U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that $21 million in technical assistance would be allocated to reduce energy usage in commercial buildings.
Supported by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this initiative will connect commercial buildings owners with private sector building experts and researchers at the DOE’s National Laboratories.
"These Recovery Act projects are bringing together experts from our national laboratories and the private sector to help businesses and organizations reduce the energy they use in their facilities, saving them money on their energy bills and making them more competitive economically," says Secretary Chu. "This initiative will also demonstrate to other commercial building operators that cost-effective, energy-efficient technologies exist today that will help lower the operating and energy costs of their buildings."
These projects are funded under a public/private cost sharing agreement, where the building owners contribute at least 20%. Owners do not receive direct funding through the project, but gain access to technical guidance to implement energy efficient technologies throughout all stages of the project from design to evaluation.
The projects aim to achieve 30% measured energy savings in existing buildings and 50% energy savings in new construction projects.
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