Secretaries Donovan and Chu Announce Partnership to Help Working Families Weatherize Their Homes

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http://www.energy.gov/news2009/6956.htm

February 27, 2009

Secretaries Donovan and Chu Announce Partnership to Help Working Families Weatherize Their Homes
HUD-DOE Agreement Will Help Spur a New Industry to Create Jobs for the Middle Class

Philadelphia, PA – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu today announced a major partnership between HUD and DOE that will streamline and better coordinate federal weatherization efforts to make it much easier for families to weatherize their homes and spur a new home energy efficiency industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs.

Vice President Joe Biden, joined by Secretary Donovan and Secretary Chu, praised the announcement during his remarks at a meeting of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families in Philadelphia.

"Today in Philadelphia, I am proud to announce that the Energy and HUD Secretaries are joining together in an historic partnership to create thousands of jobs in the retro-fitting and weatherization industry," said Vice President Biden. "This partnership is exactly the type of leadership and ingenuity we need to get this economy going again."

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HUD and DOE will allocate $16 billion in economic recovery funds to retrofit existing homes. HUD’s programs include $4.5 billion to renovate and upgrade public and Native American housing (a good portion of which will be invested in energy improvements) as well as $250 million for energy retrofits of privately owned federally assisted housing. DOE will invest $5 billion in weatherization funds; $3.2 billion for a new Energy and Environment Block Grant that cities and states can use to retrofit homes; $3.1 for the State Energy Program; and other programs.

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1. "a great page of information about...ramp up capacities, workforce scenarios and projected workers"

http://fas.org/blog/btech/2009/02/weatherization_ramp_up.html

Weatherization Ramp Up

The Weatherization Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center has a great page of information about ramp up capacity and planning for the program to handle the $5 Billion on its way from the stimulus bill. The page contains information about ramp up capacities, workforce scenarios and projected workers needed, and impacts and savings.

While there is still a lot of planning to be done, this page is a great insight into a lot of the discussions that have already been happening.

Read more here. http://www.waptac.org/sp.asp?id=9398