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What’s Cheaper And Cleaner Than Clean Energy?

Contributed by Kristen Sager

Clean energy gets a lot of press these days, for good reason. But behind all this excitement is another solution that’s playing a key role in combating global warming today: residential energy efficiency. It’s low-tech, relatively low-cost, and has huge potential. We recently completed a project to help the Sierra Club plan an extensive home retrofit program as part of their ambitious emissions reduction goals.

Why homes? According to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, homes are responsible for 21 percent of U.S. emissions, twice as much as from passenger cars. Matt Golden, founder of Efficiency First, an industry trade group, has said that if a steady run-rate of 10 million residential energy efficiency retrofits per year is achieved by 2020, the U.S. could net a five percent decrease in the country’s overall carbon emissions. Still, despite the great opportunity, many consumers are unaware of the importance of energy efficiency or what steps they can take to reduce their energy usage. Learn more about residential energy efficiency here and here.