North Carolina is one of six states selected to participate in a new nationwide effort to save energy and serve as a model for other states in developing new strategies to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings, reduce utility costs and cut emissions.
“This is an opportunity for North Carolina to continue demonstrating its leadership and commitment to promoting and increasing energy efficiency,” said John Morrison, assistant secretary for energy at the N.C. Department of Commerce.
The state was chosen to participate in the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices “Policy Academy on State Building Efficiency Retrofit Programs,” a nine-month project intended to create and implement exemplary policies and programs for building efficiency retrofits. North Carolina’s proposal focuses on residential retrofits to promote and expand the number of residential energy-improving upgrades in the state. The effort will be a public-private initiative involving the Governor’s Office, the state Energy Policy Council and N.C. Community Colleges along with Advanced Energy, the state’s utilities and energy-efficiency contractors.
Other states selected to participate in the initiative are: Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Utah and Wisconsin. All states will work with experts provided through the NGA Center and resources within the state to develop the model programs.
Current national efforts at cost-effective energy upgrades can touch just a small portion of buildings every year. This latest effort will help participating states develop and refine policy options including: innovative funding and financing mechanisms; building energy use benchmarking tools; targeted education and outreach measures; and workforce training programs. These measures will help states design larger-scale building retrofit programs that lead to lower energy use, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of new jobs.
The NGA Center Policy Academy is being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, which has responsibility for $11 billion under the Recovery Act to retrofit and weatherize buildings, along with additional funding to deploy other efficiency and renewable technologies.
For more information about this policy academy and other NGA Center Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Division efforts, visit www.nga.org/center/eenr.