Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

7. Actively work to grow building efficiency expertise in the community.
With the current economic conditions unfavorable to home construction, there are likely to
be many people with knowledge of buildings who might be interested in training to
become home performance specialists. Home assessment training is typically a week‐long
intensive program, costing $1,200 ‐ $2,500. The City and other community stakeholders
should explore whether it might be possible to help subsidize the cost of some of this
training for local residents. In return, trainees could promise to conduct a certain number
of free or reduced‐rate home assessments for low‐income residents and/or non‐profit
organizations, once they are certified 213 .
8. Promote green mortgages.
The City should work with local banks to promote Energy Efficient (EEM) and Energy
Improvement Mortgages (EIM). EEMs are mortgages that credit a home’s energy efficiency
in the mortgages themselves, while EIMs allow borrowers to include the cost of energy‐
efficiency improvements to an existing home in the mortgage without increasing the down
payment. EIMs allow the borrower to use the money saved in utility bills to finance energy
improvements. 214
9. Implement incentives to make rental units more energy efficient.
In an effort to address the “split incentive” dilemma, the City should think through ways it
might encourage landlords to make rentals more efficient. A number of local governments
have implemented programs either to provide reimbursements to landlords who
weatherize their rental units or to allow tenants to allot a portion of their rent to efficiency
improvements.
213 Such training is offered by organizations such as Indianapolis‐based Energy Efficient Homes Midwest,
http://www.eehmidwest.com/Energy_Efficient_Homes_Midwest/Home.html; North Carolina’s Southface, ,
http://www.southface.org/web/programs&events/courses&training/sf_courses‐trainings.htm and the
Tennessee company, Building Performance Institute, Inc., http://www.bpi.org/content/home/index.php .
214 See Energy Star, What is an Energy Efficient Mortgage?
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=bldrs_lenders_raters.energy_efficient_mortgage
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