Home Star bill. In the meantime, homeowners can receive funding from other sources to pay for green renovations. The federal government, state governments, local municipalities and even utility companies offer several options.

For example, homeowners can still receive a federal tax credit for 30% of the cost of energy-efficient products (up to a total credit of $1,500). This includes the purchase of central air conditioning systems (both the product and installation), electric heat pumps, furnaces and boilers, and whole-house ventilation fans. Visit the US Department of Energy Energy Savers website for more information.

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As the nation struggles to recover from one of the worst economic recessions in decades, unemployment has recently shown some marginal improvement, falling below 10 percent in January. But for workers in the construction and construction-related manufacturing sectors, there is little relief as jobless rates remain at near-Depression levels.

Fortunately, help is on the horizon. This week a bill establishing a HOME STAR program of consumer rebates for home energy efficiency retrofits will be introduced in the Senate thanks to the leadership of Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), among others. Concerned members of Congress, with the Obama administration’s support, have crafted an incentive program to make millions of U.S. homes more energy efficient, swiftly create 168,000 jobs in construction and manufacturing among other industries, save homeowners nearly $10 billion over a decade through lower energy costs, and make a dent in global warming pollution.

The proposal for a $6 billion HOME STAR program enjoys broad and bipartisan support. It is backed by the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board and is part of a jobs agenda endorsed by some Senate Democratic leaders. A large and broad coalition including major corporations, organized labor, and energy nonprofits supports the initiative as well. In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address he said that rebates for Americans who retrofit their homes should be part of a clean-energy agenda. “We should put more Americans to work building clean-energy facilities, and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient, which supports clean-energy jobs,” he said. The Senate will soon consider jobs legislation and HOME STAR should be a key component.

HOME STAR, sometimes called “cash for caulkers,” is a proposal that makes sense. It makes economic sense because it can provide a quick employment stimulus putting 168,000 people to work—the overwhelming majority of them in jobs that can’t be outsourced overseas. It makes sense for homeowners who will be able to afford home improvements that will pay real dollar dividends for many years by reducing their energy bills 20 percent or more forever. It makes sense for businesses who will see demand for their products increase. And it makes sense for a more secure energy future since increasing the number of homes with energy efficient retrofits from 200,000 a year to 3 million a year will cut global warming pollution by the equivalent of taking 615,000 cars off the road or decommissioning four 300-megawatt power plants.

As important as these energy benefits are, however, HOME STAR is clearly a job creator and the right medicine for the economy.

Consumer incentives

The program gives homeowners a choice of incentives: the SILVER STAR and GOLD STAR paths.

The SILVER STAR incentive provides rebates for purchasing and properly installing specific energy-saving equipment such as furnaces and water heaters, or changes to a building’s envelope such as insulation and duct sealing. Rebate amounts are up to $1,500 per qualified installed measure, capped at 50 percent of project costs or $3,000—whichever is less.

The GOLD STAR incentive goes a step further and rewards whole-home or office building retrofits. This performance?based incentive is based on predicted energy savings determined by a thorough energy audit performed before the work begins. The auditor tests the home’s energy performance using proven building science methods, designs a customized retrofit plan in consultation with the homeowner, and calculates the energy savings that will result from the recommended measures. Homeowners can receive $3,000 for modeled savings of 20 percent, plus $1,500 for each additional 5 percent of modeled energy savings, with total incentives of up to $8,000, not to exceed 50 percent of total project costs. This will encourage homeowners to invest in the most cost-effective technologies, which are often the simplest and most labor-intensive investments.

Economic benefits

HOME STAR will create 168,000 jobs according to independent analysis by Climate Works using respected economic models from REMI and McKinsey & Co. Those jobs will be heavily concentrated in the hard-hit construction and manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy and will benefit every state and both urban and rural communities.

The program will help create long-term construction industry careers by increasing demand for home energy retrofits roughly 15 times, rising from current rates of 200,000 homes a year to close to 3 million retrofits annually. It will also provide much-needed help to the retail sector where overall jobs have fallen 7.5 percent since December 2007 but 10.4 percent for building materials and garden supply stores. Jobs in the wholesale sector have declined 22.5 percent for construction supplies compared to 8.1 percent overall.

