The Efficiency First delegation stormed the hill, meeting with House of Representative members and staffers to provide details about the Home Star program, answer questions, and provide first hand input as to how Home Star will incentive consumer demand for building retrofit services so that American companies can grow by training and hiring skilled tradespeople to be energy auditors, weatherization contractors, and other home performance professionals.

I had the pleasure of attending House of Representative meetings with Matt Golden, Efficiency First Chair, and creative mind behind many aspects of Home Star. Both Democrat and Republican offices our group visited welcomed the message we brought; there was acknowledgment on both sides of the isle that energy efficiency and home retrofitting is a practical approach to benefit energy security, boost local economies, and ultimately transition our country to a green economy. Job creation was a key focus of our message as the rebate structure of Home Star is designed to catalyze consumer demand for home improvements based on a vetted building science, house-as-a-system approaches.

Home Star is structured to quickly mobilize a construction industry with a national unemployment rate currently hovering around 25%. The $6 billion Home Star program has a Silver Standard- a 12 month prescriptive rebate program that delivers 50%, up to $3,000 of rebate dollars for a list of highly effective energy efficiency improvement measures including air sealing, attic insulation, heating equipment, windows, etc. The Gold Star standard is a 24 month performance based incentive program, designed to mobilize qualified home performance contractors to deliver significant home energy savings, measured on specific metrics and ample quality assurance. The rebates are available, beginning at $3,000 if verified 20% energy savings are achieved in the home. For every additional 5% of energy savings, $1,000 is available up to $8,000 or not to go over 50% of project cost. It is anticipated that the median energy savings level will be 35%. Additionally, Home Star will provide $600 million to infuse state and regional financing programs including energy loans, property assessed financing (pace), energy efficiency mortgages, on bill financing and others. These creative financing tools in conjunction with an aggressive performance based rebate program will leverage homeowner investment in energy improvements that increase building durability, enhance health and comfort, and increase energy savings to benefit over 3 million American homes and families.

As we perused Capitol Hill, a consistent concern from Senate and House offices was the specific details of the funding mechanism for the Program. With amazing momentum behind it, Home Star needs to achieve bi-partisan support before the best appropriations source can be identified. As the valid concern for funding source surfaced, the point was reiterated that the building, and building manufacturing sector unemployment rates are increasing- affecting local economies in dramatic ways. Indeed the problem is drastic, calling for significant action from Congress to make a direct rebate program designed to support the construction sector, a significant component of a pending Jobs Bill.

Honestly this thought went through my head before I read the article today in Business Week titled: Energy Measures May Go to Jobs Bill After Brown Win

Just as I reasoned when Bush W beat Sen. Kerry for a second presidential term, sometimes things need to get worse before they get better. A fast swinging pendulum may be in motion after Brown’s upset in MA. A trully effective Jobs Bill that successfully catalyzes the economy through the green industry sector, has a better chance of being passed now that Republicans gained majority in the Senate.

The reason:

Healthcare reform guided by Dems is practically off the table as a priority issue; wrangling will continue as industry interests regain bargaining power and liberal ideas deflate as an option for the centrist Democratic party.

A Climate Bill with a strong cap and trade component is as good as dead at this point with Brown’s upset. (perhaps MA environmentally conscientious Dems who voted for Brown because of change or his truck, failed to see this aspect) A Climate Bill, if even seriously considered in the immediate future, will be full of big money lobby agendas and any carbon reduction targets undoubtedly will fall short of necessary levels to avail climate disasters (maybe more situations like the one in Haiti, will pull troops from war zones, at least)

Yet as Brown himself identified, jobs and economic recovery is now the major priority for Americans. It is likely that creatively minded Dems and liberal policy advocates will see the opportunity of addressing climate needs by advocating for a Jobs Bill that supports ‘green job’ incentive programs.

An excellently structured program, supported by the White House, called Home Star (cash-for-caulkers) will effectively retool the underemployed building sector as retrofitters. Direct cash incentives for home energy efficiency improvements will drive job creation, lower energy bills, and will make existing homes more valuable and durable. (improved home performance also makes indoor building environments healthier- a logical preventative health measure to cut health care costs?) Home’s are responsible for 21% of Co2 emissions. Many red and blue Americans-and their local economies- will benefit significantly from having lower energy bills made possible by incentives for retrofits.

The tipping Senate may increase drive and attention of the underdog Dems to make the most of a pending Jobs Bill. If Dems can’t come together on this one and see the ecological benefits of Home Star as a priority issue, I may jump ship myself.

read more on Home Star

President Obama’s support for Home Star shows his interest in providing a long-term solution to current unemployment trends. News to Congress: We need to think about what the economy is going to look like beyond next election cycle. Supporting local builders, carpenters, and other diverse construction trades to transition to retrofit existing buildings with principals of building science, is absolutely what we need.

The $25billion Home Star incentive program would spur this industry that is extremely diverse, including energy auditors, carpenters, renewable energy specialists, insulation contractors, HVAC technicians, energy modeling specialists and more.

So why a continued focus on ‘shovel ready’, large scale infrastructure centric job stimulus programs as the House committed yesterday? The reason may be, once again, big money corporate interests.

The largest developer/building companies in our country profit the most from huge projects that repair and maintain our existing infrastructure. These companies are making plenty of money with business-as-usual, they are not implementing building techniques that contribute to an ecological or economically sustainable future. Moreover, they will hire and fire as the economy rises and falls. They are the opposite of the small business owner who works to serve their local community.

We must seize this opportunity to put our neighbors back to work retrofitting our existing buildings to benefit our housing stock, secure our energy future, and save local jobs. A jobs stimulus needs to look beyond the lobbying efforts of corporate interests; Home Star would provide a fantastic structure to incentive investment in the growing ‘Home Performance’ industry.

The HOME STAR program will put a lot of people back to work. Construction workers will be trained, hired, and deployed to employ principals of building science in making our homes more energy efficient. With 5 million homes retrofitted a year, many paradigms would shift.

With such a big effort to retrofit homes, our relationships with our homes would effectively change. We would learn how air infiltration causes heat to leave our homes, how we don’t need to live with musty basements, how rooms can be comfortable throughout the house. Insulation would be regarded only as good as the the skill and care it was installed. We would spend a little more on thermal boundary remediation before we sprung for the even bigger TV or exotic granite counter top.

A federal incentive program such as HOME STAR will catalyze the home performance contracting industry. More jobs will come from national investment of capital to drive private sector growth. Better quality of life will come from a large scale retrofication of our nation’s housing stock.

Dollars will be saved in fuel bill savings, jobs will be added, and our mental models will evolve to prepare for the clean energy economy.