Austin leads way in energy efficiency

[ATXboom]

Austin leads way in energy efficiency
By 2015, code changes will reduce energy use by 65 percent in new homes
Click-2-Listen
By Kate Alexander

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The Austin City Council on Thursday is set to adopt energy efficiency requirements for new home construction that would be some of the nation's most aggressive.

By 2015, Austin plans to tighten its building codes so new homes will use 65 percent less electricity and gas than those under construction today.


Larry Kolvoord
AMERICAN-STATESMAN

(enlarge photo)
Rich Marcotte conducts a duct test on the AC/heating system inside a Streetman home under construction at the old Mueller Airport site. Marcotte says the testing is necessary to get federal tax credit and Energy Star rating and local green building codes will be requiring builders to test for energy efficiency. Marcotte is with Global Energy Services, Inc. which encourages affordable ultra energy-efficient construction techniques. This particular home utilizes a sealed attic system that incorporates Agribalance spray foam insulation which makes it highly energy efficient.


Larry Kolvoord
AMERICAN-STATESMAN

(enlarge photo)
If the Austin City Council approves changes to the building code Thursday, new homes would be required to have radiant barrier systems like this one, starting Jan. 1. The proposed changes are the first of several rounds that are planned as part of an energy efficiency effort. The city hopes that by 2015, new homes would use 65 percent less electricity and gas than those under construction today.


MORE ON THIS STORY
Recommendations from Zero-Energy Capable Homes Task Force


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"I haven't seen any other city ... with such a long-term vision as this. It's aggressive, but it looks very doable," said Aleisha Khan, executive director of the Building Codes Assistance Project, part of the Washington-based Alliance to Save Energy.

Austin owns its electric utility and has used it to promote environmentally friendly energy policies.

"Austin has a generation-long track record and ethos ... of environmental protection," Mayor Will Wynn said. "We have this fabulous reputation to maintain and not just rest upon."

Peter L. Pfeiffer, an Austin-based architect who is nationally recognized for green building, agreed with Wynn.

"The rest of the country is snapping to the fact that we have to do something about how we build our homes and buildings," Pfeiffer said.

Pfeiffer led the council-appointed task force that developed the plan and included home builders, energy efficiency experts, construction trade representatives and others.

The objective of Austin's plan is to make homes "zero-energy capable": energy efficient enough that it is cost-effective to install solar panels or other on-site electricity generation such as wind turbines. Without the energy efficiency improvements, the benefit of on-site generation is lost through leaky ducts and windows.

To reach that goal, four rounds of building code changes will be needed over the next eight years, the first set of which are expected to come Thursday.

The standards, which would be enforced as part of the building inspection process, would apply only to new residential structures under three stories — an estimated average of 6,400 homes per year. They would go into effect Jan. 1.

But stringent mandates for other types of buildings are being developed as part of the city's Climate Protection Plan, which was adopted about six months after the zero-energy task force started its work.

The first round of building code changes would reduce total energy use in new homes 11 percent. To reach the 65 percent goal, code changes planned for the future include increased efficiencies in lighting, windows and appliances.

"The energy savings achieved through later code cycles can be expected to be both more costly and intrusive into people's lives," the task force report said.

The initial changes focus on heating and air conditioning, which represent 40 percent of total electricity consumption for Austin-area homes, said Richard Morgan, Austin Energy's green building manager.

The proposed standards call for builders to tighten the homes so less energy seeps out and less heat comes in; install air conditioning systems more effectively; and use more high-efficiency lighting.

The first round of improvements would increase the cost of building a home almost $1,200, but that amount would be made up over five years through reduced energy costs, the report said.

By comparison, it would take 20 years for an Austin Energy customer to pay off a typical solar panel system even with the utility's incentives, Morgan said.

Over 10 years, the task force estimates, the total cost savings would be double thecost of implementing the improvements.

"It's not about how much it costs to build the house," Pfeiffer said. "It's about how much it costs for the homeowner to own the house."

Harry Savio, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, said the home builders would not have embarked onthese changes without the city's prodding. But he appreciated that the city encouraged the industry's participation.

"The final product is something that balances both sides," Savio said. "It is a good sign of what can be done when you sit down and work together toward a common solution."

