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City-Scale Retrofit Programs

City-Scale Retrofit Programs. Satya Rhodes-Conway COWS June 18, 2009. COWS “Milk for the Movement”. Research center at UW Madison “Think-and-do tank” for high-road economic development Good jobs and clean energy. The Problem(s). High energy use and bills GHG emissions

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City-Scale Retrofit Programs

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  1. City-Scale Retrofit Programs Satya Rhodes-Conway COWS June 18, 2009

  2. COWS“Milk for the Movement” • Research center at UW Madison • “Think-and-do tank” for high-road economic development • Good jobs and clean energy

  3. The Problem(s) • High energy use and bills • GHG emissions • Inefficient buildings • Cost of improvements • Hard to get and pay back a loan • Unemployment • Dead-end jobs

  4. Buildings cause: • 38.9% of U.S. energy use • 38% of U.S. CO2 emissions • Low-income households spend 14% of their income on energy, compared with 3.5% by other American households

  5. The Solution: Energy Efficiency Retrofits • Measures like: • air sealing • insulation • lighting and appliance upgrades • Relatively low-cost • Reduce energy bills • Cost-effective GHG reduction • Can provide good, entry-level jobs Pete Davis

  6. Costs and Savings from 10-year payback measures in Milwaukee, WI *Units with most need for retrofits: owner occupied built before 1960 and all rental properties

  7. Who Does this? • Energy Service Corporations (ESCOs) and/or large contractors (large industrial or institutional buildings) • Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) contractors (low-income residential properties) • small contractors (private residential or commercial properties) Sammy Avedon, Town of Babylon

  8. Why isn’t this enough? • Funding available only to: • income-eligible individuals • individuals with sufficient up-front capital to pay for the work • Rely on inefficient referral systems or trust customers to come to them • Residential or commercial buildings, but not both • Variable job quality and advancement opportunities Sammy Avedon, Town of Babylon

  9. City-Scale Retrofit Programs Four key components: • Capture the financial savings from retrofits and use them to pay back the loan • Any jobs created are good jobs and provide training for a career pathway • Achieve economies of scale and consider including both residential and commercial buildings • Target the program to low-income communities, both in terms of where the work is done and who is hired to do it

  10. City-Scale Retrofit Programs • Issues to Address • Financing • Establishing the Coordinating Entity(ies) • Technology and Materials • Job Training • Community Access to Jobs • Working with Unions • Ensuring Job Quality • Ensuring Retrofit Quality • Targeting by Geography and Building Type • Marketing • Customer Service/Service Delivery • Certification of Savings • Secure Cost-Recovery • Evaluation and Improvement

  11. How to set up a program: Key Areas • Stakeholders • Involve as many as possible • Policy • Do you need changes to state or local law? • Program Structure • Who manages? • Targeting and Marketing • “One stop shop” • Quality Control and Evaluation • Financing and Repayment • Labor Standards and Workforce Development

  12. Financial Structure • A revolving loan fund • with on-bill repayment • that follows the property or the meter • Revolving loans make funding available into the future – long after ARRA is gone and the grants are spent • Allows convenient payment from energy savings • Not a personal loan – a service to improve the property

  13. Financing • Sources: • Energy Efficiency And Conservation Block Grants • 20% can be used for loan funds • Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds • Municipal bonds • State public benefits funds • Don’t forget about rebates and tax incentives

  14. Repayment • Utility Bill • Portland, Michigan • Municipal Services Bill • Milwaukee • Benefit or Local Improvement Assessment Districts • Babylon, Berkeley, Boulder

  15. Labor Standards • A green job is a good job: • Higher than poverty wages • Paid sick leave • Health care benefits • Job security • Safe working conditions • Organizing rights • Pathways to advancement Alliance for Affordable Energy

  16. Workforce Development • Don’t reinvent the training wheel • Build on established training pathways in state and local workforce systems • Apprenticeship is a well-established pathway to a good job • Targeted hiring from disadvantaged communities

  17. Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership • Entry Level Construction Skills (ELCS)-Weatherization Certificate • Initial Assessment and Community Partners • Employer-Driven Training • Leveraging Resources for Training • Mentoring and Worker Support

  18. More Information: • Efficiency Cities Network • www.efficiencycities.us • ecn@efficiencycities.us • Satya Rhodes-Conway • satya@cows.org • 608 262 5387 Available at http://cows.org/pdf/rp-retrofit.pdf

  19. The green wave is coming: Will it lift all boats? For more information: www.cows.org

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