Background and problem
Energy efficiency in building electrification has fundamentally focused on weatherizing buildings to conserve energy and minimize household consumption. Adoption of Heat pump has followed to help efficient cooling and heating to optimize household’s comfort under varying weather conditions and temperatures.
While household heating and cooling with heat pumps have been the front burner of energy efficiency in buildings, daily household survival relies heavily on the use of home appliances for cook and laundry. ENERGYSTAR rating for everyday home appliances (range/stove, cloth dryer/washer, dishwasher, microwave etc) for improved efficiency and effectiveness has not been a robust energy efficiency program to benefit low and moderate income households, especially renters in multifamily and single family rental properties.
Homeowners often come as first line recipients of the direct economic and service benefits of most federal and state energy efficiency programs while renters in multi-family and rented single family homes are left vulnerable to increased electricity bills and delayed space cooling/heating because of old and inefficient HVAC systems and home appliances. Renters are directly responsible for their home energy bills and not the landlords. If the benefits of energy building efficiency programs must be equitable and accessible, low and moderate income (LMI) households, especially renters, must have access to ENERGYSTAR rated appliances in their rented properties.
Proposed solution
To help address the problem of renters' access to the direct economic and service benefits of energy efficiency in buildings, this concept note proposes the Efficient Appliances to Conserve Households (EACH) strategy as a mechanism to foster LMI renters energy efficiency engagement and benefit programs through interventions that identify and link them directly to available energy efficiency programs. Its aim is to engage LMI rental property managements, energy utilities and renters in partnership to design energy efficient home and appliances through the home energy rebate (HOME) and home electrification and appliance rebate (HEAR) programs.
Programming Objective
The overarching objective is to work with state offices and their implementing third parties of HOME and HEAR programs to highlight and create awareness to increase LMI participation where EACH renter will have access to save on energy consumption and optimize their home comfort and appliances utilization. The approach is to research low and moderate income rental properties, collect inefficient appliances data, and implement projects to access ENERGYSTAR rated appliances.
Expected Outcomes
Initial EACH outcomes seek:
● Increased LMI renters awareness about
HOME and HEAR in North Carolina
● Available data on participating LMI renters in benefit applications process
● LMI renters benefiting ENERGYSTAR rated homes and appliances
Conclusion
In addition to the building electrification and energy efficiency funding requirements under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), there are different home energy efficiency programs and implementing organizations this concept may align with to incorporate renters' access to ENERGYSTAR rated appliances. The Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity (R2E2) playbook by the American Council for an Efficient Energy Economy (ACEEE) is a another perfect program.
About the author (for DEG)
Mr. Jimmy N Nyanwapolu is a 2022-2024 Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Innovator Fellow, assigned with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). To help the UTC achieve its goals of equitable clean energy access, decarbonization interventions, and performance based regulation practices, he coordinated and advised commissioners & staff on the Commission’s equity docket proceedings as primary project. The anticipated outcome was a developed equity policy statement and action framework to inform fair and inclusive regulatory decisions making at the Commission.
Jimmy holds a MBA in Management from Cuttington University in Liberia, West Africa, a certificate in Project Management from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a MBA with Energy and Engineering Management concentration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
With interest in advancing equitable building electrification and energy efficiency, Jimmy is the founder of DEG and looks forward to working with low and moderate income (LMI) households and communities. LMI community’s high energy consumption is still being factored by wastage of inefficient and Non ENERGYSTAR rated home appliances. Designing programs to increase awareness and their participation in each state’s managed HOME and HEAR programs is the purpose of EACH concept.
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