New homes are a small portion of the overall housing stock, so Wynn has proposed new mandates for energy efficiency upgrades at the time of sale of an existing home.

A separate task force on the point-of-sale upgrades will be formed by the end of the year; recommendations for the new standards are expected within six months.



Energy-saving plan

Under the proposed building code changes, home builders will be required to do the following:

Install radiant barrier systems to keep heat out.

Test for duct system leakage.

• Conduct new tests for heating and air conditioning systems.

Size air conditioning systems appropriately for the structure.

Install high-efficiency lighting.


Goals of Austin's 'zero-energy' home plan

Start Electric bill Carbon dioxide Equivalent in cars

year savings reductions (tons) removed from road

2008 $2.9 million 20,532 4,489

2010 $9.7 million 69,373 15,169

2013 $19.2 million 137,306 30,023

2015 $31 million 221,597 48,453





kalexander@statesman.com; 445-3618

[KevinFromTexas]

From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...030pelosi.html

U.S. House Speaker Pelosi visits Austin
California Representative touts Congress' environmental record and raises money for Democrats

By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., praised the steps that Austin has taken to curb energy consumption during a stop Monday at City Hall.

Pelosi — in town for a fundraiser at which she met some of the state's top Democratic givers and thanked U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, for his support — said that clean energy programs at the University of Texas and the City of Austin's role in encouraging the use of hybrid vehicles made the city a model for the rest of the country.

"The boast of a clean energy capital of the nation is a very legitimate one," Pelosi said.

She stood alongside Doggett and city officials to tout the passage of House energy bills that give incentives for hybrids and invest in renewable energy technology.

The House legislation would establish a $4,000 plug-in hybrid vehicle tax credit, as well as tax incentives for biking to work. It would repeal tax breaks for oil companies and establish new energy-efficiency standards on household appliances.

Doggett helped craft the plug-in hybrid language, shore up a tax credit for small biofuel producers and raise thresholds for the amount of renewable energy that private utilities must generate, his office said.

Similar legislation passed the Senate. The two houses may have to broker a compromise.

Issues of climate change are "as local as a neighborhood and as global as the planet," Pelosi said.

Earlier this year, Pelosi sounded optimistic that Congress could come up with a bill to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases that have been blamed for global warming. But at Austin City Hall, she said she did not think that such regulation would be taken up until the next session.

"There's some impatience" among environmentalists, said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, "but at the same time, the concern is that Congress get it right because of the fear that if they rush through and pass a weak bill, it would forestall any future action" on climate change.

Doggett said Congress remains far ahead of last year's Republican-controlled House on climate change despite the lack of a carbon dioxide measure.

"Last session, there was no discussion about climate change," he said. "This has been a reorientation of the House."

At a Sunday evening fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the house of former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, Pelosi briefed a crowd of about 150 people on congressional goings-on, including discussions about investments in alternative fuels and exit strategies for Iraq, said former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, who attended the reception.

At the reception, Pelosi singled out Doggett for being the first member of Texas' congressional delegation to endorse her in the race for the speaker's seat, earning him a special place in the House leadership, Mauro said.

A reception invitation said guests could attend with donations starting at $1,000. To join the"Speaker's Cabinet" took a donation of $28,500. (The DCCC did not release how much money the event raised.)

Pelosi makes occasional trips to Texas; a daughter and grandchildren live in Houston.

Originally conceived as a fundraiser, the Austin visit became part of issues trips she makes across the country, sometimes accompanied by fundraisers, said spokesmen in Doggett's and Pelosi's offices.

This month, she talked about technological innovation in Youngstown, Ohio; in late September, she visited the Philadelphia area to talk about cleaner energy and job creation; and in mid-August, she went to Phoenix to talk about health care for veterans, said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi.

By Monday afternoon, she was in Miami to talk about children's health care.

[aliendroid]

It only makes sense. Texas is the nation's leader in green energy with 3300 MW of wind power capacity with 1200 MW Under Construction right now. Texas has by far the largest plan for expanding green power production then any other state, it would only make sense that Austin is leading the nation on how to reduce power usage and be energy efficient.

We need some competition, any other "progressive" states want to try and show this "conservative" and "red" state what being "progressive" is? Or are you just going to let texas do all the progressive changes while you just talk?

