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US launches $4bn green housing initiative

By Gordon Miller

The Obama-led US Government has unveiled a $4bn (£2.5bn) plan to upgrade public housing for low-income Americans, as part of an ambitious green job-creation project.

The renovation scheme will replace windows, insulation and light bulbs in ageing and neglected low-income housing stock. $500m of the funding will be used to train local people to do the work.

The funds are the first released under the President's green job creation plan announced as part of a $787bn economic recovery plan.

Van Jones, the White House adviser on green jobs, said: "The renovations of public housing stock would account for about 40% of the funds set aside by Obama to improve energy use in government buildings."

The administration envisages a plan where home owners can have their homes retrofitted for greater energy efficiency simply by ticking a box on their utility bill, and then have the cost of the renovations factored into their bills.

In the UK, The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has introduced consultation on a scheme to offer existing homeowners low interest loans and ‘green makeovers’ to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

The consultation discusses plans for a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, designed to encourage homeowners to install renewable technologies.

Energy and Climate Change secretary Ed Miliband said: “We need to move from incremental steps forward on household energy efficiency to a comprehensive national plan - the Great British refurb.

"We know the scale of the challenge: wasted energy is costing families on average £300 a year, and more than a quarter of all our CO2 emissions are from our homes.”

TV presenter Kevin McCloud has launched the Great British Refurb campaign (www.greatbritishrefurb.co.uk) to put pressure on the Government to "help make it easier, more affordable and more attractive for everyone to go green at home".

The campaign, launched in April 2009 at the Grand Designs Live Show, invites the public to sign an online petition to lobby the Government.

The UK Green Building Council has launched a task group to report on the practical steps needed to make a new funding mechanism - pay as you save - for domestic refurbishment a reality.

Ideas mooted under the the “pay as you save” system, include:

    * A package of low-carbon measures in the home would be funded by a third party, with no up-front cost to the householder, landlord or tenant

    * The cost of the measures would be recovered through a charge on the property over a period of 25 years, regardless of ownership

    * Even accounting for the recovery of those costs, the householder would still make savings on their bills.

Gordon Miller, founder of eco homes and sustainable residential development website www.whatgreenhome.com said: "The Obama Government is acting on its election pledges to stimulate the economy through green jobs and investment in renewables technology.

"In the UK, however, what we have is more rhetoric from the Minister about the need to do something and yet another round of consultation about how we might go about achieving it. What we need is less talking and more action.

"Whatgreenhome.com supports the campaign coordinated by the FMB that calls for a cut in the VAT rate on ‘green’ home improvements to 5%.

"A further positive move would be the speedy set up of a nationwide programme to implement feed-in tariffs to encourage homeowners to generate electricity from renewables and to sell the surplus to the national grid.

"Lastly, we argue that Council Tax rebates for energy efficient homes – measured through EPCs - would be the best mechanism to reward those endeavouring to reduce their home’s carbon footprint."

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