Industry News

>>Cities and Businesses Commit to Improving Access to Energy Data
Source: energy.gov
As part of the Better Buildings Initiative, the White House formally announced new partnerships with 12 cities and states within DOE’s Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) Platform Collaborative to collect and manage building energy data and share best practices within the broader community. DOE also launched the Asset Score National Leadership Network, a diverse group of commercial building sector leaders spanning commercial real estate, global infrastructure, energy service providers, and governmental actors all dedicated to increase market uptake of BTO’s Asset Score.

>>White House Releases Fact Sheet About Better Buildings Energy Data
Source: betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov
The White House with the Energy Department released a Fact Sheet, profiling how the actions of its Better Buildings Energy Data Accelerator partners led to a historic expansion of whole-building energy data access to building owners by 2017 – significantly increasing opportunities for building energy benchmarking. Also announced arenewpartnerships withcities, states, and companies, aimed atfinding new ways to utilize energy data and put it to work to create a cleaner, healthier, and more energy efficient America. Read the full White House Fact Sheet. Learn more about Energy Data Accelerator Partner Accomplishments and Results. 

>>Amendment to Energy Bill, the SAVE Act, Needs Your Support
Right now the Senate is debating passage of a comprehensive energy bill. One piece that was left out of the proposed bill -- but is being introduced as an amendment -- is the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act would do more to account for the value of energy efficiency in the home purchasing/mortgage process. Here's a one-pager about the SAVE Act, from last year.

>>Congress Passes $1.8 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill and $680 Billion Tax Extenders Package
Source: Craig Brightup
On December 18, 2015, Congress passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill and $680 billion tax extenders package that the President signed into law. The "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016" funds the federal government through September 2016 and the "Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015" (PATH Act) extends over 50 tax breaks for businesses and individuals. Full coverage of this news will be included in the next issue of SPRAYFOAM Professional.

>>Going Green Can Add Value to Your Home
Source: Washingtonpost.com
What is going "green" worth in Washington home real estate? If you rehab a house to exacting energy and environmental standards, or install a solar-panel array on your roof, does your house command more when you sell? If you seal up all the energy-leaking areas in your house, install a highly efficient heating and ventilating system, new windows and a long list of other green improvements, will a future buyer pay you a premium price for your efforts? A new study conducted by national appraisal experts says the answer most probably is yes — often tens of thousands of dollars more.