New Year to Kick Off With U.S. Homeowners Eligible to Receive Hundreds in Rebates For Buying Energy Efficient Appliances

 

Up until now, the vast majority of the federal stimulus money has only trickled down to local governments, nonprofits, and businesses promising to create training programs and jobs for Americans.

Well, we’re finally starting to see some of that money go directly into the hands of homeowners. Last summer, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the availability of nearly $300 million in funding for state-run rebate programs for consumers who purchase new qualified home appliances.

Each state and territory was required to submit a plan that specified which appliance categories would be included in their rebate program; the level of rebate for each product type; how the rebates would be processed; and their plans for recycling old appliances.

As of Dec. 16, the department has approved 54 state and territory rebate programs. Hawaii and Virginia are expected to be approved by the end of the month. The three states where the program has already launched at the consumer level are: Delaware, Kansas, and Oregon.

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European Union Initiates 3-Year Progressive Phase Out of Traditional Home Lighting

Image courtesy of Gizmodo.com

Everyone wants to save money, and we’ve all learned that changing our light bulbs to more energy efficient ones is the easiest way to do it. So why haven’t more people around the world been doing it?

In its memo, Phasing Out Conventional Incandescent Bulbs, the European Commission found that the resistance to change is because people would rather spend less money up front, than pay more initially and later have the savings result from lower energy bills.

Psychologically, it’s easier to see an exact savings amount on a receipt during a purchase, than it is through a utility bill.

The lack of voluntary change in most people’s buying habits is what prompted the European Commission to put into effect the mandatory phasing out of the manufacturing of household conventional incandescent bulbs to be replaced with energy saving alternatives.

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Free Home Weatherizing Services for California Residents in Select Counties

Graphic courtesy of Help - New Mexico Inc.

The weather is cooling and Fall is almost upon us. This is the perfect time to start weatherizing your homes and save some money when winter comes. If you’re residents of the California counties of El Dorado or Alpine, then you are especially lucky because they are offering free home weatherizing services to homeowners and renters that reach the middle income range.

The counties plan to use $1.5 million in newly received federal stimulus money to expand their home weatherizing assistance programs to help an increased number of residents over the next two years.

The program is being operated by the El Dorado County Department of Human Services in cooperation with the California Department of Community Services and Development.

Homeowners and residents who qualify may be entitled to receive up to $6,500 in services. This could provided eligible parties with:

• Attic Insulation
• Window Repair
• Water Heater Blankets
• Heating and Cooling Systems
• Energy Efficient Refrigerators
• Ceiling Fans
• Weather-Stripping
• Energy Efficient Lighting
• Microwaves

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The Sears Tower: Greening Up to Bring Innovations, Energy Savings, and Jobs

Sears is also considering the use of renewable energies sources such as wind and solar. Tests will be done in these areas to evaluate the output of these efficiencies with relation to the building’s needs. Image Courtesy of Sears Tower, Chicago.

CHICAGO- Famously known as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the Sears Tower is now also aiming to be one of the greenest buildings in the world with its upcoming retrofits and building projects at an estimated cost of $350 million.

Sears also boast that as a whole its sustainability plans will also be economic drivers for the West Loop, potentially creating over 3,600 new jobs.

“Our goal in the Sears Tower greening project is to create a holistic approach that integrates high performance building technologies and design strategies for maximum energy efficiencies.

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Federal Agencies Unite - Effort to Bring More Jobs, Energy, and Home Weatherization

Graphic courtesy of Weatherize America.

WASHINGTON - In an effort to help struggling Americans alleviate some of the costs of high heating and cooling expenses, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Energy have tentatively agreed to pool their resources to initiate projects to weatherize and energy retrofit both rural and urban low-income homes and properties across the country.

“By making it as easy as possible for families to weatherize their homes, we can create new jobs that can’t be shipped oversees, save families money on their energy bills, and take another step toward energy independence,” said Steven Chu, secretary of the DOE.

The agreement comes in the form of a “memorandum of understanding” between the two agencies, which outlines their plans to use a combined a sum of up to $16 billion to implement their new programs. The funding is being provided as part the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009’s stimulus package.

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