News Release

WASHINGTON—Buildings consume more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy and account for the majority of the nation's electricity consumption. To help states develop strategies to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings and reduce costs and emissions, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) today announced six states – Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin – have been selected to participate in the Policy Academy on State Building Efficiency Retrofit Programs.

Current efforts at cost-effective energy upgrades touch a very small portion of buildings every year. The Policy Academy will help participating states develop and refine a number of policy options including: innovative funding and financing mechanisms; building energy use benchmarking tools; targeted education and outreach measures; and workforce training programs. These measures will be used to help states design larger-scale building retrofit programs that lead to lower energy use, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of new jobs.

"Most energy efficiency efforts have focused on new construction or the low-income sector only, often ignoring the substantial energy savings available by retrofitting existing buildings," said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. "This Policy Academy will help states realize energy savings across the board, through comprehensive building retrofits programs."

Building retrofit programs may include measures like air sealing; insulation; upgrading or replacing heating or hot water systems; lighting upgrades; window replacement; appliance replacement with ENERGY STAR products; solar thermal hot water; and energy management system installation.

A Policy Academy is a highly interactive team-based process for helping a select number of states develop and implement an action plan to address a complex public policy issue. Participating states receive guidance and technical assistance from NGA Center staff and faculty experts and consultants from the private sector, research organizations, academia and the federal government.
The Policy Academy is being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, which has responsibility for $11 billion in funding under the Recovery Act to retrofit and weatherize buildings, along with additional funding to deploy other efficiency and renewable technologies.

Click here for more information about this Policy Academy and other NGA Center Environment, Energy &Natural Resources Division efforts.
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Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation's governors and one of Washington, D.C.'s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For more information, visit www.nga.org.