Huff PO gets in on the Home Star act!
July 26, 2010 on 1:29 pm | In General News | No Comments Carl DonovanLaura Hutchings, Huffington Post
July 20, 2010
Like many small business owners in the energy efficiency and construction industries, I have spent months writing letters to my senators in support of the home energy retrofit legislation called Home Star. Tomorrow, Congress will determine whether the Home Star Retrofit Act of 2010 will make its way to the Senate floor as part of the Small Business Jobs bill. As the Co-Chair of Efficiency First Colorado, I am writing with an urgent call to action from Efficiency First Chairman Greg Thomas and Policy Chair Matt Golden:
The American construction industry, fueled not so long ago by new housing developments and urban renewal, has come to a crashing halt. Unemployment in the construction sector has climbed to nearly 25 percent, greatly impacting the nation’s rate of unemployment at 9.3%.
Fortunately, a viable solution to this ongoing employment crisis is now moving through the United States Senate. The Home Star Retrofit Act of 2010 would make direct consumer incentives available to American homeowners for residential energy efficiency upgrades, reducing household energy waste by 20-50 percent. By boosting demand for skilled home improvement work that cannot be outsourced overseas, Home Star would create good, living-wage jobs for tens of thousands of construction workers who have been sidelined by the recession–and get domestic assembly lines rolling again to provide the insulation, sheet metal, heating and cooling equipment and other manufactured goods that are used in energy upgrades.This bipartisan legislation, which passed the House of Representatives in May and now resides in the Senate, has the potential to create an estimated 168,000 new jobs in construction and related industries over the next two years. Much of the hiring would be done by small business owners in all 50 states who are already engaged in saving American homeowners money on their energy bills. The program has strong support from a broad spectrum of business leaders, trade associations, environmental groups and nonprofit organizations, ranging from local contractors and HVAC services to the Sierra Club and the United States Chamber of Commerce.
America’s Home Performance industry is poised to take on the task of retrofitting America’s existing housing stock with cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades, but now that word has gotten out about Home Star, we’ve seen a 15-20 percent drop in business over the past two months as consumers wait for the Home Star incentives to become available. The sooner we get this law enacted, the sooner we’ll be able to get hardworking Americans off the unemployment rolls and back in productive jobs that are good for the nation and the environment.
To ensure rapid near-term job creation in the construction industry, we call on Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring Home Star to the Senate floor this week as part of the Small Business Jobs bill.
Don’t miss out on your $1,500 in stimulus money!
July 22, 2010 on 6:11 pm | In General News | No Comments Carl DonovanYou could be walking away from $1,500 from the federal government if you don’t make energy efficiency improvements to your home by the end of this year. The available money, part of the ARRA stimulus package, is payable as a credit against your 2010 tax bill.
Known as the Residential Energy Tax Credit, the program pays for improvements to the “building envelope” of your home as well as heating, cooling and water heating equipment. However, in order to get the credit, the equipment has to be “put into service” by December 31st, 2010.
As of 2011, the program will expire and likely will not be renewed, says Carl Donovan of Conservation Pros, an Asheville, NC based building performance contracting firm.
“There’s a bill pending in Congress right now, know as Home Star.”, says Mr. Donovan, “If it passes, it will certainly replace any sort of tax credits or other federal incentives.” The pending bill is dubbed “Cash for Caulkers” due to its resemblance to the very popular Cash for Clunkers program of earlier this year.
One of the most important similarities is that Home Star will be an immediate, “point of sale” rebate for residential efficiency improvements, rather than a tax credit, which could take months to claim.
There are differences between the two programs, however, that bear consideration. “Perhaps most importantly”, says Mr. Donovan, “Home Star won’t offer any rebates for do-it-yourself improvements, while the existing tax credits do.”
He goes on to suggest that it’s possible for homeowner’s to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses in both programs, maximize efficiency gains and get substantial rebates and credits in the process. “However,” cautions Mr. Donovan, “let’s not forget that Home Star is still just a bill before Congress and that the tax credits are very real. And that they’re expiring very soon.”
For instance, Mr. Donovan points to an example of a homeowner who recently contracted with his company to do work in his moist and moldy crawlspace. “Not only did he get a better insulated home and a completely dry, mold-free crawlspace, he will qualify for the entire $1,500 credit on his taxes this year.”
To clearly define the pros and cons of each program, and explain how to get the most from each, Conservation Pros has put together a presentation entitled “5 Things You Can Do To Claim The Home Energy Tax Credits In 2010”, which they will be offering for free at area libraries.
The program will cover air sealing, insulation techniques, door and window replacement and solar and geothermal options. Some of these things can be undertaken by homeowners and some require contractors but they all qualify for the expiring tax credits.
Dates and times for the presentations are as follows:
Wed, July 28, 5:30 – 7:00pm
North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave., Asheville, NC 28804
Wed, August 4, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Black Mountain Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Blk Mtn, NC 28711
Thu, August 12, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road, Asheville, NC 28803
