Comprehensive Residential Building Retrofit Program

Downtown San Francisco, CA Through the State Energy Program, the CEC is providing funding to support regional, collaborative public-private partnerships that facilitate residential retrofits. The CEC is looking to support comprehensive programs that link workforce training, retrofit standards, marketing, and retrofit incentives while taking advantage of existing State and national programs.

Latest Updates

All SEP-funded programs are now open! The CEC will be accepting applications through December 21. Click here to access the solicitation and application for all SEP programs.

The CEC will held a pre-bid conference on SEP programs on October 20. Click here for meeting notes, which are posted as an addendum to the application.

What You Need to Know

The CEC is looking for comprehensive programs that effectively support all aspects of the residential retrofit process and link effectively to existing State and national programs and standards, including those related to green jobs training and workforce deployment.
Local governments cannot apply individually. Eligible applicants are “regional consortia” including local governments, utilities, public education and training agencies, state and national programs, energy service providers, and other relevant public and private entities. The CEC expects high levels of engagement from government, including government agencies taking the lead for the consortia.
This program applies to all types of residential buildings.
All local governments applying for federal funding must have a DUNS number and have an active registration in the CCR database.

Dates:

Solicitation for funding was released on October 8.
Closing date for solicitation: November 30, 2009.
Work will be expected to begin immediately, with a progress report due May 2010 and all projects complete by March 2012.

Funds:
Up to $95 million is available for the combination of the Comprehensive Residential Building Retrofit Program, the Municipal Financing Program and the Municipal and Commercial Building Retrofit Program. How much is given to each type of program depends upon the number and quality of applications CEC will receive.

Program Description and Eligible Projects

Funding from this program will go to comprehensive residential retrofit programs that combine the following elements:

Regionality
Public/Private Collaboration
Marketing and Recruitment
Workforce Training
Retrofit Financing
Quality Control/Assurance Standards
Program Sustainability
Collaboration with Existing State and National Programs
Targeting of Economically Disadvantaged Neighborhoods and Affordable Housing
Targeting Foreclosed Homes Identified by Neighborhood Stabilization Programs

The following is a description of the major program elements as described by the CEC:

Regional Consortia
Proposed programs must be executed by consortia of agencies that include local and regional governments (usually acting as lead), utilities, community colleges, local workforce investment boards (LWIBs), other contractor training and verification entities, energy service providers, state and national training and/or retrofit programs and any other relevant entities. These consortia must have a memorandum of understanding, and funding will go to the lead entity (most likely a government agency) who will be overseeing the program.

Collaboration with Existing Programs
The CEC also expects proposed programs to actively collaborate with existing programs at all levels. This includes regional retrofit incentive and other programs through utilities, local governments, nonprofit partners and other entities. In addition, the CEC will expect proposed programs to engage existing contractor training programs, including those funded through the Green Jobs Training Program, HERS II Raters, the California Building Performance Contractor’s Association, and programs provided by utilities, community colleges and LWIBs. In addition, applicants should also consider the following programs:

Home Performance with Energy Star
DOE Building America Teams
Department of Housing and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program and other Programs
California Public Utilities Commissions Home Performance Programs
Utility Incentive Programs
The Weatherization Assistance Program and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
EPA Energy Star Mortgage Program

Three-Tier Approach
The CEC has adopted a three-tier framework for the California Comprehensive Residential Building Retrofit Program that must be utilized in order to be competitive for funding. The purpose of this three-tier system is to support various levels of retrofits, providing flexibility in both which homeowners can access retrofits and the available workforce that can provide these services. The CEC has clearly stated that proposed programs should consider supporting all tiers and should focus on more complete retrofits, with an eventual strong emphasis on whole house retrofits (Tier III).

Retrofit Tiers are as follows:

	Description	Projects Click here for a complete measures list	Targeted Workforce
Tier I	Simple measures that result in small energy and cost savings	Replacing light bulbs,. Low-flow fixtures; homeowner energy education	Entry-level; high-school graduates, neighborhood groups
Tier II	More complex measures that result in higher energy savings and can only be achieved by trained professionals	Replace HVAC fixtures, lighting fixtures,	Single-trade contractors
Tier III	Whole house retrofits; based upon HERS II Rating and Home Performance with Energy Star systems	Variable by home-whole-house approach, integrated measures specific to each project	Highly-trained HERS raters and other contractors

Project Evaluation

Projects will be evaluated based upon the following criteria:

How SEP funding is leveraged with other funding sources
How the program will result in a market shift, meet the State’s long term energy reduction goals and otherwise promote effective and comprehensive residential retrofits
How the program is planned to last beyond the extent of the SEP funds
How the program creates jobs and retrofits within economically disadvantaged areas
Total job creation and retention
Expected energy savings
Expected reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
Cost effectiveness of the program
Implementation timeline
Compliance with State law, especially Title 24 and HERS II Protocols
Collaboration with national and California Programs