Q & A: "Energy Efficiency: Policies, Priorities and Perspectives" Webcast

Questions submitted during the October 19, 2009 Energy Efficienty Forum webcast "Energy Efficiency: Policies, Priorities and Perspectives"

Answers provided by webcast panel of experts:

Steve Nadel: A variety of methods are being used to report program savings. When deemed savings estimates are used, they are often coupled with an evaluation that is used to evaluate and revise the estimates.  Increasingly, utility commissions are requiring that savings be evaluated in order to qualify for incentives.

Audience question: What kind of interaction in there between the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Defense (DOD) and General Services Administration (GSA) on energy efficiency initiatives?

Mark Ginsberg: The DOE has a federal energy management program that works closely with GSA and DOD to encourage the procurement of energy efficient equipment.

Maria Vargas: We work with GSA because they use ENERGY STAR^® to benchmark buildings and equipment. We also work with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on improving energy efficiency in affordable housing. And we work with the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Our focus is on better integrating our services to drive efficiency throughout the country, as well as working with other agencies to make our delivery of services as seamless as possible

Online question: Does the new ENERGY STAR® building rating system have any synergies with American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Building Energy Quotient labels? If not, will the EPA/DOE label have application or administration costs to participate?

Maria Vargas: The short answer is I don’t know. DOE and EPA will look at what’s available in the marketplace that could serve as a starting point for a building rating system. It’s important to remember that our rating system will be looking at many kinds of ratings -- operational ratings, asset ratings, others. There’s a lot we don’t know right now.

Online question: Are there more business opportunities in India or China?

Mark Ginsberg: The growth in China is enormous, but there are also great challenges there. India is a little behind China in terms of its policies and investments, but is making rapid progress. In terms of ease of access to its markets, both countries are very different. It’s important to remember that there are opportunities and challenges to conducting business in both countries. The U.S. Department of Commerce offers a number of services – through its offices in both countries and in Washington D.C. – that provide assistance to businesses wishing to conduct operations in both China and India, as well as a number of other countries.

Audience question: How do federal agencies work with state implementation partners on programs they’ve been developing? How do you utilize the lessons learned working with state partners to improve your initiatives?

Mark Ginsberg: State partners are really valuable to us. Innovations at the state and local levels often percolate up to the federal level. I served as a state energy director in Arizona before moving to the federal government, so I have a special appreciation for the contributions of states. We try to learn from states and provide leadership at the same time.

Maria Vargas: From the ENERGY STAR^® perspective, the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR^® program is a good example. We really can’t be successful in helping make existing homes more energy efficient without a local and/or regional infrastructure to drive efficiency through trained professionals and educated consumers. We accomplish that by partnering with local utilities, regional energy groups, local energy offices and others. We have made changes to the program based on what we’ve learned from state, local and regional partners. Many times, we see our local partners working together without our direct involvement. They’re collaborating with each other and learning from each other even when we’re not in the room.

Steve Nadel: Many of the utility programs that ACEEE is involved with work very closely with ENERGY STAR^® and with local stores and contractors. Right now, major stimulus funds are going to state and local governments for energy efficiency programs. The National Action Plan has created a toolkit to help state and local governments take advantage of ENERGY STAR^®. Also, energy bills currently before the U.S. House and Senate direct large amounts of money toward states. The federal government can set guidelines, but much of the implementation happens at the state and local levels, so these partnerships are vitally important.

Barry Worthington: Also, for twenty years the Energy Efficiency Forum has recognized energy efficiency initiatives at the state and local levels with the Forum’s Governors Award and Mayors Award. Both of these awards recognize state and local officials for leading the federal government with their energy efficiency efforts.

Audience question: There is currently a lot of confusion at the state level around American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. There were lots of shovel ready projects ready to go prior to ARRA that would have been funded through performance contracts. Now, with ARRA funds these projects can be much larger. But states seem confused about how to accomplish that. What are DOE and EPA doing to help them figure it out? Are you sharing best practices of states that are moving more quickly? Are you seeing good models out there? What percentage of ARRA money has been spent? How do you define "spent" – projects underway or money just transferred?

Mark Ginsberg: I haven’t been deeply involved with the ARRA funds, however, you raise an important question about how we leverage ARRA funds with other investment funds to increase their impact. I would personally prefer to see longer term investments. I don’t know the percentage of the ARRA funds that have been spent. I would encourage anyone to go to http://www.recovery.gov for a transparent resource on how ARRA funds are being spent.

Online question: As the Empire State Building is being retrofitted, are there concerns or barriers related to preserving the historic integrity and architectural character of the building? How are those being mitigated?

Clay Nesler: With historic buildings, there are often restoration guidelines. One interesting aspect of the Empire State Building project is that all the window frames in the building are red. When the building was built in 1931, the window frames were built off-site, primed and sent the work site for installation. This was in the middle of the Great Depression, and they ran out of money to paint the window frames. When the windows were upgraded to double-pane glass in 1951, the city insisted that the windows remain red. When our current renovation of the windows is complete, they will still be red. One other interesting aspect of this: we looked very seriously at renewable energy for the Empire State Building. We considered solar panels and/or a vertical access wind turbine that would have spun around the broadcast tower on top of the building that was made famous by King Kong. The wind turbine would have been acceptable to the city, but as it turned out, it wasn’t financially feasible.

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