February 1st, 2010

Building Efficiency will be BIGGER than Solar in Mass – Part 2

BOSTON -

Last week, I wrote about how Building Efficiency will be BIGGER than the Solar Industry in Massachusetts, this is a follow up to my original post.

With huge money flowing through ‘Cash for Caulkers’ (or HomeStar), Massachusetts DOER, and the utility companies to promote building efficiency, we should have a huge reduction in energy consumption and lots of new jobs soon, right?  Right?

Maybe.

Phil Giudice, Commissioner of MA DOER said that policy makers on the state and federal level are worried about the scalability of this massive national effort.  As he put it, “there is a tremendous amount of building science that goes into basic weatherization projects.”  It takes years to develop the craftsmanship and skill it takes to become a great building performance contractor.  There are a finite number of people qualified to do this work, and right now that number isn’t big enough.

But it’s not just the contractors.  Homeowners and building owners need to be motivated to participate.  The early adopters have already raised their hands – now we’re trying to convert the masses and it’s going to take a herculean effort to educate this enormous group.

So here are the two questions everyone is dying to answer:

1. How do we motivate building owners (both residential & commercial) to invest their time and energy into making their building more efficient?
2. How can we make sure the money we spend on building efficiency pays off?

I’d love to hear thoughtful responses to these questions…

Tagged Building Efficiency, Cash for Caulkers, Massachusetts DOER, Phil Giudice |