A $25 billion question
Will one of the best provisions of the American Clean Energy and Security Act survive the legislative process? If it does, it will keep 250 million tons of carbon pollution out of our atmosphere, the equivalent of taking 50 million cars off the road—while saving Americans an estimated $25 billion per year.
The legislation, approved by the House in June, requires that all new buildings must be twice as energy-efficient as required by today’s standard within seven years. After 2016, the standard ratchets up by 5 percent every three years. The efficiency gains would be achieved through better insulation, more energy-efficient lighting, and more efficient heating and cooling systems, among other steps.
The National Association of Homebuilders and the National Association of Office and Industrial Parks are lobbying to weaken the provision or strip it out of the Senate version of the bill. We’re urging senators to keep it in, while many of our staff in states across the country are pushing local leaders to go further—and put into place policies that will create the a new generation of “zero-energy” buildings.
