Multifamily buildings largely house low- to moderate-income residents, and their utility bills are out of proportion to their income. Energy efficiency will not only lower the utility bills, delivering efficiency upgrades create economic opportunities for local communities. However, publicly and utility-funded energy efficiency programs often do not serve multifamily buildings due to complications and barriers. On-bill programs that enable clients to repay the cost of the efficiency upgrade on their utility bills are able to address these barriers, as well as bring public, private, and utility capital to more multifamily buildings.

Green For All and the National Housing Trust have compiled case studies of on-bill programs that serve the multifamily sector, and use them to highlight program and policy attributes that enable successful on-bill programs. The case studies are:

• PSE&G New Jersey Multifamily Program
• MPower Oregon
• Windsor Efficiency PAYS
• MidWest Energy How$mart® Kansas

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Tim Carryer has always loved the outdoors—he’s spent time traveling in Alaska, and scuba diving off the coast of Massachusetts. The pollution and environmental degradation he saw while spending time in nature always disturbed him. But he never really thought of himself as an environmental advocate, until recently. 

Cross-posted on Clean Technica. Read original post here.

Some 110,000 new jobs could result from the more than 300 clean energy and clean transportation projects announced in the US in 2012, according to a new report from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), “a national community of individual business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity.” 

Bring up any policy idea in D.C. and the conversation always reverts to jobs and the economy. Rightfully so. Our nation’s unemployment continues to hover just above 8% and cities and states continue to struggle to create economic growth and jobs that can last. 

Authors: Josh Lynch, Renew Boston

There are 4,514 streets in Boston. Renew Boston aims to weatherize and insulate a home on every one.

In Portland, Oregon Green For All has been helping implement Recovery Act-funded programs that create high-quality jobs for people who really need them. With a clear-eyed commitment to high-road outcomes Portland has leveraged the collective expertise of its community to produce results.

The City has just completed a 500-home energy efficiency pilot and is leading the launch of a state-wide effort to upgrade 6,000 homes over the next three years. The pilot program used $1.1 million of Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) formula funds to seed a revolving loan fund for home energy remodels. The loan fund leveraged additional public and private investment to spur nearly $7 million in private homeowner investment. This brief report highlights the impact of that investment in terms of high-quality job creation, equitable hiring, inclusive business opportunities, standardized training, and energy conservation.

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Green For All teamed up with the City of Portland to help implement a cutting-edge green jobs program. Clean Energy Works Portland is an effort that will cut energy bills, create green jobs, reduce pollution and expand business opportunities.  In addition, it will ensure that Recovery Act investment dollars reach those hit hardest by the recession.  It’s not a silver bullet, but it is a great model on which to build an important component of a new clean energy economy.

Green For All’s report details why Clean Energy Works Portland has such special appeal. The program includes a revolving loan fund with innovative “on-bill financing” and a Community Workforce Agreement that creates jobs in the communities that need them most.

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