If you have not yet read the March 2021 report “ECONOMIC RECOVERY BEGINS AT HOME: Retrofitting US Housing Stock for Jobs, Health, Savings and the Climate” you are in for an exceptional, past due, hard look at a very important course correction for our country then our planet! This recent report by Bracken Hendricks,, Kara Saul Rinaldi, Mark Wolfe, Cassandra Lovejoy, and Wes Gobar clearly shows a far better path forward with huge benefits for our populace and our country. There are even positive covid 19 or other pandemic spread mitigation implication in this plan when compared to our current efforts.
Governmental agencies and utility companies have put a heavy emphasis on renewable energy production for most of our recent years. But as energy professional have preached for many years, “Reduce Before You Produce” make much more sense. Minimize energy demand, then you can “Right Size” renewable energy production. As the ECONOMIC RECOVERY…report states “The buildings sector is responsible for about one-third of all US greenhouse gas emissions (EPA 2018). In 2019, the residential sector represented approximately 16 percent of total US end-use energy consumption (EIA 2019) A full generational investment in energy efficiency for buildings must be a centerpiece of this larger economic and energy transformation.”
This report offers a concrete plan for federal policy to rebuild housing stock, promote health, lower costs for homeowners, advance toward 100 percent clean and carbon-free energy, and protect the global environment. Our country and our planet lost our focus and this plan can markedly improve our plan and direction in a big way. A special thanks is due for Roosevelt Institute and Evergreen Collaborative in making this report available. Now it is up to us to course correct!
Dennis G. Roberts
President
Energy Efficiency Done Right