DOE initiates efficiency bolstering efforts
Department of Energy (DOE) officials said the agency has identified a series of actions designed to bolster home and building energy efficiency through cleaner and more affordable energy services.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm recently unveiled the actions during a White House roundtable on building efficiency.
“America’s path to a net-zero carbon economy runs straight through our buildings, which means we need to help households and commercial buildings across the nation reduce their emissions and convert to cheaper, cleaner energy,” Granholm said. “These new DOE investments and initiatives will help unlock new innovation for cleaner buildings while preparing a strong, skilled, diverse American workforce to seize good-paying job opportunities right here at home.”
The guidance includes new investments of up to $30 million for the American workforce, resulting in expanding DOE’s support for organizations training and supporting career pathways; focusing on clean and efficient heating and cooling systems in buildings called the Initiative for Better Energy, Emissions, and Equity (E3) – advancing the research, development, and deployment of clean heating and cooling systems; and charting a path to triple the energy efficiency and demand flexibility of domestic buildings within the decade by implementing 14 practical recommendations accelerating the ability of buildings to reduce and change the timing of energy use.
The DOE maintains residential and commercial buildings account for more than one-third of the nation’s climate-altering carbon pollution released annually – using an estimated 40 percent of America’s energy while wasting more than $100 billion each year due to energy inefficiency.
