Sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Rob Portman, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act – often shortened to just Shaheen-Portman – aims to install new energy-saving improvements to buildings throughout the United States, in an effort to reduce electricity consumption and diminish climate change contributions.
Earlier in July, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio collaborated to draft a new, bipartisan bill aimed at improving energy efficiency in the United States.
As states begin making energy efficiency requirements into law, some places have reported a growing demand from residents for sustainable buildings. One of the biggest hotspots of this trend has been New York, particularly after establishing its Greener, Greater Buildings Plan.
But while debate rages over how and where to implement these kinds of improvements in homes, companies and federal offices, schools have gone largely overlooked and ignored despite being just as much in need. One California school district is seeking to reverse that trend thanks to a new energy-focused grant.
As the White House begins to ramp up efforts in addressing the country’s energy and climate change concerns, cities all across the nation are jumping on the energy efficiency bandwagon and committing to the Obama administration’s Better Buildings Challenge. The goal of this national initiative is to reduce city energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020.
A new study from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading body on U.S. environmental and energy policies, shows that California is one of the nation’s prime examples of energy efficient living.
According to its report, “Miscellaneous Energy Loads in Buildings,” the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEE) has identified a number of common household appliances that, unbeknownst to most people, actually consume significant amounts of electricity.
One of the biggest detriments to energy efficiency is poor insulation. According to The Catoosa Times, statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy show that temperature regulation affects up to 70 percent of the typical American household’s energy consumption.
 |