demonstrations

I want to share a recently published paper by John Millhone, senior advisor to the FAS Building Technologies Program. John authored a paper for FAS recounting the history of the Weatherization Assistance Program, as well as recommendations for future actions, which can be found here.

John is currently a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Carnegie Energy and Climate Program. He is currently evaluating and commenting on U.S. energy policies and focusing on clean energy and economic stimulus initiatives. He is also providing analysis to the U.S.–China provincial and municipal energy efficiency management program for the Carnegie Endowment.

John’s paper for the Carnegie Endowment examines if the massive increase in funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program can be spent well, or if it is simply money thrown at a “feel-good program”.  According to the paper, the answer to this question will “depend on the ability to successfully complete three tasks:

1. Accelerate the administration of the program, including bringing together a federal, state, local, and private sector implementation structurewith transparent monitoring and verification of the results.
2. Secure the support and participation of stakeholders with an interest in the success of the program, not only because their support is essential,particularly in the southern states, but also to build confidence in the directionof the stimulus package.
3. Translate the federal stimulus investment into a self-sustaining,ongoing activity that relies on other funding sources and is recognized as vital in meeting long-term national goals.”

John analyzes each of these three tasks, discussing the potential problems and opportunities associated with each, and he provides recommendations for successfully accomplishing each. The full paper, which I highly suggest reading, can be found here.

Construction has begun!

FAS is partnering with the Citizen League for Environmental Action NOW (CLEAN), an environmentally conscious community organization in Houston, Texas, to build a home to demonstrate the use of structural insulated panel construction. The home uses fiber cement board faced SIP panels with expanded polystyrene cores. These panels passed rigorous test requirements established by the International Code Council (ICC), which dictates standards for building in the United States, as well as additional tests conducted by FAS that looked at structural and fire safety under extreme conditions.

And now, after extensive designing and planning, construction has started!

I’ll be posting pictures here periodically and providing a running commentary on the construction process as the house takes shape. Photos of foundation prep and the first walls going up can be found after the jump…