What is the North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance?

The North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance is funded by a grant from the North Carolina State Energy Office to increase the number of high efficiency residential homes built in the state. The founding partners include Appalachian State University, Advanced Energy, Southern Energy Management, and the North Carolina Solar Center. The Alliance will be working with a variety of key stakeholders, including home builders, Home Energy Raters, designers, appraisers, realtors, lenders, electric and gas utilities, and other related organizations.

The Alliance has a broad agenda of activities in the coming months in order to achieve our goals, which include:

• Increasing the number of energy efficient homes built in the state.
• Increasing awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency amongst consumers and homebuyers.
• Educating appraisers, realtors, and lenders to recognize the value of energy efficient features.
• Strengthening the Home Energy Rater network.
• Educating builders on the importance of building for efficiency.
• Building collaborative relationships with key stakeholders in the home industry, including electric and gas utilities.
• Developing policy recommendations to improve the future of energy efficient homes.

The Alliance seeks to certify 2,500 to 3,000 new homes, both single and multi-family, as successfully participating in high efficiency programs over the next two years. This challenging goal will be even tougher to achieve considering our current economic problems, particularly in the residential construction industry. To be counted for this program, homes have to meet several criteria, including:

• Affordable homes that are currently not participating in the Systems Vision program (by Advanced Energy).
• High efficiency homes constructed by builders who are not participating in any high efficiency program (such as ENERGY STAR).
• High efficiency homes in non-ENERGY STAR developments by builders who are not participating 100% in ENERGY STAR and agree to go to 100% ENERGY STAR.
• High efficiency homes that meet a higher standard.
• Builders of homes that qualify for green or sustainable home construction programs (such as Healthy-Built Homes, LEED for Homes, NAHBGreen, or Earthcraft homes).

The Alliance is committed to working with all stakeholders in the home building industry, recognizing that in order to achieve our goals, efforts must be made to support all parties. We are always open to feedback from professionals about the best way to move forward.

Contact Information for the North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance:
Phone: 828-262-8331
E-mail: ncenergystar@gmail.com