University Saves Millions with

Massive Performance Contract

F

ive years ago, the University of Utah campus was plagued by aging

infrastructure and high utility bills. With the help of a $39 million

performance contract completed in the summer of 2002, the university

improved over 5 million square feet of space in 81 buildings in just four years

– all paid for by future energy savings. 

Now, the campus is benefiting from the capital improvements and the

university is saving millions in energy costs.

The scope of the project was enormous, one of the largest energy

performance contracts ever undertaken by a university. Improvements ranged

from equipment upgrades to operations and maintenance changes.

Nearly 68,000 light fixtures were upgraded or replaced to use less energy.

Eighty-two variable-frequency drives for HVAC (heating, ventilation and airconditioning) systems and 95 energy-efficient motors were installed. Three

new chillers and two new cooling towers were put in place. Four hundred

fume hoods received energy upgrades.

More than 600 low-flow toilets replaced older fixtures that wasted water,

and 1,441 low-flow aerators were installed on sinks. Hundreds of radiator

valves were also fixed. Water savings from the improvements totaled 11.6

million cubic feet in about two years.

With an energy performance contract, future savings pay for retrofit

projects. At the University of Utah, one of the most substantial improvements

was the construction of a chilled and high-temperature water plant that

serves the cooling and heating needs of the eastern part of campus. For the

new plant, CMS Viron Energy Services – the performance contractor and a

Rebuild America Business Partner – guaranteed excess savings that will cover

Continued on page 8

The new water

plant at the

University of Utah

was an addition

financed through

guaranteed

savings.

PARTNER UPDATE

Rebuild America

Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program DOE/EE-0281 • May – June 2003

Energy Fund Boosts

Louisiana’s Surge of

Building Improvements

L

ouisiana, putting its new Energy Fund

to work, has completed the awarding

of a first wave of energy performance

contracts, mostly to upgrade schools. Those

have been followed by three more projects,

including the state government’s first

performance contract, while progress is

being made on big plans for improving

hospitals and public housing.

The first pool of contracts adds up to

more than $13.6 million in work, spread

among six school districts and one localgovernment office building. The districts

are primarily in low-income areas,

especially rural localities, where capital to

improve school buildings can be hard 

to find.

“We have extreme deferred maintenance

in our schools,” says Louis McArthur,

manager of the Energy Fund at the state

Department of Natural Resources (DNR). 

The first decisions on Energy Fund

performance contracts were announced last

fall, and the last contractual details were

In This Issue

Building with Habitat for Humanity

Zoo Energy Improvements

Biomass Gains Ground

Revitalization of Brownfields

Energy Labs in Action

Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable

Continued on page 2

3

4

5

6

10
2 PARTNER UPDATE • May – June 2003

Energy Fund

cemented in place this spring. A large amount of the energyefficiency work is now well underway.

The school districts, listed by parish (Louisiana’s version of

a county), are: Allen, Avoyelles, Iberville, Natchitoches, St.

Charles and St. James. An Evangeline Parish government

office building, in need of retrofits and a new annex,

provided the seventh contract in the pool.

Tax-exempt bonds are providing the initial capital for the

Louisiana projects. The Energy Fund, created by the DNR,

serves as a “first-loss reserve fund” to back up the bonds in

the event of a default – a reassurance that helped earn the

bonds triple-A ratings and low interest rates. 

Because Energy Fund projects are being done through

performance contracts, all costs, including repayment of the

bonds, are to be covered by savings on energy and water

utility bills.

The Energy Fund was developed with the assistance of

Rebuild America, working through partnership Rebuild

Louisiana. DNR is the lead partner in Rebuild Louisiana.

Sources of expert advice included the Energy Services

Coalition, a Rebuild America Strategic Partner.

The fund will backstop much more work than what has

been announced so far. 

Two more performance contracts were awarded recently –

a $1.7 million lighting retrofit for Louisiana Tech University,

in Ruston, and a $1.5 million project to improve Sabine

Parish schools. The significance of the Louisiana Tech

project is that it is the first in which the state is the

customer.

