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US state’s big push for energy efficiency

Mass. pushing whole energy efficient neighborhoods Google News By STEVE LeBLANC (AP) – 22 Dec 09 BOSTON — Massachusetts officials are hoping to use a federal stimulus grant to take the idea of energy conservation down from the lofty heights of solar panels and wind turbines and bring it back to the neighborhood.The “whole-neighborhood” approach to energy efficiency sounds simple enough, even mundane — from weather-stripping to improved insulation.But in New England with its bitter winters and drafty, aging housing stock, that challenge can be more daunting than in balmier parts of the country.

It can also produce more dramatic fuel savings.The goal of the federal “Retrofit Ramp-Up” program is to demonstrate that economical energy upgrades can be created for a large portion of residential, commercial and public buildings in specific communities.The state has teamed with the City of Boston to seek the $60 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to show that significantly upgrading energy efficiency in an older, urban neighborhood is possible.

The Associated Press: Mass. pushing whole energy efficient neighborhoods

December 22, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, ENERGY, USA | antinuclear, energy efficiency, renewables