DOE

WASHINGTON - March 20, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Energy Department has announced the winners of the third annual Better Buildings Case Competition, which challenges collegiate teams to present unique and innovative solutions for reducing energy waste and improving the efficiency of our nation’s homes and commercial buildings to industry leaders. The winning student teams included Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, Stanford University, University of California - Santa Barbara, University of California – San Diego, University of California – Berkeley, Columbia University, and MIT. Winning solutions will be shared more broadly with public and private sector organizations through the Better Buildings webinar series and the Better Buildings Summit

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 15, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Energy Department announced on January 9 its first major software update to the Home Energy Scoring Tool, developed by the Department's Building Technologies Office and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The Home Energy Score allows homebuyers to compare homes on an "apples-to-apples" basis and provides recommendations for energy efficiency improvements. In addition, homeowners and homebuyers receive a cost-saving estimate of how these improvements could reduce utility bills and improve a home's score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 8, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Energy Department’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) is well known for its efforts to improve the lives of low-income American families through energy efficient home upgrades, but it also focuses on establishing a skilled and certified workforce.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Energy Department on November 26 awarded nearly $4 million to 13 states to increase statewide energy savings and boost the energy efficiency of public institutions, local governments, and industrial sectors. The awards were through the Energy Department’s State Energy Program, which assists states in saving energy and deploying new clean energy technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development on December 3 expanded the Better Buildings Challenge to multifamily housing such as apartments and condominiums. The departments also launched the Better Buildings Accelerators to support efforts led by state and local governments to cut energy waste and eliminate market and technical barriers to greater building efficiency. The Obama Administration also announced that it will challenge federal agencies to further expand their use of performance-based contracts through 2016 to upgrade the energy efficiency of federal buildings

WASHINGTON - November 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to ensure America’s continued leadership in clean energy and double renewable electricity generation once again by 2020, the Energy Department today announced eight teams to spur solar power deployment by cutting red tape for residential and small commercial rooftop solar systems. As part of the Department’s Rooftop Solar Challenge, these teams will receive about $12 million– matched by over $4 million in outside funding – to streamline and standardize solar permitting, zoning, metering and connection processes for communities across the country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office has announced plans to issue a new Wireless Metering Challenge to spur the development of low cost electric metering devices that can serve growing interest in panel level sub metering being seen throughout the commercial sector. According to a 2006 Federal Energy Management Program studyPDF, energy costs can be reduced by taking action to resolve problems identified by examining metered data.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) today announced a funding opportunity for $3 million to fund up to three awards to develop an open source software solution for building automation systems (BASs) for small (5,000 square feet ) to medium-sized (between 5,000 square feet and 50,000 square feet) commercial buildings.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized a select group of manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies, home builders and other organizations at the 2013 ENERGY STAR Awards for their contributions supporting energy efficiency activities during a ceremony on March 26, 2013.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In support of the Obama Administration’s all-out- all-of-the-above approach to American energy, the Energy Department’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) today announced the availability of $6.4M to catalyze the development of new energy efficient building technologies. This initiative from BTO’s Emerging Technologies (ET) program will provide support to short-duration building technology projects.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 4, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In Seattle, Washington, owners of oil-heated homes are ineligible for city-sponsored electric and gas utility rebates. But that didn't stop the city's Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partner, Community Power Works, from using housing data to break through to this untapped market

WASHINGTON, DC - January 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to help Tribal communities across the country enhance their energy security and build a sustainable energy future, the Energy Department today announced the second round of the Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) Program, which provides federally recognized Tribal governments with technical assistance to accelerate clean energy project deployment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on January 18 announced that it has designated 192,100 acres of public land across Arizona as potentially suitable for utility-scale solar and wind energy development. The publication of the Record of Decision for this initiative, known as the Restoration Design Energy Project, caps a three-year, statewide environmental analysis of disturbed land and other areas that could accommodate commercial renewable energy projects.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 16, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program has launched the Solution Center, an online resource providing easy access to a wealth of building science and energy efficiency information based on Building America research results. Building America brings together the country’s top building scientists and the biggest names in the building industry to conduct field and lab studies and develop technologies and best practices for new and existing homes across the nation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC) announces today that IREC Standard 14732:2013 General Requirements for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Certificate Programs has been published and is available on the IREC Website. This national standard provides a foundation for the accreditation of certificate programs that develop and administer credit or non-credit energy efficiency and renewable energy-related training. It describes requirements for administration, curriculum, assessment, personnel, equipment, facilities and linkage with industry that programs must meet to demonstrate that they issue a market-valued certificate.

Washington, DC - December 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Washington Post reports, a typical household in Deanwood, Washington D.C. spends around $2,000 annually on utility bills. Empowerhouse homeowners are projected to spend $390, mainly on water costs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) invites manufacturers of energy-efficient products, public housing authorities, industry stakeholders involved in the development, finance, and maintenance of multifamily properties, and others to review and comment on the Standard Work Specifications for Multifamily Energy Upgrades. Developed under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals project, the specifications are voluntary guidelines that outline minimum requirements for high-quality energy upgrades in multifamily homes. NREL is working on behalf of DOE to develop these guidelines and to gather and incorporate input from industry experts

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The International Energy Agency (IEA) on November 12 released the 2012 edition of the World Energy Outlook, which noted that North America leads the shift in global energy balance—and that shift includes a movement to renewable energy and energy efficiency. IEA's flagship publication presented a scenario showing that energy efficiency could have a major impact on global energy and climate trends.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Americans used less energy in 2011 than in 2010 due mainly to a shift to more energy efficient residential and transportation technologies, according to the Energy Department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Energy flow charts released on October 24 by LLNL indicate that, overall, U.S. energy use in 2011 equaled 97.3 quadrillion BTU, or "quads," compared to the 98 quads used in 2010. The charts use data provided by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 22, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Energy Department on August 20 announced a new partnership between its Challenge Home program and the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) on a voluntary certification process for energy-efficient homes. The partnership will streamline certifications for homes that can offset most or all of their utility bills with a small renewable energy system. These homes are referred to as "zero net-energy ready" homes. Home builders participating in these certification programs gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace by providing their customers with homes featuring energy savings, among other benefits.