Siemens Building Technologies, a Rebuild America

Business Partner that won several school projects in the first

pool, was awarded the Sabine Parish contract, while Carrier

Corp. won the Louisiana Tech retrofit. Other companies that

won contracts in the first pool are TAC Americas and Trane

Co. – the latter also a Rebuild America Business Partner.

Still another energy-efficiency project developed this

spring is a $1.2 million upgrade of Madison Parish schools,

but that will be using public bid laws rather than

performance contracting.

A request for proposals (RFP) was issued for a performance

contract to upgrade the state’s charity hospital system,

which includes about six public hospitals for the poor.

Johnson Controls (another Rebuild America Business

Partner) and Siemens responded.

Public housing also is to be upgraded with help from the

Energy Fund. Projects have been approved and are being

reviewed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development. 

And then there is the little matter of state agencies. There

is more than $1 billion of deferred maintenance in Louisiana

state agencies, says McArthur. Possibly one-third of that will

involve energy-efficiency measures, and all of it is likely to

be done through performance contracts, he says.

All of which leads McArthur to suggest that performance

contracting in his state is in the early stages of an explosion.

For more information on the projects of Louisiana DNR’s

Energy Fund, call Louis McArthur at 225-342-1298 or visit

www.dnr.state.la.us.

continued from page 1

Hahnville High School in St. Charles Parish, LA, one of the Energy Fund project schools.

Bay de Noc Community College, MI

CHPS, Inc., CA

City of Galveston, TX

City of Meridian, ID

City of Valparaiso, IN

County of Henrico, VA

Fremont Unified School District, CA

Fulton County Community Unit School District #3, IL

Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, MI

Hancock County Schools, KY

Langley Hill Friends Meeting, VA

Luke's Regional Medical Center, ID

Michigan State University, MI

Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

Stickney Township Energy Program (S.T.E.P.), IL 

Traverse City Light and Power, MI

Village of Maywood Community Energy Program, IL

NEW PARTNERSHIPS
Rebuild America’s efforts to transform its Web site into a

valuable vehicle for advancing energy-efficiency

solutions are bearing fruit. The Web site reached a

milestone of more than 1 million visitors in April.

The continuing effort to build the Web site infrastructure

and content has paid dividends by opening up access to

information about energy efficiency – an important step to

removing barriers to the widespread use of energy

technologies. The Web site functions as a hub for the multifaceted, geographically diverse Rebuild America network.

For the record, the Web site attracted 1,008,346 hits and

145,414 “page views” during April, up 285 percent and 484

percent respectively from activity recorded for April 2002. It’s

a long way from December 2000, when the Web site started

with 60,000 hits and 1,300 page views.

Other results for April peg the number of “document

views” at 90,952, up 434 percent from April 2002. Activity

during 2003 has steadily increased since January, when

812,523 hits were recorded. 

Likely factors contributing to the growth include the

increasing number of community partnerships, the addition

of the Rebuild Network Project Assistance Center – an online

system of technical assistance that connects local

partnerships with experts – and the expansion of the Solution

Center.

The Project Assistance Center, introduced in January 2003,

has contributed to a 100 percent increase in the number of

technical assistance requests generated during the first four

months of 2003. 

The Solution Center contains information to assist local

partnerships with energy-saving and renewable-energy

projects. This section of the Web site has been enhanced to

provide more resources and increased capabilities for ordering

booklets, CDs and documents.

It is gratifying for me to see how far we have come with the

Web site and to know that we will continue to improve and

expand our offerings and capabilities. And while energy

technology is central to the Rebuild America mission, we

must never lose sight of the fact that people, relationships

and energy-smart leadership are integral to the continued

success of the program.

Dan Sze is National Program Manager of Rebuild America. Your

comments are always welcome at danielsze@rebuild.org.

