Gold Star Rebates | Ask Window Guy

Home Star….Serious Rebates For Energy Conscious Homeowners

Written by admin on April 21, 2010 – 10:39 pm -

This item appeared earlier today on the Globe’s Business Ticker. Additional comments added in bold from Steve Cowell, of Conservation Services Group in Westborough.

US Representative Edward J. Markey and several congressional colleagues are set to unveil proposed legislation that would create a much-anticipated federal energy efficiency home retrofit program.

Called Home Star, the program is popularly known as “Cash for Caulkers,” a play on Cash for Clunkers, last summer’s rebate for car buyers.

If approved, Home Star will provide rebates to homeowners who purchase and install efficient windows and insulation, or who make other improvements designed save energy.

A spokesman for Markey, a Malden Democrat, said legislators will introduce the bill – the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 – during a 1 p.m. press conference at the House Triangle in Washington D.C. They will be joined by members of the Home Star Coalition, a group of more than 1,000 business, labor, environmental, and consumer organizations that have thrown their support behind Home Star.

Proponents of the energy-saving program have been working for months to hash out a draft for Home Star. Integral in that process was Steve Cowell, head of Conservation Services Group, a Westborough nonprofit that helps customers become more efficient.

Cowell said he will continue to work with legislators as in both the House and the Senate, as well as with coalition members, to make sure that “issues that get raised get properly vetted.”

“This is a step, but as with all things in Congress, a step is wonderful but getting across the finish line is the ultimate object here,” Cowell said. “I think we’ve got bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.”

Members of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee passed a version of the Home Star bill late last month after capping the program’s cost at $6 billion.

If implemented, legislators estimate that the rebate program will create roughly 170,000 jobs and save consumers $9.5 billion in the next decade.

Here are some key elements of the program as Posted on white house website

Rebates delivered directly to consumers: Like the Cash for Clunkers program, consumers would be eligible for direct HOMESTAR rebates at the point of sale for a variety of energy-saving investments in their homes. A broad array of vendors, from small independent building material dealers, large national home improvement chains, energy efficiency installation professionals and utility energy efficiency programs (including rural utilities) would market the rebates, provide them directly to consumers and then be reimbursed by the federal government.
$1,000 – $1,500 Silver Star Rebates: Consumers looking to have simple upgrades performed in their homes would be eligible for 50% rebates up to $1,000 – $1,500 for doing any of a straightforward set of upgrades, including: insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, HVAC units, windows, roofing and doors. Under Silver Star, consumers can chose a combination of upgrades for rebates up to a maximum of $3,000 per home. Rebates would be limited to the most energy efficient categories of upgrades—focusing on products made primarily in the United States and installed by certified contractors.
$3000 Gold Star Rebates: Consumers interested in more comprehensive energy retrofits would be eligible for a $3,000 rebate for a whole home energy audit and subsequent retrofit tailored to achieve a 20% energy savings in their homes. Consumers could receive additional rebate amounts for energy savings in excess of 20%. Gold Star would build on existing whole home retrofit programs, like EPA’s successful Home Performance with Energy Star program.
Oversight to Ensure Quality Installations: The program would require that contractors be certified to perform efficiency installations. Independent quality assurance providers would conduct field audits after work is completed to ensure proper installation so consumers receive energy savings from their upgrades. States would oversee the implementation of quality assurance to ensure that the program was moving the industry toward more robust standards and comprehensive energy retrofit practices.
Support for financing: The program would include support to State and local governments to provide financing options for consumers seeking to make efficiency investments in their homes. This will help ensure that consumers can afford to make these investments.

The program will result in the creation of tens of thousands of jobs while achieving substantial reductions in energy use – the equivalent of the entire output of three coal-fired power plants each year. Consumers in the program are anticipated to save between $200 – $500 per year in energy costs, while improving the comfort and value of their homes.