A coalition of manufacturers, utilities, trade associations, and advocacy groups are urging Congress to double the funding for the U.S. Energy Star program.
Energy Star, housed mostly within the Environmental Protection Agency, “delivers a remarkable bang for the buck in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 330 million metric tons of avoided emission reduction each year—roughly 5% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions annually,” according to a letter sent to Congress by the coalition. “Meanwhile, the program saves American consumers and businesses more than $35 billion annually in avoided energy costs.”
The program has seen its budget steadily decline in recent years with overall cuts at EPA. Adjusted for inflation, its budget, today at $35 million, would need to be about $65 million to keep pace with funding levels of a decade ago, the coalition says.
“We know that Congress is looking for innovative, cost-effective, and high-impact approaches for achieving emissions reductions while also boosting economic productivity,” the letter continues. “Energy Star meets all of those criteria through a voluntary, market-based program with a relatively low cost and with enormous untapped potential.”
Related Stories
| Jul 5, 2013
USGBC adds several new LEED pilot credits
The U.S. Green Building Council has added several new LEED pilot credits to the LEED Pilot Credit Libraryin the past few months.
| Jul 5, 2013
Spray Foam Coalition supports new professional certification program for applicators
The Spray Foam Coalition (SFC) of the American Chemistry Council announced its support of the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance’s (SPFA) new Professional Certification Program for spray foam applicators.
| Jul 5, 2013
Some industry insiders see design-build as easier path to LEED certification
The design-build construction delivery method may have advantages during a LEED certification process.
| Jun 27, 2013
Lease-accounting legislation could hurt construction industry
Regulatory bodies have proposed changes in how leased equipment is treated on a corporate balance sheet.
| Jun 27, 2013
AGC urges Congress, Obama to reject caps on construction workers in immigration legislation
The unemployment rate in the construction sector in May was the lowest it has been in five years, which could signal a coming worker shortage, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Jun 27, 2013
California legislators make push for prevailing wage law
California lawmakers introduced new legislation that would cut off state construction funds from charter cities that don’t mandate the equivalent of union-scale wages on public-works projects. Of the 482 cities in California, 121 are charter cities.
| Jun 27, 2013
Thermal, solar control designs can impact cooling loads by 200%, heating loads by 30%
Underestimating thermal bridging can greatly undermine a building’s performance contributing to heating load variances of up to 30% and cooling load variances of up to 200%, says the MMM Group.
| Jun 27, 2013
U.S. Conference of Mayors passes new sustainability resolutions
The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) passed a slate of sustainability resolutions that renew its commitment to local green building and clean energy efforts.
| Jun 19, 2013
NSF Sustainability begins verifying EPDs that can be used for LEED V4
NSF Sustainability has verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for nylon carpet styles and colors manufactured by Mannington Commercial and for J+J Flooring Group’s Kinetex® flooring product and Invision brand modular styles that use eKo® backing.
| Jun 19, 2013
Florida is latest battleground over LEED standards centered on certified wood
A nationwide battle over forest certification standards continues to be played out nationally and in Florida with legislation passed this month.