View From DC 

by Daniel Sze

May – June 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 3

Building Homes with

Habitat for Humanity

The New York State Energy Research and Development

Authority (NYSERDA) is partnering with local chapters

of Habitat for Humanity to build New York ENERGY

STAR® Labeled Homes for low-income New Yorkers.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization

dedicated to building affordable housing in both the United

States and abroad. Volunteers team up with a designated

homeowner to construct or renovate a house, which is then

sold to the future occupants at cost. The mortgages carry no

interest. Habitat for Humanity has built about 45,000 homes

in the United States alone.

NYSERDA first started working with Habitat for Humanity

by providing technical assistance and financial incentives to

the Livingston County and Schenectady County affiliates to

build New York ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes. A case study

developed from the Livingston County project served as a

springboard to help other Habitat for Humanity affiliates

throughout the state.

Habitat for Humanity recognizes the importance of

sustainable building practices and energy efficiency in

homebuilding. To further these efforts, the New York City

affiliate of Habitat for Humanity formed a partnership with

NYSERDA last year. In October 2002, the two organizations

showcased 20 new energy-efficient homes being built in

Brooklyn, NY.

The houses are among the first New York ENERGY STAR

Labeled Homes built by a non-profit entity in New York

City. They were featured as part of the five-day Building on

Faith Blitz Build of Habitat for Humanity-NYC. While

hundreds of volunteers worked on the homes, NYSERDA

representatives conducted tours. 

Habitat for Humanity house being built in Rensselaer Falls, NY.

Continued on page 9
4 PARTNER UPDATE • May – June 2003

P

rojects to increase energy efficiency and add renewable

energy are proliferating at zoos and aquariums around

the country.

Zoos have considerable heating, cooling and lighting

requirements – “space conditioning” of various kinds – to

keep their animals healthy. At the same time, zoos have an

obvious educational role. People go to zoos to see and learn

– making them natural demonstration sites for such things

as solar power, wind turbines and various energy-efficiency

measures.

“Zoos are fantastic places for Rebuild America projects

because they are centers of conservation and education and

demonstration,” says Glen Kizer, president of The

Foundation for Environmental Education. “They will

actually become the embodiment of what Rebuild America is

all about.”

Kizer’s foundation, a Rebuild America partner, has joined

with Rebuild Ohio to work on energy-related improvements

at the Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo zoos. His

foundation also is advising the zoo in Brookfield, IL, on the

same sorts of improvements. His group is the lead partner in

a Rebuild America partnership called 1,500 Days: The Ohio

Energy Efficiency Project.

The zoo improvements mostly are in exploratory or

preparatory stages, but they are coming. Analyses and plans

are in the works not only at the zoos in Ohio and Brookfield

but zoos in St. Louis; Duluth, MN; and Syracuse, NY; and at

the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Kizer encourages zoos to start quickly with installation of

photovoltaic panels, which are easy to install and serve as

very visible signs of the possibilities being explored. In order

to spur interest and action, that is better than relying

entirely on the relatively invisible process of slow behindthe-scenes studies, in his view.

The St. Louis Zoo, a partner in Rebuild Missouri, has hired

an energy auditor to explore the zoo’s options and produce a

report. About 45 percent of the cost of hiring the auditor

and getting the report written will be covered by Rebuild

America, if it results in implementation.

“It’s going to be a robust program,” says Patrick Justis of

Rebuild Missouri and the Missouri Department of Natural

Resources.

The auditor’s report must be completed by the end of the

year, and Justis also expects work to start on implementation

before year’s end. Missouri will be able to financially assist

the zoo improvements by tapping a low-interest energy loan

program that typically provides up to $2 million for projects.

The New York State Energy Research and Development

Authority (NYSERDA), manager of the Rebuild America

program in its state, teamed up with Camroden Associates

and Steven Winter Associates to study the potential for

energy-efficiency improvements at the Rosamond Gifford

Zoo in Syracuse. The study concluded that a renovation of

the zoo’s main building could reduce the building’s overall

energy costs by 26 percent.

