Recent State Action Applauded in PA, But Advocates Say Much More is Needed
Philadelphia, PA — The country’s energy consumption could be cut by 11 percent through simple building efficiency measures, according to a new white paper released today by PennEnvironment. “Building an Energy-Efficient America: Zero Energy and High Efficiency Buildings” describes the many opportunities for increasing energy efficiency in buildings and makes recommendations for what local, state and federal officials can do to secure huge energy savings in new and existing buildings. Click here for the full report.
“With global warming looming and energy prices soaring, we need to be doing all we can to save energy in Pennsylvania,” said Nathan Willcox, Energy & Clean Air Advocate with PennEnvironment. “We already have the technology to slash energy use in buildings, or even eliminate fossil fuel use altogether. We need to take advantage of these innovations and bring our homes and businesses into the 21st century.”
Nearly half of the energy we use in the United States—and 10 percent of the energy in the world—is consumed powering the buildings in which we live and work, and much of that energy is wasted. This energy use is responsible for 43 percent of America's carbon dioxide pollution, making our buildings the nation's biggest global warming polluters.
Through implementing a set of policies at the state and federal level, "Building an Energy-Efficient America" found that enormous energy savings could be achieved:
• By 2020 we could reduce annual United States energy consumption by 11 percent through simple building efficiency measures such as more efficient lighting, water heating, and appliances, and by designing new buildings to be more energy efficient.
• Strong energy codes alone, adopted nationally and adequately enforced, would reduce national energy consumption by 2 percent by 2030.
• One quad of energy (equal to roughly 1 percent of national energy use annually, or enough to power the entire country for three and a half days) ‘gained’ through building efficiency would cost $42.1 billion. To produce this much energy with new coal plants would cost three times as much, and it would cost five times as much through new nuclear plants.
In order to achieve these benefits, the report describes policy steps that states and the federal government must take:
• Building energy codes should be improved and enforced. National model codes should be 30 percent more efficient by 2010 and state codes should match or exceed the model codes.
• Federal, state, and local governments should adopt policies that encourage building far beyond code and retrofitting existing buildings for increased efficiency.
• Policies should be designed to encourage on-site renewable power.
• Political leaders should set the goal for all new buildings to be zero net energy by 2030. Zero net energy buildings would use drastically less energy, and then whatever energy the buildings would need would be supplied by solar panels, geothermal systems or other on-site energy sources.
Pennsylvania is home to several green building success stories, from Philadelphia's new Comcast Center being the nation's tallest green building, to Pittsburgh ranking eighth nationally among cities for the amount of certified green building floor space. But much more can be done, and PennEnvironment was joined by the Delaware Valley Green Building Council and the Green Building Alliance in releasing today’s report and conveying that message.
“Standards for both new and existing high performance buildings are critical to Pennsylvania’s energy future,” said Heather Shayne Blakeslee, Program & Advocacy Director for the Delaware Valley Green Building Council. “Policy makers and the public are starting to see that we must start looking beyond first costs in our buildings, and that small investments and incentives can help us realize long-term energy savings, reduce the environmental impact of our buildings, and put new economic engines in place that will drive a robust green economy.”
“While Pennsylvania is a leader in high-performance buildings, we cannot remain on the cutting edge without the active engagement of the state legislature,” commented Green Building Alliance Executive Director Rebecca Flora. “Pennsylvania has the opportunity to lead the way in creating green development programs, spurring green product manufacturing and supporting energy-efficiency strategies that will result in jobs for Pennsylvanians. We encourage the legislature to use the current debate to further these goals.”
At the state level, green building advocates have applauded the estimated $25 million investment in green buildings that will be made in coming years as part of Monday’s state budget agreement, but also emphasized that state leaders need to be doing more. Specifically, advocates have called for legislation which would mandate green building construction for all state and state-funded buildings, as well as the adoption of a state-level plan to cut overall energy use in Pennsylvania, which would further drive energy savings in buildings.
At the federal level, the first step towards realizing the potential benefits of green buildings hinges on an upcoming vote in September, when officials from towns and cities across the country will be coming together to create the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) – the national model code most states use to shape how new homes are constructed. They’ll be voting on whether to include the “30% Solution,” which would require new houses to be 30 percent more efficient.
“This is one of the most important energy votes of the year,” said PennEnvironment’s Willcox. “Mayors who send their officials to vote for the 30% Solution won’t just be saving their citizens money, they’ll be helping the entire country reduce its energy waste and cut global warming emissions.”
Another key step towards modernizing our buildings is renewing the national energy tax credits, which include tax deductions and bonds to help homeowners and business owners construct green buildings and take advantage of solar power. But even though the tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year, proposals to renew the credits have been repeatedly blocked by Senate Republicans. PennEnvironment thanked Senator Casey for working to pass these tax credit renewals, and urged Senator Specter to stop opposing proposals to renew these tax credits.
In the absence of stronger federal leadership, many states are leading the way with building codes, incentives, and rules that set strong minimum standards for efficient building and encourage efficiency far beyond the minimum and renewable energy.
• Several states, including Pennsylvania, have statewide residential building energy codes which require that the state continually incorporate each update to the model code as its energy efficiency increases.
• Oregon enacted tax credits for energy-efficient building practices in 2007, which can amount to thousands of dollars and large percentages of the incremental costs.
• California, as part of its ground-breaking Million Solar Roofs legislation, mandates that solar panels become a standard option for all new houses by 2011.
PennEnvironment called on decision makers to make a commitment to do everything it will take to move our country forward, past the old, inefficient and wasteful, and put ourselves on track to make all new buildings zero-energy by 2030. In the short term, this means passing the 30 Percent Solution, renewing the energy tax credits, and passing additional state measures to promote green building in Pennsylvania.
