CitiesGoGreen - January 2009 - (Page 20) A nationwide energy efficiency program for buildings that pays for itself and jumpstarts the economy. A Community-Based Stimulus Plan Ed Mazria’s plan saves homeowners money, creates green jobs and businesses in every community, and cuts energy costs and use individually and as a nation, among other benefits. by Daimon Sweeney A rchitect and forward thinker Ed Mazria put the dots together in the 2030 Challenge, in which he identified the construction and operation of buildings as the source of nearly half of US greenhouse gas emissions. Building increasingly energy-efficient buildings, he pointed out, is the most direct and effective single thing we can do to stabilize and reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions. That insight and the plan arising from it, which would lead to carbon neutral new and renovated buildings by 2030, are being widely accepted and acted upon. But the change could be quicker. and there’s this small problem with the economy. The incoming Obama administration has plans to inject up to $1 trillion to get the economy on a new footing. Other aims include energy independence, creating millions of jobs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and stimulating a new green economy. The 2030 Challenge offers a foundation for Mazria’s new proposal, which would accomplish all that and more. The 2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan (pdf ) would invest $85.86 billion a year for two years to produce 3.75 million jobs in the building sector and 4.34 million indirect and induced jobs, along with 350,000 jobs from increased consumer spending, for a total of nearly 8.5 million jobs. It would save homeowners $144 - $200 billion in energy and mortgage costs over five years, and create the opportunity for a $1.6 trillion building renovation market which does not now exist. How does it work? In this plan, homeowners are given the opportunity to refinance their mortgages if they also make their homes more energy efficient and reach certain targets. The money for the improvements is provided to them and added to the mortgage principle. Achieving specific energy efficiency targets results in a lower interest rate: 30% more efficient than code earns a 4.5% interest rate, 50% more efficient earns a 4% rate, 75% a 3% rate, and achieving carbon neutrality earns a 2% interest rate. New homes would have to be similarly efficient to qualify for reduced rates, but those reduced rates would not be as low as for an existing house. This weights the incentive toward renovating existing homes. The interest rate reduction can lower monthly payments by hundreds of dollars, even with the cost of improvements added in. Utility bills will be lower as well, freeing up more income. This difference can keep people in their homes and out of foreclosure (and off welfare). Money 20 January 2009 http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/january-2009/current-feature/a-community-based-stimulus-plan http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/january-2009/current-feature/a-community-based-stimulus-plan http://www.architecture2030.org/downloads/2030stimulusplan.pdf http://www.CitiesGoGreen.com
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