Tapping Efficiency in Homes

Roughly half of all efficiency and/or carbon emission reduction in North American and European buildings can be achieved through retrofit improvements to existing homes. Achieving the efficiency potential will require a new strategy to treat buildings collectively as a critical component of the energy infrastructure.

Through its publications, presentations and webinars, RAP outlines what approaches are needed to assure that home retrofits become more universally recognized as a least-cost strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while producing economic benefits.

RAP also offers ongoing technical assistance to Energy Foundation grantees on energy efficiency program design and implementation. In a recent series of webinars, RAP hosted panels of experts to discuss:

• building codes and standards
• whole-house retrofit approaches
• integrating energy efficiency programs into resource planning
• portfolio development and evaluation.