The study anticipated such measures as: glazing and

overhangs to reduce solar heat gain in summer; daylighting,

including skylights; downsizing of air conditioning

equipment; and use of insulated concrete form walls.

There may be a mistaken idea that the goals of energy

efficiency and renewable energy do not fit well with zoos,

that because alternative energy sources are not as tested as

conventional systems, they will not be safe for the animals,

says Kizer. “It takes a while to get over misconceptions,” he

remarks.

The reality is that energy-saving improvements for zoos

and aquariums – like those for human habitations – do not

require compromising the health and comfort of the

occupants. Instead, the changes can free up money to be

spent on enhanced care of the furred, feathered and finned

residents.

Solar panels atop Habitat Hollow in Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Grahm S. Jones, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Continued on next page

The Animals Get Their Own Energy Improvements
Biomass Gains Ground

as Domestic, Renewable

Energy and Synthetics

Natural fibers have been used in furniture and fabrics

for ages, but the modern concern for developing

domestic and renewable resources is pushing the

frontiers for agricultural products – into diesel, heating oil

and a variety of synthetic products for home and office.

The transportation fuel ethanol is the best known of the

modern biomass products. Now biodiesel is gaining ground

in transportation, and some people have begun blending it

into heating oil. And the federal Biomass Program is

promoting development of plant-derived materials not only

for those fuels but for plastics and chemicals.

“Domestic” and “renewable” are the magic words used in

support of biomass products. Years of weak prices for corn

and soybeans are the drivers behind political and farmregion advocacy.

Robert Cerio, energy educator/manager for Warwick Public

Schools in Rhode Island, has saved money for his school

system by blending biodiesel into heating oil, producing a

product that is 20 percent biodiesel.

“Rhode Island is the first state in the country to use

biodiesel to heat schools,” says Cerio, head of the Rebuild

Warwick partnership. “We want to be out in the forefront

and help build an infrastructure to support the use of

biodiesel.”

Biodiesel fuels a variety of large vehicles in some localities.

It typically is 20 percent agricultural product and the rest

conventional diesel. The blend, called B20, is burned in the

school buses and all heavy equipment of Arlington County,

where Arlington Public Schools and the county government

are Rebuild America partnerships.

The most obvious market for biomass has been the fuel

market for farm equipment. The less obvious markets have

been in products commonly made from petrochemicals.

“There are lots of biobased products that could be used in

the Rebuild America program,” says Mark E. DeCot, an

energy technology program specialist in the Biomass

Program, within the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Paint, roofing, carpeting, upholstery and plastics are

among the potential uses DeCot cites for biomass.

“The beauty of it is, it’s actually going to reduce our

reliance on foreign petroleum,” he says, echoing the

“domestic not imports” theme.

Kizer hopes to see each zoo become a Rebuild America

partnership rather than relying on the initiative of existing

partnerships. “The idea is that we will not have to help them

very long,” he says.

American Electric Power has joined in the plans for

upgrading the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Solar panels

have been installed atop Habitat Hollow, an interactive

exhibit on habitat conservation in a section of the zoo called

the North America Region. Many other energy-saving ideas

are being discussed for a conservation master plan.

“They want to be one of the greenest zoos in the United

States,” Kizer says, explaining that he expects the Columbus

Zoo to serve as a model for others. That will be easier than

trying to bring many zoos along at the same time.

“Once the Columbus project takes off, we’ll visit others

again,” he says.

As energy costs rise, all zoos in the country eventually will

want to make energy-efficiency upgrades, both for the

conservation message and cost savings, Kizer predicts.

For more information, contact Glen Kizer, 614-336-0776,

email gkizer@columbus.rr.com; Patrick Justis, 314-340-5900,

email nrjustp@mail.dnr.state.mo.us; Craig Kneeland of

NYSERDA, 518-862-1090 ext. 3311, email cek@nyserda.org.

