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Analysis of Smart Energy Choices Justifies Investment
in
Energy Efficient Home Building
WASHINGTON,
DC, October 25, 2005 –
ICF Consulting released
an issue paper titled, Rebuilding
After Katrina: Smart Energy Choices, analyzing energy efficiency
rebuild options for the reconstruction of hundreds
of thousands of homes in the U.S. Gulf Coast region
destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
In the analysis,
ICF Consulting experts modeled different levels
of energy efficiency using DOE-2 software, for 60,000
separate runs for a wide variety of single family
homes in two climate zones. They then compared
the impacts of a mass reconstruction built to minimum
building codes (as a baseline for comparison) versus
four increasingly more energy-efficient standards. |
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The ICF Consulting analysis demonstrates the importance
of including energy efficiency criteria in any rebuild
specifications. Two scenarios in particular showed promise.
First, a "quick payback" scenario illustrates
that a US$200 million incremental investment in energy
efficiency in 310,000 destroyed homes will pay for itself
in just over two years. In an even more attractive, long-term
investment scenario, rebuilding those homes to the 2006
ENERGY STAR scenario will have a payback of just 7.5 years
and will save nearly $2.5 billion in the following 20 years
if energy prices stay constant. If energy prices rise,
the savings will be even higher. With a 30-year mortgage,
homeowners immediately receive a net positive cash flow
from energy savings. In addition, homeowners will benefit
from more comfortable homes.
"During this time of rapid reconstruction, we felt
it was important to do some thorough analysis to provide
policymakers, builders, and homeowners with information
so that they can make the right decisions now about energy
efficiency," says Jeanne Townend, an ICF Consulting
senior vice president who manages the firm's energy
and resources work.
"In addition to the benefits to homeowners, the
annual electricity savings of the ENERGY STAR scenario
would avoid power demands equivalent to the peak output
of one nuclear plant serving Hartsville, South Carolina,
and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
equal to removing 51,221 cars from the road. In addition,
this preliminary analysis models only the impacts on single-family
homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. When you include
the other hurricanes, multi-family homes, and the commercial
sector, the financial and resource impacts from choosing
energy efficiency will be staggering. ICF Consulting plans
to extend its analysis to these sectors in a future release,"
says Ms. Townend.
Concurrent with the disastrous hurricane are recent winds
of change in building
policies aimed at saving energy resources.
In September 2005, the new Energy Policy Act was passed
by Congress into law while the International Code Council
(ICC), the agency setting the standards for U.S. buildings,
upgraded its International Energy Conservation Code (IECC
2006) codes for new homes. Earlier this month, the government-sponsored
ENERGY STAR program of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) amended its guidelines for new homes.
"Fortunately, all the policies for a 'right
rebuild' are in place," adds Ms. Townend.
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ICF International (Nasdaq: ICFI) partners with government and commercial clients to deliver consulting services and technology solutions in the energy, environment, transportation, social programs, defense, and homeland security markets. The firm combines passion for its work with industry expertise and innovative analytics to produce compelling results throughout the entire program life cycle, from analysis and design through implementation and improvement. Since 1969, ICF has been serving government at all levels, major corporations, and multilateral institutions. More than 1,800 employees serve these clients worldwide. ICF’s Web site is http://www.icfi.com.
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For Immediate Release
Contact: Douglas Beck
1.703.934.3820
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