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Obama's new Home Star “Cash for Caulkers” program

post #1 of 5
1/3/10 at 2:33pm
Thread Starter 

Efficiency First has the scoop on the newly proposed HOME STAR or “Cash for Caulkers” program - a proposed federal program that would provide direct incentives to American homeowners who invest in improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

According to reports, Home Star “Cash for Caulkers” would pay homeowners up to half the cost to retrofit a house in eco-friendly style (up to $4,000) plus help put a quarter of a million unemployed construction workers back to work. The end result would be more eco-friendly homes, lower energy costs and a smaller carbon footprint along with job opportunities. It's estimated that the $23 billion dollar program will retrofit at least 6 million houses and lower the 17% unemployment rate in the construction industry.

See the White House press release.

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post #2 of 5
1/4/10 at 9:40am
I wish they would include crawlspace encapsulation! It makes plenty of eco-sense to me and I want it done, but for my tiny little house it would cost $3400 for this improvement!
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post #3 of 5
1/4/10 at 11:17am
The problem with this type of program is that without proper follow up inspections they are an easy thing to ripoff.

There are certainly plenty of shysters out there waiting for any opportunity to come along.

İf Obama was really interested in creating jobs this type of program should have been in force last January to restart things. İ believe he (and both parties) are more interested in their 'earmarks' where they manage to get credit than they are in really accomplishing anything positive.

 
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post #4 of 5
1/5/10 at 9:55am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, there's this weird part of the proposed plan that notes, In the SILVER STAR track homeowners qualify for incentives based on a list of eligible eco-friendly measures such as white insulating roofs, wall insulation, air sealing, weatherization, duct sealing, lighting and other energy efficiency “low-hanging fruit.”  The GOLD STAR track is a performance-based incentive that rewards actual, audited energy savings – which seems a little hard to track if you ask me, so we’ll see.

The program release notes that this would “Start with an energy assessment prior to work that includes energy modeling to predict savings using accredited, specially trained contractors. After the work is complete, it undergoes third party quality assurance audits. Any combination of retrofit measures that results in 20% reduction would be eligible for $3,500 in incentives, with each additional 5% reduction achieving another $1,500 in incentive.”

So it looks like there may be follow up of some sorts, but following up with all those homes seems overambitious to me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ View Post

The problem with this type of program is that without proper follow up inspections they are an easy thing to ripoff.

There are certainly plenty of shysters out there waiting for any opportunity to come along.

İf Obama was really interested in creating jobs this type of program should have been in force last January to restart things. İ believe he (and both parties) are more interested in their 'earmarks' where they manage to get credit than they are in really accomplishing anything positive.

 
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post #5 of 5
1/5/10 at 9:47pm
İ really would like to see it work. For one thing more dollars would stay in the US than be exported İ believe.

One key is in how the  using accredited, specially trained contractors & third party quality assurance audits are controlled. As İ pointed out before the scammers will be after this hot and heavy so the good guys have to try harder than ever.

This is potentially the most useful program the administration has come up with yet.
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Green Options › Forums › Sustainable Living Discussions › Home & Garden › Obama's new Home Star “Cash for Caulkers” program