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Federal Agencies:
- U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE)
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs
- Office of Power Technologies
The USDOE through its related Offices
provides funding to State Energy Offices, National Laboratories and private organizations to promote energy efficiency in new buildings, both residential and
commercial, as well as schools, hospitals and local governments.
They provide funding for both research and implementation, new construction and retrofit. The BII has received DOE funding directly and in partnership with a wide variety of partners including the California Energy Commission, the Local Government Commission, the Colorado Energy Group, specific California new home building companies, California’s Investor Owned Utilities and municipal utilities. The Department of Energy has been instrumental in providing funding for such activities as the Building Energy Code Training Program, the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, and the Zero Energy Homes program. The USDOE has sought out opportunities to work cooperatively with the building industry through both research and deployment activities to efficiently and effectively bring energy efficiency and renewable energy applications into the main stream of California and national building practice. You can visit their website at www.eren.doe.gov/EE/buildings.html.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
has worked closely with the BII and California builders to create the EnergyStar Program. Although the current EnergyStar financing program does not
“stretch” far enough to accommodate most single-family construction in California, the BII continues to work with the USEPA to create a financing program that
appropriately recognizes the quality and energy efficiency of California’s new homes. For more information, visit their website at www.epa.gov.
State Agencies
- California Energy Commission (CEC)
- California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB)
- Housing and Community Development (HCD)
- State Fire Marshall’s Office
California Energy Commission:
The BII has worked cooperatively with the CEC on a number of activities over the years. For example, the Building Energy Code Training (BECT) is a partnership that has successfully trained over 2000 building professionals in the application of the Title 24 Building Standards. Other cooperative efforts include creating builder protocols for energy efficiency, an energy efficiency mortgage task force with four other states and the USDOE, as well as a Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) project to identify the ancillary benefits of energy efficient construction. CEC website: www.energy.ca.gov.
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB):
The CIWMB contracted with the BII to determine how to improve the percentage of building site waste that could be successfully recycled. CIWMB web site: www.ciwmb.ca.gov.
California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD):
The BII worked cooperatively with the California Building Officials and the California Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a manual used by builders, designers and Building Officials throughout California to interpret and implement the disabled accessibility regulations for new multifamily apartments and condominiums. HCD website: housing.hcd.ca.gov.
Office of The State Fire Marshall: The Fire Fatality study
reviewed every residential fire fatality in California from January 1986 to through December 1991. The information gathered included the cause of the fire, the point of origin and the age of the dwelling where the fire occurred. The data has been referenced in code change proceedings in all 50 states and 7 foreign countries. The data was also used at the national level as primary supporting evidence for increasing the number of hard-wired smoke detectors required in new residential buildings. Web site: www.fire.ca.gov.
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