Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced nearly $15 million to support eight new research and development projects that will accelerate the development and deployment of high-efficiency solid-state lighting technologies like LEDs and OLEDs. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have the potential to be ten times more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and can last up to 25 times as long. The projects selected today are located in four states across the country and are focused on advancing core R&D goals, developing new products, and expanding domestic manufacturing capacity to help the U.S. remain competitive in this growing technology market.

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Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County residents have a limited time to access new rebates for energy efficiency improvements in their homes.

Through its EnergySmart program, Boulder County is offering up to $1,000 per household in rebates until July 31 or until funds are exhausted. Rebates are for qualifying projects including insulation, furnace replacement, efficient windows and Energy Star appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers and more.

The more than $300,000 in rebates are available to EnergySmart participants only. EnergySmart provides a full suite of services to help Boulder County residents identify valuable energy-saving opportunities. More information and registration is available at www.EnergySmartYES.com or by calling 303-544-1000. Rebate payment takes an average of 6-8 weeks and will be made to qualifying applicants upon completion of projects on a first-come, first-served basis.

The $1,000 in EnergySmart rebates are available in addition to existing utility rebates. EnergySmart also offers 2.5 percent interest “microloans” for up to $5,000 on qualifying energy efficiency projects. More than 1,200 Boulder County residents have enrolled in EnergySmart services since the program launched in early 2011.

“Rebates are generally confusing, but EnergySmart helps people find them and figure them out. We even fill out the paperwork,” said EnergySmart Advisor manager Andy Manzal. “These new $1,000 rebates are really going to get people excited. There has never been a better time or an easier way to make energy efficiency upgrades.”

EnergySmart services and large energy efficiency rebates are also available to all businesses in Boulder County.

EnergySmart is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the U.S. Department of Energy’s BetterBuildings grant program and is sponsored in partnership by Boulder County, the cities of Boulder and Longmont, Xcel Energy and the Platte River Power Authority. Residential services are administered by Populus, LLC.

Interested in energy codes?  Check out this article by the Washington Post that discusses the significant effect that energy codes have in keeping housing affordable for vulnerable groups.

Today, Mayor McGinn of Seattle approved a new Energy Disclosure Ordinance.  The ordinance, which is intended to identify energy waste and give property owners and tenants tools to improve energy efficiency, was unanimously approved by the Seattle City Council on January 25th.  The new ordinance requires commercial and large multi-family buildings to annually measure, or benchmark, energy usage and provide the City with energy ratings to allow comparison of energy consumption across different buildings.  City officials have cited the ordinance as a critical strategy for the City of Seattle in meeting its energy goals.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said Seattle City Council Chair Richard Conlin. “Energy disclosure is a key first step to tap into the gold mine of opportunities to save energy and money while improving the City’s existing building stock. I’d like to thank all the members of the Green Building Task Force and other stakeholders who helped create this new ordinance that will save energy and create new jobs in Seattle.”

You can read more about the new Energy Disclosure Ordinance here.

Looking for an introduction to municipal green building programs or energy efficiency codes?  In October of 2009, David Neiger of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting traveled to Idaho to present to the Hailey City Council and the Blaine County Board of County Commissioners regarding above-code energy programs and green building codes. The presentation is a great introduction for elected officials and municipalities to the world of green building.

Watch the full presentation on the Environmental Resource Center’s website: Creating a Green Building Program.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.