KY3: New Home Energy Audit Tax Credits

Contact KY3's Cara Restelli reports on the new Missouri tax credit for home energy audits and implementation of their recommendations. City Utilities home energy auditor John Smith demonstrates a home energy audit. CU Director of Energy Conservation Cara Schaefer and HBA of Greater Springfield Executive Officer Matt Morrow also provide comment on the program. You can watch the video directly from the SpringfieldHBA.com website below, or by clicking here.

State Launches Home Energy Audit Program with Tax Incentive

Gov. Matt Blunt today launched a new program to help Missouri families conserve energy and reduce their tax burden with certified home energy audits.

"Certified home energy audits will give Missouri families reliable guidance when it comes to energy use and waste reduction, saving money on overall energy costs as well as offering another tax break," Gov. Blunt said. "Every effort to conserve energy and make environmentally-friendly choices has a positive impact on our future. As governor, I have worked to ensure that our generation leaves Missouri’s environment in better shape for our children and grandchildren with initiatives that are good for taxpayers and our air, land and
water."

For the first time ever Missourians can now apply for formal certification as a home energy auditor. The certification process is the first step to providing Missouri families access to the new tax break. The Department of Natural Resources recently finalized certification requirements and guidelines and is accepting applications from Missourians who want to be certified as energy auditors under this new program.

Certification of home energy auditors was included in the new law to help ensure that residents receive the most up-to-date advice and recommendations on ways they can reduce their energy consumption. Missouri taxpayers who enlist the help of certified home energy auditors will be able to qualify for the deduction beginning with the 2009 tax year. The law allows taxpayers to deduct the costs of qualified home energy audits and related recommendations from their federal adjusted gross income.

More information and application forms are available through the Department of Natural Resources, www.dnr.mo.gov/energy/residential/homeenergyaudits.htm.

The law also enacted Gov. Blunt’s Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday,
pushing Missouri to the forefront of a national effort to encourage greater
energy efficiency. Missouri is just the fourth state after Florida, Connecticut,
and Virginia to place this forward-looking legislation into statute. The
holiday will start on April 19th and end on April 25th. All sales of Energy-Star
washers and dryers, water heaters, trash compactors, dishwashers, conventional
ovens, ranges, stoves, air conditioners, furnaces, refrigerators and freezers,
up to $1500, will be exempt from state sales tax between April 19th and April
25th.

What is "Greenwashing"?

By Cara Shaefer, City Utilities of Springfield

Director of Energy Management & Conservation

“I’ve heard the word “green” so much lately…” is how one of the new Focus on Green spots starts out – and isn’t it true? Daily we get bombarded with green messages, but how do we know which ones we can trust?

Greenwashing
Recently I read an article titled The Six Sins of Greenwashing by the environmental Marketing group TerraChoice. This company conducted an investigation into 1,018 consumer products that claim to be environmentally friendly and found that “all but one made claims that are demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences”.

They identified six categories these misleading claims could be rolled into:
• The sin of the hidden trade off;
• The sin of no proof;
• The sin of vagueness;
• The sin of irrelevance;
• The sin of the lesser of two evils;
• The sin of fibbing.

The Six Sins of Greenwashing TerraChoice’s Definitions
-The Hidden Trade-Off: A claim that a product is green based on a single attribute, without attention to other important environmental issues.
-No Proof Available: A claim that cannot be substantiated by easily accessible supporting information.
-Vagueness: A claim that is so poorly defined or broad that it is meaningless.
-Irrelevance: A claim that is true but unimportant (often because the statement is true for all similar products).
-Lesser of Two Evils: A claim that is true within the product category but that distracts the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole.
-Fibbing: A claim that is simply false.

There are lots of examples of greenwashing, such as:
• A caulking product that claims to be “ENERGY STAR®” registered, but ENERGY STAR does not label this product.
• “This is a CFC-free product.” Since chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs) have been banned for almost 30 years, there are no products that are manufactured with it.
• A product that simply states “This is an environmentally safe product” yet has no other information or label proving that claim.
• Office technology (printers, copiers, fax machines) that promote energy efficiency without attention to hazardous material content, indoor air quality, or compatibility with recycled paper or remanufactured toner cartridges.

TerraChoice based their report on claims from many different consumer products like hand soap, paper, laundry detergent, and multi-purpose cleaner. But they also reviewed building products such as insulation, paint, caulking, appliances and wood panels.

To avoid purchasing a product based on a misleading green claim, look for a product that has a standardize Eco-label, or one that has multiple green attributes. Along with the US Federal Trade Commission, the International Organization for Standardization has established environmental information guidelines under ISO 14024. This has helped establish labels that can be recognized around the world for multi-attribute green products – EcoLogoCM and Green SealTM:

http://www.ecologo.org/

http://www.greenseal.org/

While TerraChoice’s testing may have gone a bit overboard finding fault with 1,017 out of 1,018 products, they do a good job of pointing out that we should all be aware of exaggerated “green”, “sustainable”, or “environmentally friendly” marketing claims.

