The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a partnership intended to streamline the assistance program for families to weatherize their homes.
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, 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.
A new interagency task force will:
-
Provide a common set of guidelines and specifications for
retrofitting public housing. - Coordinate expenditure of economic recovery funds.
- Develop common baseline for measuring energy efficiency measures. The goal of this effort is to provide the information
base and metrics necessary to help support a national energy efficiency
market for the housing sector. -
Develop new home energy financing products. These include greater use of revolving
funds, expanded energy mortgage financing tools through the Federal
Housing Administration, as well as exploring the use of DOE loan
guarantee authority in the residential sector.
HUD and DOE will report monthly to Vice President Joe Biden on the progress under this collaborative effort.
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