Wisconsin among states chosen for building efficiency retrofit assistance

From an article by on Environmental News Service:

WASHINGTON, DC, January 5, 2010 (ENS) - To help states develop strategies that will improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings and reduce costs and emissions, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices today announced that six states have been selected to participate in the Policy Academy on State Building Efficiency Retrofit Programs.

Chosen to take part in the program are: Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin - states from all parts of the country, subject to a wide range of climactic conditions, and including governors from both political parties.

"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 for Best Practices.

"This Policy Academy will help states realize energy savings across the board, through comprehensive building retrofits programs," he said.

A Policy Academy is an 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.

Buildings consume more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy and account for the majority of the nation's electricity consumption. But current efforts at cost-effective energy upgrades touch a very small portion of buildings every year, Thomasian said.