EPC - ENERGY STAR® Mortgage

Maine First State to Launch
ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program

The ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program: Quick Facts

Maine Housing: "Big Hopes" for
ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program

EPC Working to Bring ENERGY STAR Mortgages to Other States This Year

Did you know? The ENERGY STAR brand is recognized, and trusted, by 70% of U.S. households.

Maine First State to Launch
ENERGY STAR
Mortgage Program

Last month, Maine became the first state in the U.S. to launch the groundbreaking new ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program, which helps homeowners obtain affordable financing for home improvements that cut monthly energy bills and have significant environmental benefits.

"We have been working for months to get this ENERGY STAR loan designation and we are very proud to be the first housing authority to do so," said Maine State Housing Authority Director Dale McCormick, speaking at a press conference on Feb. 20 in Gardiner, Maine.

"It's a wonderful program, and we are doing as much as we can to promote ENERGY STAR mortgages, and help people in Maine weatherize our homes."Read More...

Welcome

The Energy Programs Consortium (EPC) is pleased to bring you the first edition of the ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program newsletter.

In this issue, we provide news about the launch of the groundbreaking ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program in Maine; quick facts on the program's benefits; a portrait of how the program is transforming the lives of one elderly couple; and an update on our efforts to launch the program in other states this year.

The ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program accelerates home energy efficiency, enabling homeowners to cut back on energy use, save on heating and electricity bills, make home investments more secure and affordable, and lower carbon emissions.

The program is directed by EPC in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state housing and energy agencies, and funding from the Ford and Surdna Foundations.

For more information, please contact:

Mark Wolfe, EPC Director:

mlwolfe@energyprograms.org
(202) 333-5915

Howard Banker, EPC Managing Director:
hbanker@energyprograms.org

(202) 333-5915

Quick Facts:
The ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program

The ENERGY STAR mortgage can be used to finance energy efficiency improvements for an existing home, or for the purchase of a new, ENERGY STAR-qualified home. Additional program requirements:

The weatherization improvements to an existing home must lead to a minimum 20% savings over the home's previous energy use;

Lenders must provide a borrower benefit above and beyond the expected home energy cost savings, such as a reduction in the interest rate, assistance with closing costs, or other benefits;

Lenders must use state-approved auditors, which allow the use of verified, accurate audit tools that may be cheaper than existing tools. Read More...

Maine Housing: "Big Hopes" for ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program

GARDINER, Maine -- Leona and Wilbur Eshelman's modest blue-and-white mobile home in this snowy town is the poster child for energy-guzzling, pre-1976 manufactured housing: the windows are drafty, the insulation is thin, and the structure's aluminum frame conducts cold air into the house during the long Maine winters. Inside, a wood stove provides most of the warmth during the day because the Eshelmans, who are retired, can't cover the cost of heating oil on their limited fixed income.

But in a few weeks, those headaches should be gone - along with the house itself. In its place, the couple will receive an ENERGY STAR-qualified manufactured home, under a new state program that is helping families obtain affordable financing for home improvements that cut their energy use by at least 20 percent - or in the case of mobile homes, replace them outright with ones that are up to five times more energy efficient. The program will enable homeowners to pay less on their energy bills each month, obtain reduced mortgage rates or other financial benefits, and help the environment. Read More...

EPC Working to Bring ENERGY STAR Mortgages to Other States

The Maine launch of the ENERGY STAR Mortgage Program is the start of what is aimed to be a broad-based effort to help lower residential energy use and stabilize housing on a national scale, said EPC Director Mark Wolfe.

"One of the reasons we started in Maine was because the Maine State Housing Authority already has significant energy programs and a real, deep commitment to coming up with creative ways to help finance housing, as well as including energy as part of that," he said. Read More...

Did you know? The ENERGY STAR brand is recognized, and trusted,
by 70% of U.S. households.

ENERGY STAR is a U.S. government-sponsored program that identifies and promotes energy efficient products, including homes and other buildings.

In 2007 alone, ENERGY STAR helped Americans save $16 billion on their heating and electricity bills and reduce an amount of greenhouse-gas emissions that was equivalent to taking 27 million vehicles off the roads.

U.S. homes emit approximately 4 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (almost 9,000 pounds) per person per year -- approximately 17% of total U.S. emissions. The main sources are electricity use, heating and waste.

Weatherization improvements can cut a homeowner's energy expenses by up to $1,000 per year, depending on the type of fuel used, utility and delivery costs, and other local and regional factors.

The reductions in heat and electricity use also lead to a sizeable drop in greenhouse-gas emissions associated with a home's energy use.

Newsletter written by Rona Cohen, Communications Manager, EPC and Senior Policy Analyst, Energy & Environment Program, The Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference