Rebuilding America Initiative Launched; NECA Endorses Goals
A coalition of business, labor and consumer advocates came to Capitol Hill recently calling for action to address America’s immediate needs for job creation and energy security. They were joined by congressional leaders — including Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Peter Welch (D, VT-at large) — who understand that retrofit projects provide for job creation and economic growth. NECA is among the more than 50 trade associaitions, labor unions, businesses, manufacturers, that have endorsed the goals of the Rebuilding America proposal.
Specifically, the Rebuilding America Initiative is committed to wholesale investment in the energy efficient retrofit of 50 million buildings by 2020. A joint initiative of the Energy Future Coalition and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Rebuilding America unveiled a series of recommendations to help develop a robust industry to retrofit U.S. homes and businesses.
The group stressed that while Congress has included important provisions on building retrofits in pending legislation, much more should be done to capture the scale of the opportunity, such as:
- Establish a stand-alone, national Energy Efficiency Resource Standard of 10% by 2020.
- Direct at least one-third of utility allowances for energy efficiency while increasing the state allowance allocation for renewables and efficiency to 10% through 2030, dedicating 25% to retrofits.
- Support innovative financing tools for energy efficiency including the Clean Energy Development Administration (CEDA) and its backing for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Bonds.
- Establish provisions for accelerated depreciation and investment tax credits for advanced HVAC, smart meters, and other energy-efficient technologies and advanced appliances.
- Link federal financial support for retrofits to standards for job quality, skills training, reporting, and transparency to ensure consumer confidence and verifiable energy savings.
At the November 18 press conference announcing the group’s launch, Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department, said "The effort to rebuild America and reduce our nation's carbon footprint is a critically important initiative, both in an environmental and economic sense. The true test, however, will be whether Congress accedes to a ‘high-road' approach that will provide quality careers through accredited skilled craft training programs." Ayers is well known to NECA from his many years as head of the IBEW’s Construction & Maintence Department.