The HOME STAR program dedicates $200 million to increase consumer access to financing, which further boosts job creation by leveraging additional private capital investments, and helps homeowners overcome upfront cost barriers to paying for these energy-saving home improvements.

What’s more, HOME STAR investments are cost effective, creating an additional economic benefit by saving homeowners as much as $9.4 billion over 10 years. HOME STAR will also affordably reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 4 million tons per year, or 40 million tons by 2020. That helps the economy by reducing our vulnerability to energy price shocks and getting a head start on driving down the production of greenhouse gases—changes we know we need to make anyway.

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Utah receives $30 million for weatherizing homes from the federal stimulus act.

By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 12/16/2009 05:19:38 PM MST

When Congress put $5 billion into the federal stimulus act early this year to help boost home energy efficiency, it might have had Sandra Kahn in mind.

Kahn fell last year in her Sugar House home, breaking her neck and spending three months and four days in the hospital recovering.

Coming home, she found electric and gas bills that were just too much to handle on a monthly disability allotment.

But after a call to the Salt Lake Community Action Program in Salt Lake City and a little paperwork, Kahn found her home transformed. Leaky doors and windows were plugged, her attic and crawl space insulated, and incandescent bulbs were replaced with spiral fluorescent bulbs.

“What it means to us is that usually in the past if we did 300 homes it was a good year. Now we’re hoping to get to about 1,000 homes,” says Dale Canning, deputy director of the program.

The program includes an energy audit of a home — checking to see where hot air might be leaking out, for example — and potential fixes such as new windows, insulation and perhaps even new water heaters or furnaces through partnerships with Rocky Mountain Power and Questar, Canning says.

Kahn says she’s already seeing the difference. Her heating bills alone last year were more than $300, she says, but now are significantly less. Her previous electric bill was $12.

“The house is so much warmer now,” she says. “It’s like God sent an angel down to watch over me.”

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I’ve always been a bit of an energy efficiency nut.

I’ve made it my mission to cut the utility bills at every home we’ve owned. Long before I learned about the risks of climate change, I was fanatical about energy efficiency because I’m cheap.

So far, we are on track to cut our utility bills by about half compared to the previous owner, but we are doing more. Our home has two large skylights that funnel too much heat out in the winter and let too much heat in the summer. We intend to replace these older windows with modern widows with five times the efficiency.

Taking these steps is called “weatherization.” I would rather call it “saving money by saving energy.” Over the next several years, we want to help millions of American families seize the same opportunity to cut their utility bills by making their homes and appliances more energy efficient while increasing comfort.

First, the Recovery Act expanded tax credits for energy efficiency upgrades to your home. If you purchase and install certain energy-efficient windows, insulation, doors, roofs, or heating and cooling equipment, you can receive a tax credit for 30% of the cost, up to $1,500. For example, if insulating your attic costs around $1,600, you’ll receive a $480 tax credit, and you could save up to $200 on your utility bill each year.

Second, we are launching an innovative new effort called “Retrofit Ramp Up” that will simplify and reduce the cost of home retrofits by funding pioneering programs that reach whole neighborhoods and towns. If we can energy audit and retrofit a reasonable fraction of the homes in any given residential block, the cost will be greatly reduced. Programs such as these will decrease barriers to saving money: inconvenience, inertia, and inadequate information. We want to make home energy efficiency upgrades irresistible and a social norm for homeowners.

Finally, for low-income families who are hit hardest by high utility bills, the Recovery Act provides $5 billion for home weatherization. This is the largest single investment in home energy efficiency in U.S history. This program is creating jobs now, putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Americans, reducing our environmental footprint, and making these homes more livable. However, some people – including me – have been frustrated that the program started off more slowly than we’d hoped.

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October, like many months, is stocked with special campaigns. As almost everyone knows, it is Breast Awareness and Diabetes Awareness Month (interesting duality there as we load up kids with Halloween sweets).

Who knew that October also hosts National Weatherization Day, which is October 30? So as we prepare our haunted mansions, we might also consider those scary power bills to come after Hallows Eve.

Here are some ideas for tightening up our building “envelope” from various sources, including the Cool Cities Home Audit Checklist:

* Seal up leaks. Double duh, but have you done it? Wherever you feel air seeping in, know that heated air can waft out. Cool Cities says stop door drafts with a draft stopper, or just put down a towel. For outside window frames, caulk is your best friend.

