The popular government loan program for home energy retrofits is still at a standstill. But millions in funding from the Energy Department will keep other home energy-efficiency projects in motion nationwide.
"Property Assessed Clean Energy" financing programs -- better known as PACE or "cash for caulkers" -- slammed to a halt in early July in cities and municipalities across the country, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency objected to the structure of PACE loans, which are tied to properties rather than individuals. FHFA told mortgage lenders that it might not guarantee any mortgages for homes in areas taking advantage of the loans (see the OnEarth web exclusive, "Long Island Town Fights To Keep Energy Efficiency Program").
FHFA's move put $150 million in federal stimulus funds for home energy retrofit loans in limbo, as well as scores of green jobs, and the homeowners who had hoped to cut their energy bills and improve their properties.
It appears that the Department of Energy may indirectly make up some of the difference. The agency, , which has been channeling federal stimulus dollars into home energy retrofits via its weatherization programs, has awarded around $120 million -- almost as much as may have been lost in the PACE debacle -- to state agencies, non-profits, universities, and companies around the country, for weatherization programs targeted at low-income homeowners.
These funds won't be limited to the usual insulation, caulk, and boiler upgrades, however. According to Energy's announcement, the money can be used on an expanded roster of materials and technologies, as well as installing renewable energy systems "such as solar heating systems, solar photovoltaic panels and shingles, small-scale wind turbines, new insulation technologies, cool roofs, high-efficiency appliances, tankless hot water systems, high-efficiency combination boilers for hot water and heat, in-home energy monitors, and ductless heat pump systems."
The department says it intends to track the cost-effectiveness of the new techniques and innovations funded by these grants, in the hopes that they will help drive the market for clean energy systems and expand the energy-efficiency retrofit industry.
As for PACE itself, FHFA has not changed its position on the loans so far. Dual bills intended to restore the program have been introduced in Congress, but it is unclear -- perhaps unlikely -- that they will make it to a vote in either the House or Senate.
Image: Heat being lost through a typical exterior residential wall. Home energy audits typically find these energy-wasters, which can be insulated as part of an efficiency retrofit. Credit: Dane Christensen/NREL
