Isramart : Md. Home Heat Efficiency Aid

Isramart news:
If Maryland helped homeowners improve home heating efficiency, the state could reap big economic and environmental benefits, concludes a new University of Maryland study commissioned by the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The study team, led by UM's Center for Integrative Environmental Research ( CIER ), projects that state assistance in buying energy-efficient natural gas furnaces and water heaters, and in upgrading insulation would result in:


80,000 new jobs over 10 years:
$11 billion in economic activity over 10 years;
Nine percent reduction in carbon emissions over 10 years:
Homeowners would save up to $400 in year one.
"You might call this 'cash-for-clunkers' home-style," says principal investigator, Matthias Ruth, CIER director and Roy F. Weston Chair for Natural Economics at the University of Maryland.

"Trading in your clunker of a furnace or heater can make good economic and environmental sense for everyone concerned," Ruth adds. "We're missing some big opportunities to lower home heating bills, improve the Maryland economy and reduce carbon emissions."

The Maryland Department of the Environment commissioned the study in 2007, in part, to help it decide how to invest anticipated revenues produced by Maryland's participation in a regional cap-and-trade program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Previous CIER research for the State analyzed the potential energy and economic impacts of investing in electricity efficiency.

"This study is important because it shows just how beneficial investing in consumer energy efficiencies can be," Ruth says. "There are a lot more consumers than energy producers and that's where we can realize the greatest environmental and economic benefits."

Nearly half of Maryland homes are heated with natural gas.

CIER conducted the research in partnership with The Johns Hopkins University, the University of California, Merced and Towson University.

Using a series of economic projection tools, the researchers, in part, conclude that:


An average single-family household could save $400 to $500 in natural gas bills the first year by investing approximately $3,000 in a package of cost-effective energy efficiency measures: wall insulation, duct sealing, furnaces, water heaters, and pipe wrap;
Spending extra to purchase more energy-efficient natural gas furnaces and water heaters pays for itself in fuel savings; the cost of home improvements are more than offset by energy savings;
State incentives to encourage homeowners to purchase the most energy-efficient furnaces and water heaters and to make recommended home efficiency improvements would have positive economic effects, including the creation of more than 80,000 jobs, especially in the construction field, and nearly $11 billion in
Reducing natural gas consumption would help Maryland meet its 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, cutting residential emissions by more than 10 million tons over the next decade, or about 9 percent;
Home insulation should be avoided or accompanied by energy-efficient ventilation measures in parts of the state ( mostly in Western Maryland ) with high radon concentrations, where tightly sealing a house
Findings apply to smaller, older Maryland homes; fewer benefits are realized in newer, larger homes.
"Though our research looked solely at conditions in Maryland, I wouldn't be surprised to find similar benefits in some other states where a large portion of household heating needs are met by natural gas," Ruth says.

The research team used a series of sophisticated economic projection tools to estimate the economic and environmental impacts under varying climate and appliance standards scenarios. The economic analysis considered the direct and indirect economic effects.

"Given the overall positive impacts of enticing efficiency of natural gas use by households, there is an important role to be played by the State," says Andy Blohm, a University of Maryland researcher on the CIER team. "We have already seen notable leadership by Maryland in promoting energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions. Our study clearly shows both the economic and environmental wisdom of that leadership."