Built Environment Highlights

State, Local, & Utility Policy Updates

ALABAMA

Community Infrastructure Revitalization

In June, Live HealthSmart Alabama celebrated its first phase of bringing improvements to Birmingham neighborhoods. The project aims to revitalize community infrastructure like sidewalks to advance healthy lifestyles and outcomes within Birmingham’s most underserved neighborhoods.

FLORIDA

County Hires first Chief Heat Officer

On April 30, Miami-Dade County became the first local government to establish the position of chief heat officer to address concerns of heat-related illnesses, increased temperatures, and mitigation measures as it relates to gentrification driven by sea-level rise. In partnership with the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and hosted by the Miami Foundation, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointed Jane Gilbert to the new position. Gilbert will develop partnerships and focus on the disproportionate impacts heat has on low-income residents and communities of color. A top priority for the chief heat officer will be addressing the Miami-Dade housing stock to ensure energy efficient cooling among vulnerable communities.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky Disaster Declaration

In April, President Biden approved a federal disaster declaration after a harsh weather storm left many residents without electricity in early February. The declaration will support Kentucky public assistance in costs towards debris removal, emergency protective actions, and the restoration of damaged infrastructure.

LOUISIANA

Solar-Powered Neighborhood

Trinity Bluff, a new neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana, will be developed with its own microgrid within the SWEPCO grid (Southwestern Electric Power Company). Using about 750 kilowatts of solar panels, a solar array will feed into a battery storage system and connect to the SWEPCO grid. The array and microgrid will help residents maintain power during extreme weather events. The homes are also being built with other energy efficiency features like air source heat pumps, smart thermostats, LED lighting, and induction cooktops.

NORTH CAROLINA

Efficient Government Buildings and Savings Act

In April, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed H245, requiring prisons, public universities, and other state-run buildings to cut their energy use by one-tenth. The bill is estimated to save taxpayers $1.1 billion in energy costs. The bill would leverage energy performance contracts to realize net benefits in real time. In 2007, North Carolina required state buildings to reduce their energy consumption by 30% by 2015, saving over $1.4 billion in gross utility costs.

TENNESSEE

Knoxville Joins DOE Carbon Pilot

Better Building partners City of Knoxville, Eastman Chemical, and Schneider Electric are participating in Department of Energy’s Low Carbon Pilot. The program is designed to help buildings and manufacturing plants reduce their carbon emissions by piloting approaches and sharing successful solutions. Energy efficiency will feature as a key strategy to help partners achieve low or zero carbon emissions.

VIRGINIA

Building Energy Codes

Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development announced the 2018 Virginia Energy Conservation Code effective date of July 1, 2021, with a mandatory date of July 1, 2022. The 2021 Virginia code development process will begin in late 2021.

Regional, National, & Federal Policy Updates

Southeast Energy Insecurity Stakeholder Initiative

In May, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University launched the Southeast Energy Insecurity Stakeholder Initiative in partnership with Appalachian Voices and North Carolina Justice Center. The intention of this initiative is to continue discussions on reducing energy insecurity in the Southeast. Built Environment Project Manager, William Bryan along with SEEA board members, Therese Griffin and Michael Bryan, are on the group’s advisory board.

Extreme Weather Costs

Eight counties in Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana accounted for half of the $1.2 billion in claims paid by the federal flood insurance program in 2020. This increase in claims is due to global climate change creating more widespread and less predictable instances of extreme weather events, specifically flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plans to revisit insurance rates to better support policyholders that experience damage from flooding.

Blackouts and the Energy Grid

Extreme weather events in the Southeast have revealed the vulnerabilities in the nation’s energy grid. State and local policies can encourage improved building codes, renewable energy projects, and efforts to support vulnerable communities on the energy grid.

Building Decarbonization Equity Lens

In June, Chicago’s newly created Building Decarbonization Working Group announced that they will develop a framework that guides the city’s building decarbonization from an equity lens. The working group includes 55 individuals from nonprofits, private businesses, organizations, and community groups.

Efficient Building Investment

On May 17, the Biden administration announced that it will invest $30 million to train individuals to build and maintain buildings that use renewables, energy demand management, efficient lighting, and other clean energy technologies. The Department of Energy also announced a grid-interactive efficient buildings roadmap to provide efficiency and renewable integration recommendations for buildings that could save $200 billion. The White House also released building performance standards for the federal government, which is the largest single energy consumer in the U.S.

Efficiency Workforce Bills

In May, two bipartisan bills were introduced to incentivize and offset energy efficiency retrofit costs in buildings and homes. The HOPE for HOMES Act would create a rebate program for homeowners and bolster the energy efficiency workforce. A second bill would offset the costs of efficiency retrofit for buildings owned by nonprofit organizations.

Report on Manufactured Housing

The National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO) released a new report to support the Rural Energy Task Force, “Manufactured Housing in Rural America: How States are Supporting Energy Efficient Homes and Reducing Energy Costs for Residents”. The report summarizes existing federal regulations which pre-empt state and local building codes for manufactured housing, as well as the energy and economic implications of these stagnant codes. Then, the report identifies existing federal resources and explores state-led efforts to improve the efficiency of existing and new manufactured homes and to support energy-efficient home building with competitive prices.

National Building Energy Efficiency Loan Program

On June 15, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a bill that establishes a revolving loan fund program for energy efficiency improvements. The bill would help states improve residential and commercial building efficiency at $250 million annually. Federal Budget Prioritizes Clean Energy: In May, the Biden administration presented a $6 trillion budget plan which encourages spending for clean energy technologies and electric vehicles, and also prioritizes policy and research to combat global climate change. The Department of Energy and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would receive an increase in spending and budgets from previous years.

Climate Change DOD Costs

At a Senate hearing in May, the Department of Defense reported spending more $8.5 billion to counter the effects of climate change since 2018 on restoration projects and strengthening facilities against extreme weather. In the past year, service branches begun integrating climate and energy resilience into their master plans for military installations.

Climate-Smart Agriculture Funding Opportunity

In June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $10 million funding opportunity “to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry through voluntary conservation practices” across selected states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. The intent is to support conservation practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of global climate change.