HUD Pursues Energy Efficiency Nationwide

As the nation's households open the envelope on yet another round of rising energy costs, HUD is committed to promoting greater efficiency on a number of fronts. To fulfill our Energy Action Plan, which was first announced in 2006, HUD is pursuing numerous initiatives for the 5 million units of public and assisted housing that we support, as well as for housing financed through our grant programs. In 2007, these initiatives saved an estimated $33 million in energy costs.

The main goals of our Energy Action Plan are to equip HUD's consumers, partners, and other housing providers with the support and assistance necessary to achieve substantial gains in energy efficiency. Through these efforts, HUD strives to improve the development and design of new housing, as well as to raise the bar on management of existing stock. A new publication, Progress Report: Implementing HUD's Energy Strategy, details how these activities are reducing energy use nationwide.

The plan emphasizes incentives, performance measures, ENERGY STAR^®-rated products, training and education, and residential energy partnerships with local entities. HUD rewards energy-efficiency strategies with additional points in our annual grant award competitions, and we've incorporated energy-related performance goals in our operational plan. Through a partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency, HUD keeps its staff and stakeholders updated on the benefits of ENERGY STAR technology. As an outgrowth of this partnership, HUD's Region 9 office has developed an online bulk-purchasing tool for ENERGY STAR-rated products called Quantity Quotes, which has been used by 1,200 purchasers so far (including schools, apartment building managers, public housing authorities, government agencies, and manufacturers) to purchase 4.3 million compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), 31,000 room air conditioners, 10,000 light fixtures, 10,000 refrigerators, 2,300 clothes washers, 80 dehumidifiers, and 2,500 dishwashers. During the annual 2007 ENERGY STAR Change a Light, Change the World campaign, which elicited pledges from consumers and property owners to replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient CFLs, HUD collaborated with Pacific Gas and Electric in northern California to replace 21,000 light bulbs in 9,800 residential units, saving 11.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Efforts to increase the technical knowledge and capacity of property managers to adopt no- or low-cost energy management strategies include a successful training program, "Save Energy, Lower Costs, and Increase the Comfort and Quality of Affordable Housing," implemented by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. The workshops, led by a faculty of recognized experts in reducing costs through better design and building practices, have trained more than 2,500 people and are available online at www.hud.gov/webcasts/archives/envirhealth.cfm. Specialized workshops in energy performance contracting designed for public housing authorities are held around the country, as are more general-audience workshops designed for participants in public, Indian housing, and HOME programs.

HUD encourages energy efficiency in HOME- and CDBG-funded new construction and housing rehabilitation projects with a reporting system that tracks the extent to which their funds support energy-efficient construction. The ENERGY STAR housing standard was met by 17 percent of all new HOME-funded units by the end of 2007, and as of the third quarter of 2008, that total had risen to 20 percent above the 2007 level. During the same period, CDBG reported that 250 new homes were certified for ENERGY STAR construction, twice the total for 2007.

HUD also promotes the installation of combined heat and power (CHP) systems in existing multifamily buildings. CHP, also known as cogeneration, captures the waste heat produced by generating electricity for a building and uses it to heat and cool the property. With the help of Oak Ridge National Laboratories, HUD is completing feasibility studies in a sample of HUD-assisted multifamily buildings and developing software that will yield preliminary calculations of the potential return on investment for installing CHP systems.

Other efforts to promote energy efficiency in multifamily assisted units focus on weatherization. Many low- to moderate-income recipients of HUD assistance also qualify for DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program. Accordingly, HUD's energy plan includes collaboration with DOE to improve the energy efficiency of HUD properties. This approach is modeled on partnerships that successfully leveraged such funds for assisted properties in New York, where 22 HUD-assisted projects with 60 buildings and 3,474 units completed energy retrofits through the state’s Assisted Multifamily Program. Around the country, weatherization partnerships with utility program providers and state agencies are being implemented, especially in states with utility-financed public benefit funds, such as California's Low-Income Energy Efficiency program and New York's Assisted Multifamily Program/Multifamily Performance Program.

The plan also addresses energy efficiency for HUD-code (manufactured) homes. During 2007, recommendations solicited from the public for increasing energy efficiency in manufactured housing produced a number of thoughtful suggestions. The most significant and promising proposals sought to improve the current thermal envelope to insulation levels that match requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code; to adopt the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers 62.2 standard for ventilation; and to require all manufactured homes to be equipped with ENERGY STAR-rated appliances. These and other suggestions that would address energy loss in duct systems and allow the use of tankless or "instant on" water heaters in manufactured homes are currently under consideration. DOE is also consulting with HUD about developing energy-efficiency standards for manufactured homes that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires to be in place by 2011.

Along with these specific energy-related efforts, HUD is pursuing a broad, environmentally responsible building agenda — including indoor air quality, siting and location, materials selection, and water conservation — to complement the growing number of national green housing initiatives. Moreover, HUD plans to retrofit its headquarters building in Washington, DC with a green roof, solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, high-performance windows, and other energy-efficient measures.

For details on all of these energy-efficiency initiatives, see Progress Report: Implementing HUD's Energy Strategy, which is available as a free download at www.huduser.gov/publications/destech/ energyefficiency_08.html and can be ordered in print for a nominal fee by calling HUD USER at 800.245.2691, option 1.