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April 2006
This monthly e-mail
update is brought to you by HUD's
Public Housing Energy Conservation
Clearinghouse (PHECC). It features
news and resources to help public
housing authorities manage energy
and water costs. To see past issues
of this newsletter, and to access
more information and tools for
public housing authorities, visit
the Public Housing Energy
Conservation Clearinghouse Website
at
http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/ph/phecc/.
To
contact the Public Housing Energy
Conservation Clearinghouse email
pheccinfo@drintl.com or call
1-800-955-2232. |
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News:
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California Utilities Fund $2B in
Energy Efficiency Rebates:
Largest Effort in History
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| Good at
What You Do? Apply for a $25,000
Property and Asset Management
Award
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SuperNOFA Grants Offer
Modernization Opportunities
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Events:
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Multifamily Buildings 2006, June
26-28, New York, NY
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Success Stories:
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Nebraska Energy Office:
Affordable and Efficient at No
Extra Cost |
Technology Tip:
| Water
Heating: Selecting the Right
Temperature for Your Building
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Energy Watch:
| High
Energy Costs Boost Construction
Costs |
Websites Worth a
Click
| Spring
Cleaning: Is It Time to Adjust
Your Utility Allowances? |
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California Utilities Fund $2B in
Energy Efficiency Rebates, Largest
Effort in History
The California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
recently issued $2 billion in
funding for energy efficiency
programs in 2006-2008, including
installation of qualifying
energy-efficient products in
multifamily buildings. This energy
efficiency and conservation campaign
is the most ambitious in the history
of the U.S. utility industry.
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Look to
these California utilities
for home improvement rebate
programs in the state:
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Pacific Gas and Electric
rebates range from $.15
per square foot of
insulation to $1,500 for
central system natural gas
boilers. Rebates are
available for buildings that
contain five or more units.
To qualify, contact the
utility before making a
purchase.
Search
the
ENERGY STAR special offer
locator to find utility
promotions in your state. |
Good at What You
Do? Apply for a $25,000 Property and
Asset Management Award
The Enterprise Foundation and
the MetLife Foundation are offering
Awards for Excellence in Affordable
Housing. Regional- and
community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organizations and Tribally
Designated Housing Entities are
eligible for awards ranging from
$10,000 to $25,000. Awards are
available in two categories:
Supportive Housing, and Property and
Asset Management.
Applications
must be submitted by May 5, so
apply now.
SuperNOFA Grants
Offer Modernization Opportunities
On March 8, HUD
Secretary Alphonso Jackson unveiled
HUD's Fiscal Year 2006 “SuperNOFA,”
making available over $2 billion in
grants through 39 programs. Some
programs offer funding for
modernization:
| Section
202, Supportive Housing for the
Elderly
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| Section
811, Supportive Housing for
Persons with Disabilities
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| Section
8, Moderate Rehabilitation
Single Room Occupancy Program
for Homeless Individuals |
The Department
encourages applicants to submit
their applications electronically
through
www.grants.gov.
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Multifamily Buildings 2006
June
26-28, 2006
New
York, New York
This
conference, presented by the
Association for Energy
Affordability, offers a
wide range of topics useful
to PHAs, including: |
|
Earth Day is April 22
Plan an
Earth Day event to help
tenants save energy and
water.
Find ideas on the PHECC
Website. |
| Energy
and water efficiency in public
housing: challenges and
successes
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| ENERGY
STAR opportunities for
multifamily new construction and
existing buildings
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Low-rise, multifamily housing
success stories
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Healthy, durable, and
energy-efficient affordable
housing
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Operations and maintenance
innovations
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Advanced metering, demand
management, and building
controls
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Financing and tax credits
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| Utility
and public benefit programs
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| Federal
low-income energy assistance and
the Weatherization Program’s
role in multifamily housing
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Nebraska Energy
Office: Affordable and Efficient at
No Extra Cost
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The
Nebraska Energy Office (NEO)
completed a prototype home
last spring that
demonstrates that affordable
housing can be built with
much higher energy
efficiency at no additional
cost. In fact the house is
40% more energy efficient
but didn’t cost more to
build than a conventional
home of the same size. To do
this, NEO worked with
building science
professionals from the
Consortium for Advanced
Residential Buildings (CARB)
through a partnership with
the Department of Energy’s
Building America program. |
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Design, Installation, and
Sizing
If you
install energy-efficient
equipment and do not
consider the entire building
system, you may not see the
savings you were expecting.