[Visiteur]

Yes, it only makes sense, considering you're the second-largest and second-most populated state, and one of the fastest growing.

Let's not drag politics into this. Save it for a political board.

[aliendroid]

Originally Posted by Visiteur

Yes, it only makes sense, considering you're the second-largest and second-most populated state, and one of the fastest growing.

Let's not drag politics into this. Save it for a political board.

Texas has 20 million people.
NY state has 19 million.

Texas has 10 times more wind energy capacity than NY and texas plans to up that capacity from 3,300 MW to over 25,000 MW as fast as possible. Texas also has a 3000 MW and 4000 MW mega-wind-farm in planning and about 1150 MW in offshore wind farm leases signed for future development.

So why does being the 2nd most populated state matter?

Do you know what Bush did to wind energy development in Texas while he was governor?

[aliendroid]

I'm not saying that texas' accomplishments aren't part of america's as a whole which would mean part of a New Yorker's accomplishments as well, they are, I just wish we could start a competition for which state can develop the highest percent of renewable energy use on the grid. It seems like so many states, such as North and South Dakota (which have huge wind energy potential) aren't really pushing it.

[ReginaGuy]

Originally Posted by aliendroid

Texas has 20 million people.
NY state has 19 million.

Texas has 10 times more wind energy capacity than NY and texas plans to up that capacity from 3,300 MW to over 25,000 MW as fast as possible. Texas also has a 3000 MW and 4000 MW mega-wind-farm in planning and about 1150 MW in offshore wind farm leases signed for future development.

So why does being the 2nd most populated state matter?

Do you know what Bush did to wind energy development in Texas while he was governor?

Just an outsider's 2 cents.

NY is also a fraction of the size of Texas, and is much more densely populated. So There probably isn't as much room for wind farms in NY

[Visiteur]

Originally Posted by aliendroid

Texas has 20 million people.
NY state has 19 million.

Texas has 10 times more wind energy capacity than NY and texas plans to up that capacity from 3,300 MW to over 25,000 MW as fast as possible. Texas also has a 3000 MW and 4000 MW mega-wind-farm in planning and about 1150 MW in offshore wind farm leases signed for future development.

So why does being the 2nd most populated state matter?

Do you know what Bush did to wind energy development in Texas while he was governor?

The reason why I brought up population was that it means there is a large demand for energy, as there is here in NY. And I think recent census estimates actually give Texas 23 or 24 million people.

Secondly, ReginaGuy points out the other part of my statement; you're larger than NY. About 5.5 times larger, if I recall. So you're much less densely populated (NY is about 4.5x denser), which means you don't have to go through as much red tape when it comes to establishing wind farms in rural areas. A town near where I am has recently had proposals for a wind farm, but because it is within sightlines of a couple dozen homes, even this relatively rural area of NY has miles of red tape to go through before anything can be built. I think it's easier to develop wind farms when they areas aren't as densely populated, like some of the lesser-developed parts of Texas.

[mind field]

Originally Posted by aliendroid

It only makes sense. Texas is the nation's leader in green energy with 3300 MW of wind power capacity with 1200 MW Under Construction right now. Texas has by far the largest plan for expanding green power production then any other state, it would only make sense that Austin is leading the nation on how to reduce power usage and be energy efficient.

We need some competition, any other "progressive" states want to try and show this "conservative" and "red" state what being "progressive" is? Or are you just going to let texas do all the progressive changes while you just talk?

Before you get to cocky, remember that Houston is the nation's energy and BIG OIL capital! And I'm positive that there is nowhere in Texas that emulates the insane density of New York City and it's very high mass transit usage. The lifestyles many New Yorkers lead has less of an impact on the environment than your typical American living in the suburbs.

But this is great that Austin is taking charge with new home construction! I hope other cities across the nation emulate Austin, although it probably helps in some way that the city owns the electric company. That's also great that Texas is the nation's wind energy leader! We need to be pushing wayyyy harder for more renewable energy usage!!

[alleystreetindustry]

now if only every city in america (and even the world) would adopt such standards. wonderful job austin!

[austin242]

We need even more stuff like this and any city who is behind us could do a lot more.