States Invest More in Energy Efficiency - WSJ.com

Vermontbiz.com says: Vermont #6 in the country for energy efficiency efforts

Vermont has one of the strongest Energy Efficiency programs in the country. Galen Barbose, a staff research associate at the national lab, said the spending increase for energy efficiency programs has been so sharp "that there's an emerging shortage of trained professionals to design the programs, measure results and do the actual work of retrofitting buildings."

Fill the need and profit... Nationally, efficiency program spending is expected to rise from $3.1 billion in 2008 to $7.5 billion to $12.4 billion by 2020. "It's far cheaper to invest in energy efficiency than to build new power plants. A separate study by ACEEE, the scorecard author, found that it costs an average of 2.5 cents to save a kilowatt hour of electricity through the programs. Building new resources like power plants, by contrast, would cost three or more times as much, not counting pollution costs."


Take action:
Efficiency Vermont can help contractors become certified so that they are eligible for substantial incentives - homeperformance@veic.org

These incentives include:

$ Project Bonus: Efficiency Vermont pays participating contractors a cash bonus for each satisfactorily completed and reported Home Performance with ENERGY STAR project.

$ Discount Incentives and Financing: Home Performance with ENERGY STAR contractors can offer their customers access to cash incentives and/or reduced rate fi nancing for qualifying home energy improvements.

$ Diagnostic Equipment Incentives: Rebates on equipment costs are available to help BPI-certified contractors purchase diagnostic testing equipment.

$ Marketing Support: Advertising templates and materials, marketing leads, technical assistance, and financial incentives for cooperative advertising are available from Efficiency Vermont to help contractors market Home Performance with ENERGY STAR services.

$ Reduced Cost BPI Training and Certifi cation: Efficiency Vermont offers discounts on technical training and certifi cation to contractors who become BPI certified and meet Home Performance with ENERGY STAR participation requirements. Training is designed to meet BPI’s Building Analyst, Heating, and Envelope Specialist certifi cations. Training topics include health and safety, basic building science, combustion principles, inspections and diagnostics, and installation and maintenance.

$ No-Cost Mentoring: Efficiency Vermont experts provide training to help contractors prepare for BPI certification, and ongoing field mentoring to assist certified contractors in delivering high quality Home Performance with ENERGY STAR services.

$ Advanced Training: Efficiency Vermont offers free advanced technical training for BPI continuing education credit to Home Performance with ENERGY STAR contractors. In addition to technical subjects, advanced training covers sales and marketing techniques and customer service best practices.