USGBC MAResidential Green Building CommitteeEnergy Efficiency Program streamlining with ISD Initiative. Authors: Brian Butler, Peter Sun, Mark Pignatelli, Kimberly Le

Summary

In order to increase participation in City, State, and Federal energy efficiency incentive programs, Residential Green Building Committee (RGBC) members propose a pilot project of streamlining application to these incentive programs through the City of Boston’s online building permit portal.

Massachusetts has been ranked number one in the United States in energy efficiency for four years in a row by the American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) (2). Part of that achievement can be attributed to Mass Save’s energy efficiency programs. In 2015 the program plans to spend nearly $700 million dollars administering programs across all types of construction, assessment, and equipment in the state of Massachusetts (3). Boston is the largest city in Massachusetts with the most amount of construction therefore it stands to gain the most through the potential collaboration. Members of the RGBC envision this idea to be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders involved.

RGBC identified the main stakeholders to be the City of Boston, Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD), Builders/Contractors, and MassSave. The City will benefit from increased energy efficiency measures leading to reduced GHG emissions and booster it’s credentials as a “leading green city”. Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) acts as a funnel for all construction done in the City and last year (2014) the department issued roughly one hundred thousand permits. RGBC members sees this as a tremendous opportunity for ISD to provide additional value add-on to the permitting process and positively influence the building industry in the City. Builders and contractors benefit not only from reduction in paperwork but also receive benefits for implementing energy efficiency measures which will trickle down to the homeowners. It will also introduce MassSave to builders/contractors who previous didn’t know about the program or were too busy to apply. The permitting process is a good time to provide information to builders/contractors about the benefits of implementing energy efficiency measures and make design decisions that can help them receive the benefits. MassSave will welcome the proposal as it will increase their administering rate.

Electric and gas utility sponsored marketing efforts to reach more homeowners are yielding diminishing conversions(1) of turning energy assessments into action. But greater uptake of home performance improvement action is achievable with some fairly simpletoenact measures. It is our contention that a reasonably low-cost and effective way to promote greater

implementation would be to guide those applying for building permits for certain types of residential renovation or energy related work toward incentive programs that might be applicable to the type of work described in their permit application.Some potential cases to consider:

1. Energy Assessment: Mass Save subsidizes the full cost of home energy assessments2. Roof replacement/Siding Replacement/Basement Finishing/Gut Renovation:

Mass Save’s Dee p Energ y Retrofi t (DER ) program offers a dollar persquarefoot incentive for partial and/or comprehensive DER.

3. Insulation: Mass Save Home Energy Services weatherization program offers nocost home energy assessments including incentives up to $2000 or 75% of total cost for insulation and no-cost air sealing.

4. Mass Save Residential New Construction program offers builder incentives for high performance new construction and substantial gutrenovation projects.

5. Heating/Cooling equipment: Mass Save offers equipment incentives and the HEAT Loan Program offers low to no interest loans for qualifying work

USGBC members envision even simple to implement measures such as having a simple checkbox for receiving energy audit or sharing contact info of Mass Save inclined builders/contractors will bring expected benefits to the permitting process. If the pilot proves successful perhaps the department can include other incentives such as low-income housing, solar rebates, and more.

Take aways : Collaboration between Inspectional Services Department (ISD) and Mass Save will greatly increase participation in Mass Save energy efficiency program in the City and result in higher rate of adoption of energy efficiency measures. This will provide value addons for the ISD’s permitting process, help the City with its “Greenovate” agenda, and give builders/contractors monetary incentives for the work they do. RGBC members believe this is a winwin-winwin situation for City of Boston, ISD, Builders/Contractors, and MassSave. If the proposal is implemented other cities around the country will surely take notice and consider the feasibility of it.

Reference(s):1. Golden, Matt. (2014, Dec 3). “Why TopDown Efficiency Programs Are So Expensive

and What We Can Do About it” Retrieved from http://www.greentechmedia.co m 2. Kiker, Patrick. “ Massachusetts Tops California as Most EnergyEfficient State, while

Arkansas, D.C., Kentucky, and Wisconsin are Most Improved.” American Council on EnergyEfficient Economy. RSS. 22 October 2014. Web. 12 July 2015

3. Masssave, “MassSave Data” Retrieved fromhttp://www.masssavedata.com/Public/PortfolioOverview.asp x