Category Archives: Goverment Programs

Articles covering proposed or existing goverment programs related to your home

RRP Updates: Home Insurance, LSHR, HR 5177, & the Brochures

By Sean | Published: May 14, 2010
crcnaWell this has been a busy week on many fronts. For most of this week, I have been attending RESNET Training here in Atlanta. Needless to say, the EPA and the fallout from the RRP has not started to dissipate yet. In this article, I have three quick updates, followed by a guest post today from Dean Lovvorn of the Certified Renovator Council of North America’s explaining why many legal “EPA certified” contractors may be working illegally.
Also posted in EPA Lead Regulations | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

EPA RRP & HomeStar Updates

By Sean | Published: May 6, 2010
epa-certified-firm-sls-constructionThe RRP’s Opt-Out Provision: As we mentioned in the 10 days later article, the Opt-Out is going bye-bye. The EPA’s proposed changes to remove the Opt-Out provision have been published in the Federal Registrar. In essence, that means any jobs your customers wish to Opt-Out of, will need to be completed within 60 days, aka
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Also posted in EPA Lead Regulations | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Home Star Update & what is up with these National Organizations?

By Sean | Published: May 4, 2010
In our prior articles on HomeStar, we did an overview of the bill introduced in the Senate, followed up by a list of major issues and our suggestions.  Well, it appears that the bill in the House of Representatives (HR 5019) is actually set to be voted on May 6th, while the Senate bill is
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged | 5 Comments

HomeStar Primer: The Issues & a Fix?

By Sean | Published: April 23, 2010
In our previous article on the HomeStar program, we provided a brief primer on the program, included a copy of the actual bill, and pointed out some of the good aspects of it. In that article we also pointed out some major issues with the program that we feel should be addressed. In this article I would
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged | 13 Comments

HomeStar Primer – Good for the economy, good for homeowners?

By Sean | Published: April 18, 2010
HomeStar (aka Cash for Caulkers) is a proposed measure introduced in the Senate to “create good living-wage jobs in construction and related industries by providing strong short-term incentives for home energy efficiency improvements.”  It was also designed to “reward homeowners for investing in insulation and weatherization, high-efficiency heating and air conditioning equipment, replacement windows and
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged | 8 Comments

ENERGY STAR: Can it and should it be saved?

By Sean | Published: April 6, 2010
As many of our regular readers know, we have long supported and still recommend purchasing ENERGY STAR® rated products. Unfortunately, though there have been some issues that have popped up lately that have caused many groups and individuals to question if the program is more fiction than fact. On the flip side, we have some people
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Weatherization Program: Getting the most bang for your buck – Traditional House

By Sean | Published: February 8, 2010
In our prior articles, we covered the Weatherization Assistance Program & delved into DOE’s priority list for weatherizing mobile homes. We started with the mobile homes because they generally are some of the biggest energy hogs out there. In this article, we are going to look at DOE’s priority list for single-family homes. #1 –
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged | 3 Comments

Weatherization Program: Getting the most bang for your buck – Mobile Homes

By Sean | Published: February 7, 2010
As we mentioned in the prior article – many of the southern states endured some of the coldest weather, we have seen in some 20 odd years and with it some of the highest utility bills. While it is a little too late now to lower January’s bill, one call still take care of the
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged | 10 Comments

Weatherization Program: A primer on the Weatherization Assistance Program

By Sean | Published: February 5, 2010
In Alabama and many of the other southern states, January brought with it some of the coldest weather in some 20 odd years. With the cold weather, many of us also got an additional nasty shock when we opened up our electric &/or gas bills. For those that had not kept up with the maintenance
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged , | 7 Comments

In case you missed it; October is National Energy Awareness Month & a quick primer on the Energy Tax Credit

By Sean | Published: October 10, 2009
Ok, I admit it, I had no clue and this is its 22nd year of it being observed. Obviously though I am not the only one, as one site that lists all the different “National Fill in the Blank Month’s” has over 30 listings just for October and not one of them is about energy.
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Posted in Goverment Programs | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

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