Trust the Professionals
This made me think of some of the energy saving claims that we deal with on a regular basis. How many times have you heard a single product claim that it will “cut your utility bills in half” or “you’ll never pay a utility bill again”? Just like the greenwashing, these claims are almost always false or incredibly misleading. We all know that a single product will not solve all the energy efficiency issues in a house. That is why we try to educate our customers to take a “whole house” approach to energy and water savings.

Having standards and certifications for energy efficient products and buildings are ways to insure that the additional investment will pay off AND that you are indeed getting a home that is energy efficient and/or green. ENERGY STAR® is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, and since 1992 it has been providing a label to those products that prove to be at least 10-25% more efficient than the standard model. You can find the ENERGY STAR label on major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home electronics, and more recently, new homes and commercial and industrial buildings.

City Utilities is proud to be an ENERGY STAR Partner and offers an ENERGY STAR Home Rating Service to customers who want an objective, standardized assessment of their home’s energy performance. This service is performed by a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) professional who will perform diagnostic testing to determine the energy efficiency of the home.

Soon we will be providing the verification service for the National Association of Home Builders Green Building program – another great example of a standardized, consensus based certification program. Stay Tuned!

Just as we point customers to the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield for professional home building or remodeling advice and guidance, we hope you continue to point the community to the local electric, natural gas and water professionals at City Utilities for information related to those services and efficiency. We all benefit when the message is correct and can be verified.

Contact us about EnergyWise
For more information about the ENERGY STAR Home Rating program, or any of our other resources and tools to help customers save energy and water, contact me at 874-8200. You can also find a wealth of information at our website, www.cuenergywise.com.

Improving Your Home's Energy Efficiency with Technology

More and more, home buyers are looking for ways to incorporate home technologies that increase the long-term value of their house but also provide convenience, safety and comfort. These days, energy management tops the list of desired features in new homes, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).  

NAHB’s 2007-2008 consumer preferences survey of more than 2,300 recent and prospective home buyers examined the features, products, amenities and layouts preferred in a new home. 

In the home technology features category, the number one choice among respondents was energy management at 61 percent – up from 45 percent in 2004.  Also ranked highly in this category were multi-zone heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), lighting controls and home theatres.

Staying in the home technology features category, three of the top five most-wanted technology features – energy management, HVAC and lighting control – also provide energy-efficiency.  By incorporating the following technologies, home owners can save money on their utility bills:

Automated HVAC systems can maintain a more energy-efficient temperature while the home owners are away at work, but switch to a more comfortable temperature prior to their arrival home.  Zones can also be created to heat or cool only the areas most used by the occupants, keeping other areas, such as guest bedrooms, shut down until they are needed. According to Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, programmable thermostats can save consumers about $180 per year in energy costs. 

Water heaters with a timer can be turned off when the occupants are traveling, then can turn on and begin heating the water in preparation for their return home.  Tankless gas water heaters – which only activate when residents start to use hot water and immediately de-activate when they are done – are also a great option and can reduce water heating costs up to 35 percent annually.

Lighting can make up 10 to 20 percent of the total electrical usage of the home.  Installing an automatic dimmer, which adjusts to the homeowner’s needs based on time of day or occupancy, will lower electricity bills and increase the life expectancy of light bulbs.  

Blinds and drapes can be programmed to close during the hottest part of the day to block out the sun; keeping the house cooler.  In the colder winter months, they can open up to allow the sun in to warm the house, which helps regulate the room temperature.

By incorporating technologies that help make your home operate more efficiently, Energy Star estimates that home owners can save $200 to $400 annually on their energy bills. If you'd like to see how specific energy efficiency upgrades to your home could affect your local utility bill, City Utilities of Springfield has exceptional online calculators that allow consumers to compare various technologies and upgrades and the impact that each should have on their utility bill, using City Utilities actual rates. 

For more information on these and other home technologies available, contact the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield or visit the National Association of Home Builders online.

'Living Green & Loving It' Summit & Expo

A national conference on "living green" will be held in Branson on Friday July 25 & Saturday, July 26. The 'Living Green & Loving It! Summit & Expo 2008' will be held at Tri-Lakes Center. Hosting 80+ exhibitor’s booths featuring the nation’s cutting-edge “green” technologies impacting:  construction, lenders & green mortgages, renewable energy systems & sources, daily living products, and so much more.  

The conference is designed to benefit two audiences: green construction  manufacturing companies committed to building highly energy- efficient homes affordably, and consumers who seek reliable, practical guidance on achieving better energy-efficiency in their day-to-day lives.

For information & tickets visit: www.hthconstruction.com/expoinfo.html Presenters include geothermal heating & cooling specialist Gemma McKee-Bartholomew and former California EPA Secretary Terry Tamminen. Entertainment will be provided by popular vocalist Jake Simpson.

Living Green & Loving It!  Expo  

For tickets call Tri-Lakes Center (417) 336-0219  

General Admission: $8 /$6 Local Residents

Kids 12 & Under Free 

For more information:

http://www.hthconstruction.com/expoinfo.html

Gemma McKee-Bartholomew

417.739.2185