Late last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced new investments in state led energy efficiency projects. Through its State Energy Program, the DOE awarded nearly $14 million to 22 states and territories to conduct energy efficiency upgrades in public facilities and develop local policies and programs to help reduce energy waste.
The projects, which were announced on June 27, 2012, will involve conducting whole building energy efficiency upgrades across hundreds of public buildings, with the aim of saving millions for state and local governments and creating local jobs for energy auditors, architects, engineers, and construction workers.
The 22 states involved are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
The projects selected fall under three categories, including:
- Advancing Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings: The Energy Department will invest $7.9 million to assist 13 states to develop cost saving whole building retrofit programs across a broad segment of their public building portfolio.
- Stimulating Energy Efficiency Action in States: The Department will invest $1 million to assist two states in generating the necessary policy and program frameworks to encourage cost-effective energy efficiency investments and establish or increase statewide energy savings goals by 2015.
- Deploying Fee Based, Self Funded Public Facilities Energy Retrofit Programs: The Energy Department will invest $5 million to assist eight states in developing, improving, and implementing comprehensive programs that can finance energy upgrades to public facilities, including state and municipal buildings, National Guard assets, school districts, and water and wastewater treatment facilities.
Buildings in the United States last year consumed more than 40% of all the energy used by the U.S. economy. These building project efforts build on the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge, which works with private and public partners to reduce the energy use in their buildings by at least 20% by 2020. Over the past year, over 100 organizations have joined the Challenge, representing almost 2 billion square feet of building space and nearly $2 billion in energy efficiency investments nationwide.
To download the PDF containing information about each state’s programs, click on this link.
