As Congress grapples with the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and its controversial cap-and-trade legislation, there’s a key energy efficiency and green job creation provision at stake that merits immediate passage.

It’s deemed so important, it’s expected to be a stand-alone bill. But it needs support.

The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program is a national initiative to provide direct cash incentives for retrofitting existing buildings, with goals of cutting energy use by 20 percent or more and significantly reducing water use.

Retrofitting is a cost-effective way to cut carbon emissions and create jobs, with every dollar invested in efficiency improvements saving consumers and businesses an average of $4, proponents say.

The per-building incentives would be capped at 50 percent of retrofit costs. Properties achieving at least 20 percent energy savings can receive additional incentives for efficient water use. For homes, this means $1,000 for prescriptive measures designed to cut energy consumption by at least 10 percent or $2,000 for measures meant to cut it by 20 percent; $3,000 for demonstrated savings of 20 percent, plus an additional $1,000 for each additional 5 percent in energy savings. The commercial benefits are equally lucrative.

To do the work, many more green professionals are needed—certified energy and environment auditors, inspectors, raters, and retrofit contractors—as well as training programs to enhance this workforce.

The REEP bill has 39 Democratic co-sponsors, but no Republican co-sponsors, at least five of which are needed to ensure bipartisan support. Co-sponsors include Maurice Hinchey, Paul Tonko, Carolyn B. Maloney, and Steve Israel. The bill is endorsed by many nonpartisan trade groups like the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, the Real Estate Roundtable, and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Please take a minute to email Rep. John McHugh (mira.lezell@mail.house.gov) and other Republican members of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, urging them to cosponsor REEP so we all can reap the rewards.

Visit nonprofit trade association Efficiency First for information: efficiencyfirst.org/take-action



Your neighbor,

Nancy Meyer Corrections

In the August issue of New York House, the headline of an article about a zero-net energy home mistakenly stated the house was “Off the Grid.” While the home produces its own power, it does not operate independently of public utilities.

In fact, the electric power it generates is converted to alternating current and fed directly into the grid and sold to the utility via net metering. Zero-net energy homes without battery backup and power storage systems are vulnerable to grid failure, so if the electrical grid ever failed, the home would be without electricity or water.

In our July Expert Advice column, “The Heat is On,” it was stated that co-author Richard Cavanagh was a Radiant Panel Association-certified designer and installer. While he did hold the certification five years ago under his former employer, Advanced Radiant Design, Cavanagh has since discontinued his membership over philosophical differences with the association.