>>Shaheen-Portman Bill (S. 2262) Derailed
Source: ase.org
Energy efficiency policy experienced a set-back as the Shaheen-Portman bill (S. 2262) was derailed before reaching a final vote on the Senate floor. It has been seven years since Congress has passed a major energy bill, and non-energy efficiency related pent-up political issues were blamed for contention over the legislation.
In other words, the disagreements over Shaheen-Portman had nothing to do with the bill itself; everyone agrees about the merits of energy efficiency. After all, the House of Representatives recently passed energy efficiency bill H.R 2126 with overwhelming bi-partisan support, and the President announced last week that the Administration would provide $2 billion in additional funding for energy efficiency performance contracts.
>>Lapolla Industries Signs AirTight® Multi-Family Energy Savings Program Agreement
Source: lapolla.com
Lapolla Industries, Inc. announced that its AirTight® Division ("AirTight") has entered into its first Multi-Family Energy Savings Program agreement with the multi-billion dollar REIT, Home Properties, Inc., to implement its proprietary energy savings program at the Jacob Ford Village Apartments located in Morristown, N.J. For details, click here.
>>Update from the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America
Source: energy.gov
Topics addressed in the current newsletter include:
-A Top Innovation Spotlight on the Building America Solution and new checklist and mobile app features
-Winners of the DOE "Race to Zero" Student Design Competition
-Applications now being accepted for the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards
-May 21 webinar on high performance building enclosures for existing homes
-Residential building success stories from the Pacific Northwest
-Upcoming DOE Challenge Home technical trainings on Building Energy Optimization Tool (BEopt), Housing Innovation Awards, and Low Load HVAC
-The latest publications from Building America: measure guidelines, case studies for new and existing homes and technologies.
Click
here to access the newsletter.
>>Organizations Announce Commitment to Promote Resilient Buildings
Source: ashrae.org
Leaders of America’s design and construction industry – along with building owners and operators – for the first time have agreed to incorporate resilience in planning, building materials selection, design, construction and operational techniques to make the nation’s aging infrastructure more safe and secure. Resilience is defined as the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from and more successfully adapt to adverse events.
The leadership of almost two-dozen leading design and construction industry associations with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP today used the occasion of "Building Safety Month" to issue a joint statement on resilience, which can be found
here.
The statement was unveiled at a press conference at the National Building Museum, where a major exhibition titled Designing for Disaster presents design and building solutions for disaster mitigation, opened May 11.
>>SPFA Sponsors U.S. DoE Student Competition -- Apply Now for Next Year
Source: energy.gov
As part of
its Building America Program, the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) invited college students across the United States to participate
in the DOE Challenge Home Student Design Competition and become part of a
leadership movement to achieve truly sustainable homes. There were 28 teams from across North America and more than 300 students participating.
From April 26-28 at the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in Golden, Colo., the teams presented their
designs and competition awards were announced in these categories: Grand Winners, Best Design Solution Integration, Best Technical Integration, Best Presentation and Best Production Home Integration.
The Grand Winners were:
>Montage Builders Northern Forest: State University of New York – Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse University, and Onondaga Community College - Best Single-Family Detached Design (
project profile |
presentation)
For a complete list of winners, click
here.
To be part of the next competition, be sure to fill out your applications! Applications for the second annual Housing Innovation Awards have just been posted. This distinction allows builders to transform their core message from ‘what you build’ to ‘why you build.’ And in the case of award-winning, zero energy ready homes, it’s all about delivering a superior living experience. But, you have to apply. And of course you must have at least one DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (formerly known as the DOE Challenge Home) certified by June 30, 2014. Which means it’s also time to make sure your HERS rater is submitting all certified homes to DOE.
>>Free Monthly Webinars with U.S. Dept. of Energy Building America Program
Source: energy.gov
U.S. Department of Energy Building America program to present monthly webinars that will offer information about the latest advances in residential building technologies and practices. An upcoming webinar is entitled, Going Green and Building Strong: Building Fortified Homes Part 1, and will be held June 5 at noon EDT. The webinar will focus on specific Building America projects that have implemented technical solutions to retrofit building enclosures to improve energy and durability.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar.
>>SPFA PCP Training Puts Honeywell Solstice® LBA to the Test
At SPFA’s SprayFoam 2014, contractors gathered to complete the SPFA Professional Certification Program. For the first time, roof field exams were offered as part of the program. Contractors sprayed a West Development Group roof system made with Honeywell’s new low global warming potential Solstice® Liquid Blowing Agent. View the video (http://youtu.be/85Nbs614vuM) for the full story.