* Remember to set your hot water heater at 120 degrees. Excessive heating of water during cool months can needlessly hike up bills, and your carbon footprint. It’s like the phantom in the attic, or basement, keeping hot water at the ready — even when you don’t need it.

* Don’t just close off the chilly attic. Seal it off with foam weatherization tape, or buy or make an attic door cover.

* Close the drapes at night; open them to let the sun in during the day.

* Check your furnace filter monthly, and check the vents to make sure you’ve got good air flow. See the EPA’s Heat and Cool Smartly Guide for more.

* Remember to close that fireplace damper after the coals after burned out. An open fireplace literally sucks the warmth from your home, and that’s just ghoulish or foolish.

And if you’re making serious improvements, remember it’s not just solar panels that qualify for federal tax breaks. Windows, insulation, new furnaces — all that — can earn you some return at tax time. See the EnergyStar website for details on federal incentives.

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If you’re like most people, you’re more than happy to buy green — as long as it also saves greenbacks. A recent study by the Shelton Group found that people who buy eco-friendly products at least occasionally are more interested in spending their money wisely than in improving the environment.

To that end, here are 10 oft-cited green myths and the truth behind them — plus how much money you may be burning by buying into them.

Myth

Never leave the lights on when you leave a room.

Reality

Mom had it right when it comes to incandescent bulbs, but she’d be wrong about today’s compact fluorescent lights. The more often you switch CFLs on and off, the shorter their operating life. In most parts of the country, it’s cheaper to leave fluorescents on if you’ll only be out of the room for 15 minutes or less, according to the Energy Department (www.energysavers.gov). In areas with high electric rates or during peak demand periods, the length of time may shorten to 5 minutes. On average, a CFL bulb costs $2.50 more than an incandescent bulb, but it will save $5.41 annually on your electric bill compared with an incandescent, according to the Energy Department.

If you haven’t converted to CFLs because you fear pollution from the mercury they contain, keep in mind that generating electricity is the main source of U.S. mercury emissions. A 60-watt light bulb will use 480 kilowatt hours of electricity and contribute almost 6 milligrams of mercury to the environment over its lifetime, according to Energy Star. A CFL will use less than a fourth of the electricity and result in a third of the mercury emissions. For more information on properly disposing of CFLs, visit http://www.energystar.gov/cfls.

Myth

You can trust product labels that say “green,” “eco-friendly,” “earth smart” and the like.

Reality

The green-washing machine loves to crank out vague marketing terms, and the Federal Trade Commission has begun to crack down on environmental claims that fail the regulatory smell test (visit www.ftc.gov and search “Sorting Out Green Advertising Claims”). Manufacturers have begun to improve the labeling, consumer information and advice on their Web sites, including lists and definitions of ingredients. Also look for the EPA’s Design for the Environment label.

Myth

Energy savings (and tax credits) will eventually pay for replacement windows.

Reality

True, windows are a big energy waster, but you probably have bigger fish to fry. The average cost to replace a window with a high-efficiency model is $300 to $700, and another 50 to 100 percent if you must replace a rotten or damaged frame, according to http://www.CostHelper.com. Through 2010, you can get a tax credit for 30 percent of your cost, up to $1,500, for super-efficient windows (many that are currently Energy Star-approved don’t qualify). Many older homes don’t have huge amounts of window area, and newer houses tend to have more energy-efficient windows that meet existing standards for Energy Star labeling. If you still want to upgrade your windows, you may wait until products meeting new and more rigorous Energy Star standards reach the market in April 2010.

<read the other 7 myths>

Fall is the time when most homeowners begin to think about how well their home will shelter them from winter’s blast and how much it’s going to cost to stay warm.

The Department of Energy estimates only 20 percent of homes built before 1980 have adequate insulation. Even homes constructed 10 years ago may only have the minimum required by code. And, no matter how well a home’s insulation performs, air can still escape through cracks around windows, gaps under exterior doors or entry points for utility wires and pipes. Leaks can account for as much as 30 percent of a home’s annual heating cost.

The optimal way to find chinks in your home’s armor is with an energy audit and blower door test. Generally they cost around $300, though the amount can vary depending on the size of the home, region of the country and complexity of the report. Testers are certified; many also offer good suggestions for solutions and will even do the work.

