DOE awards $20 million to SEEA regional alliance for building retrofit projects

Energy efficiency in the southeastern United States will get a huge boost when the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance rolls out its program of innovative, large-scale building retrofits for homeowners and businesses under its recently announced $20 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Retrofit Ramp-Up initiative. 

The regional organization will partner with nearly a dozen communities of varying sizes and characteristics, each of which will use a different approach to increase the energy efficiency of small and large residential, commercial and public buildings. This diversity will allow SEEA to test and evaluate a variety of models in both smaller, more rural and larger, more metropolitan areas, and make adjustments as needed.  Another key aspect of the program, which will use a combined formula allocation and a pay-for-performance strategy to fund specific projects, will be the availability of affordable, accessible financing programs, according to an April 26 Alliance to Save Energy report.