Real Estate and A New Era of Energy Efficiency

After calculating inspections, appraisals, escrow accounts and closing costs, home buyers want to know how energy efficient their potential new home is and how much utilities will cost.  A survey in the UK revealed that sustainability is now a top priority when people are deciding where to live.  “These results suggest we’re now entering the era of energy efficiency becoming an ever more crucial factor in how we select our next home – and with energy bills rising it’s never been more important for homebuyers to weigh up these costs as they consider their next move,” HBF’s Executive Chairman Stewart Baseley said.

Can the same be said of home buyers in the United States?  Kathryn Eggers of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) has found that more and more realtors are faced with energy questions and feel ill-equipped on how to answer.  “Some surveys that were done identified that real estate professionals were saying they were being asked … but that they often didn’t feel comfortable answering those questions or weren’t familiar with that,” Eggers said.  Armed with the proper training, Eggers believes realtors can be ambassadors for energy efficiency, promoting it to sellers and buyers.  For this reason, MEEA is offering courses to educate realtors, in the 13 Midwestern states they serve, about building science, energy efficiency upgrades, and promoting green features in listings.  “After the trainings, the real estate professionals who attend will have information about the local energy efficiency programs, things through their utility or state programs that can help homeowners maybe offset costs of energy-efficient upgrades to their homes,” Eggers said. 

Obviously, new home buyers aren’t the only ones interested in lowering energy cost but options are limited for low-income and multifamily residents.  MEAA partnered with ComEd to ensure ‘Energy Efficiency for All’ in Illinois.    ComEd submitted a four-year, $1.7 billion plan to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), to expand programs that help reduce energy use for customers and communities in need.  “We’ve been impressed with ComEd’s leadership having grown their energy efficiency program from its start in 2008 to their plans today to make what is the single largest energy efficiency investment in the Midwest. We are excited to see their focus on affordability and bringing energy efficiency programs and benefits to the people that most need it. We commend them on their industry-leading work and look forward to the continued growth of the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program,” said Stacey Paradis, Executive Director of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.  

MEEA’s annual report revealed the organizations success, improving energy efficiency and creating more opportunities for communities to take full advantage of programs available.  Working with Ameren Missouri, MEEA encouraged the use of energy audits to increase participation in their energy efficiency programs, by designing homeowner self-assessments.  This allowed customers to safely identify energy efficiency opportunities in their home and receive a customized report with recommendations from MEEA without exposing anyone to COVID-19.  Ameren Missouri's Multifamily Low Income Energy Efficiency Program, in partnership with Spire, also offered area residents a financial incentive to temporarily relocate while the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (ICAST) performed energy efficiency upgrades to income-eligible multifamily properties.  "Everyone deserves access to more efficient energy solutions that work better and help them save money on their monthly bills," said Wanda Sams, energy efficiency program supervisor at Ameren Missouri.  The upgrades were fully funded by the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act and are expected to save customers an average of 27% in annual energy usage.

ComEd, Ameren and Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) provide evidence that collaboration can bring about change that is otherwise beyond reach for so many.  What recent partnerships has your utility made to lower energy usage, increase energy efficiency or create more opportunities within your community?