As an alternative to an energy audit, the Department of Energy suggests a visual inspection of the exterior. Their site, energysavers.gov, also has instructions to check for leaks on the interior. Additionally, some local utilities offer free visual inspections.

Small cracks and crevices around doors and windows should be caulked or filled with a foam sealant specifically formulated for that job ($3 to $5 a can). Just these small steps could result in a 15 percent savings on heating and cooling costs according to Lowe’s.

Leaky windows can also be tightened up with self adhesive weather stripping between the sashes. There is also a product that can be applied to the spaces in the frame where windows slide up and down, officially called the V Channels.

An energy audit will identify the type and R-value of insulation in various parts of the home. Checking this out on your own isn’t too difficult especially if the attic is unfinished. ”If you can see the joists then it’s certain you don’t have enough insulation. Even if you can see the joists, it best to measure to see how much you have,” says Karel Czanderna, group president of Owens Corning Building Materials. The Department of Energy also offers detailed instructions on how to determine the R-value of existing insulation and the R-values required indifferent states.

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SALEM — How would you like to be able to add insulation that keeps your house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter — and then pay for it with the money you could end up saving on your utility bill over the next 20 years?

It may sound too good to be true, but it’s just what new state legislation promises to deliver.
An Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Technology law will provide $15 million in loans in the next 2 years

The new Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Technology bill, signed into law in Eugene by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, will provide $15 million in loans over the next two years to Oregon homeowners. Unlike conventional home improvement loans, the money can be repaid with utility bills.

The bill’s authors, including Rep. Chris Edwards, D-Eugene, say they fully expect that the reduced energy usage — and lower utility bills — will provide consumers with enough savings to pay back the loans.

Edwards was part of a bipartisan group of House members who came up with the bill and worked it through the 2009 session. It is now awaiting Oregon Department of Energy rule-making so it can be tested in a few areas.

Under the EEAST program, applicants can get loans up to $40,000, although architect and state Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland, said most loans will most likely be for $7,000 or less.

With interest rates of 1 percent or 2 percent, the principal and interest would add $20 to $30 to most monthly utility bills over 15 to 30 years, he said.

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Ben Franklin famously said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. If he lived today, he’d add energy costs to the list.

But homeowners have ample, overlooked opportunities to cut their home energy bill from an average $1,500–without overspending. “Often the biggest bang for the buck is going to come from air sealing in the home,” says Edward Pollock, head of residential efficiency in the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program. “Depending on how old the house is, air leakage can contribute up to 30% of heating and cooling losses.”

The most obvious air leaks occur around poorly sealed doors and windows. But the biggest losses often occur in the attic, where electric wires and vent pipes route outside the house and create gaps for air to escape. As hot air escapes from an attic in the winter, it creates a vacuum effect that draws more warm air from the heated house below, adding strain to heating systems. The same vacuum effect can draw hot air into an air-conditioned house during the summer, making the A/C work longer.

Heating alone costs an average of $500 per year, with attic and basement air leaks accounting for up to $70 of this expense. But sealing the house can cost as little as $100, paying back the investment in less than two years. Extra attic insulation can cost $2 per square foot, and pays back within five years in energy savings.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Ready or not, states are getting a tenfold boost in federal money to weatherize drafty homes, an increase so huge it has raised fears of waste and fraud and set off a scramble to find workers and houses for them to repair.

An obscure program that installs insulation in homes and makes them more energy-efficient is distributing $4.7 billion in stimulus funds — dwarfing the $447 million originally planned by Congress this year and the $227 million spent in 2008.

That is enough to weatherize 1 million homes, instead of the 140,000 normally done each year.

In addition to receiving an infusion of stimulus money, the program was expanded to cover families making up to twice the federal poverty level, or $44,100 for a family of four. Also, the average amount that can be spent per house was more than doubled to $6,500.

The funding for New York is going up from $20.1 million last year to $395 million. California’s share is soaring from $6.3 million to $185.8 million. Virginia’s is going up 23 1/2 times, from $4 million annually to $94.1 million.

“I was stunned,” said Shea Hollifield, Virginia’s deputy director of housing. “Spending that much money will be a challenge.”

States are hurrying to find qualified weatherization workers and caulk-ready homes.

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