Proper system design,
installation, and sizing are
key. |
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Value-engineered framing can
reduce the amount of wood
used in stick-frame
construction as much as 25
percent. |
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Located
in Lincoln, Nebraska, the
house was built with a
systems engineering approach
that considers how features
of one component in the
house can greatly affect
others, enabling the
incorporation of
energy-saving strategies at
no extra cost. For example,
a well-insulated, airtight
shell allows for a smaller
heating or cooling system.
These savings can then be
reinvested in other
energy-saving upgrades, such
as high-performance windows,
that further reduce energy
use and costs. Other
techniques employed in the
Nebraska house were: |
Read more about
techniques NEO employed to
cut construction costs.
For more
information about value-engineered
framing, also called advanced
framing techniques, from the
Partnership for Advancing Technology
in Housing, visit:
Water Heating:
Selecting the Right Temperature for
Your Building
Over the past
few months, PHECC has provided
guidance on proper water heating
temperatures. The challenge for
every PHA is providing sufficient
hot water to residents at
temperatures that are low enough to
reduce the danger of scalding, but
high enough to prevent bacteria
growth. Sometimes, it’s a catch-22.
 The
water heater temperature setting for
single-family homes should be no
higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit,
according to the U.S. Department of
Energy and the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC). This
setting prevents scalding accidents
and will conserve energy and save
money compared to higher settings.
Larger system water heater settings
aren’t quite so straightforward. Due
to
temperature losses during
distribution, the setpoint at
the heater might have to be higher
than 120 degrees in order to deliver
120 degree water to the taps in
multiple residences. Also, larger
water heating systems are more
susceptible to bacteria, which can
grow when water is stagnant. Check
your local code for temperature
settings and follow these tips to
keep water in multifamily buildings
healthy:
| Avoid
conditions that allow water to
stagnate, says the Occupational
Health and Safety Administration
(OSHA). Large water-storage
tanks exposed to sunlight can
produce warm conditions
favorable to bacteria. Frequent
flushing of unused water lines
will help alleviate this
problem. Refer to
OSHA’s guidance on operating
systems for guidelines.
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According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA),
chloramine, rather than
chlorine, can be used for
disinfection. Chloramine may
prevent bacteria somewhat better
because it
does not dissipate as
readily as free chlorine when
the water is heated. (Fish
owners must remove chloramines
from water used in aquariums or
ponds, but treatment products
are readily available at
aquarium supply stores.)
Chloramines also react with
certain types of rubber hoses
and gaskets, such as those on
washing machines and hot water
heaters. |
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High
Energy Costs Boost
Construction Costs
Last
year’s dramatic increase in
fuel costs has increased
this year’s construction
costs, according to
McGraw-Hill Construction.
The research firm reported
an 8-percent increase in
material costs for building
construction, including a
15-percent increase for
wallboard, a 13-percent
increase for plastic
construction products, and a
10-percent increase for
concrete products. |
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Efficient Showers Save
Water and Energy
An
efficient showerhead
will save a family of four
about 27 cents a day on
water and 51 cents a day on
electricity, which adds up
to $285 per year. Installing
them couldn't be easier:
just screw them on. |
This rise in
construction costs makes
energy-saving design even more
urgent.
Green Communities, a five-year,
$555 million initiative to build
healthy homes for low-income
families, lists
20 low-cost strategies for green
construction. Most of these
involve energy-saving strategies,
such as:
Spring Cleaning:
Is it Time to Adjust Your Utility
Allowances?
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When
retrofits reduce energy
consumption, utility
allowances should be
adjusted accordingly. As
indicated by
24 CFR 965.507, the
basis on which utility
allowances have been
established shall be
reviewed at least annually.
This is especially important
in these times of volatile
energy prices. For those
with an active Energy
Performance Contract, work
with your ESCO to review and
establish revised utility
allowances. |
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Quick Tip
PHECC’s
Utility Allowance Webpage
provides guidance on how to
set utility allowances. |
Energy-efficient
utility allowances benefit PHAs by:
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Allowing the PHA to keep more
money for rent. For example, if
the utility allowance is reduced
by 10 dollars, 10 dollars can be
added to the cost of rent to
achieve the allowable housing
burden.
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Accurately reflecting the cost
of utilities that
energy-conserving households
pay.
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Supporting production of
energy-efficient affordable
housing units. |
Learn how
Designed for Comfort, an energy
efficiency incentive program, is
helping PHAs in California develop
energy-efficient utility allowances.
Comments?
Questions? Email the newsletter
editor at
pheccinfo@drintl.com. |
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