Building Star Legislation Promises Funding for Retrofits

On March 4, 2010, Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Mark Pryor of Arkansas introduced legislation to create the Building Star program, which would offer incentives and rebates for energy efficiency improvements to commercial buildings. The creators of the bill argue that it would create 150,000 jobs with $6 billion in federal investment, and leverage $2–$3 in private funding for every federal dollar spent.

Although its prospects remain uncertain, the Building Star legislation enjoys broad industry support. It was developed by Rebuilding America, a coalition of industry groups representing contractors, manufacturers, financial service companies, and efficiency advocates. According to Kurt Shickman, director of research for Energy Future Coalition, which spearheaded the development effort, the bill came out of discussions about including energy efficiency in the federal economic stimulus bill. Shickman told

EBN that participants in meetings asked, “How do we get building energy efficiency into a stimulus bill in a way that makes sense?” But the conversation quickly turned to longer-term solutions. “We wanted to extend the benefits of the stimulus,” Shickman said, and the Building Star bill was the result.