Also see a Jan. 16, 2003, story in the news archives of the

Rebuild America Web site (www.rebuild.org) headlined

Rebuild Minnesota Helps Zoo Save Energy.

May – June 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 5

Continued on next page 8

A manatee can benefit from energy efficiency, too.

Michael W. Pogany, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
F

or community redevelopment, some of the tougher

nuts to crack are brownfields – sites where a legacy of

pollution discourages activity. At such locations, almost

inevitably, neighborhoods also have been enduring poor

economic fortunes.

Federal funds for cleanup of brownfields were doubled in

fiscal year 2003, and last year President George W. Bush

signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields

Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act, designed

to promote cleanups.

Rebuild America has been contributing to the economic

rebirth of such areas. In urban and rural areas, on former

dumps and former industrial sites in down-at-heels

neighborhoods, revitalization is occurring.

In California, just a bridge away from prosperous Palo Alto

is lesser known East Palo Alto, historically polluted by

pesticides, herbicides, solvents, heavy metals and leaked

petroleum products. East Palo Alto also has suffered from

high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime in recent

decades.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

designated East Palo Alto as one of its Brownfields Showcase

Communities. The town formed the Rebuild East Palo Alto

partnership and worked closely with Program Representative

Cyane Dandridge and Pamela Peak.

Rebuild America provided advice on energy efficiency and

photovoltaics. The town has needed guidance on such

things as street lighting, green buildings and energy-project

The Sustainable Technology Park building near Cape Charles harbor.

6 PARTNER UPDATE • May – June 2003

New Life from the Seedbeds of Brownfields:

Projects Revitalize Polluted and Decayed Areas

financing. The efforts especially have been channeled into

the Ravenswood Industrial Area, the town’s largest

redevelopment site. Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI),

another partnership, provided energy-efficiency training for

small business owners, especially Latinos.

Other federal agencies helping the town include the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service and the

Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health

and Human Services, and Transportation. Because

brownfields are notable challenges, a recurrent theme in

their redevelopment is the array of supporting agencies.

“East Palo Alto is a great example of building a

comprehensive Rebuild America partnership, linking federal

agencies, city staff, community groups and the school

district,” says Peak of SEI.

Revitalization has progressed farther in the Jewelry District

downriver from the heart of Providence, RI. There, new

businesses are beginning to thrive in a long-decayed former

center of the jewelry industry. A centerpiece of the area’s

rebirth will be a Rebuild America partnership, Heritage

Harbor Museum, which is taking shape within the structural

shell of a former power plant.

“This area was once basically abandoned, left to ruin in

many ways,” says R. Mark Davis, chief executive officer of

the museum.

Power-generation coal residues, petroleum tank leakage,

acids, solvents and heavy metals contributed to making the

area a brownfield. Poverty flourished.

Narragansett Electric Company contributed its closed

South Street Power Plant for the museum, which will

become Rhode Island’s first state history museum. Decisions

on energy-efficient technologies for the museum have yet to

be made, but the goal is for all equipment to meet greenbuilding product standards, Davis says. 

A building-design charrette focusing on energy efficiency

was scheduled for the first week of June. Scientists from

national energy laboratories were expected to tour the site

and meet with the design team and other stakeholders on

the project. Solar hot water, photovoltaics, wind turbines

and fuel cells all are being considered.

In Northampton County, VA, on a thin strip of land

between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, people

have been struggling to deal with the long decline of local

agriculture and seafood processing. Complicating that

challenge are brownfields at the site of an old unofficial

town dump and closed agricultural and seafood processing
May – June 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 7

facilities near the town of Cape Charles. 

EPA designated Cape Charles a Brownfields Showcase

Community. The county has pulled together assistance from

a variety of sources, including EPA, the U.S. Small Business

Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the state

government and Rebuild America.

“Our big issue is really the fear of the unknown,” says

Timothy Hayes of the Northampton County Department of

Sustainable Development. 

He had found, as people at other brownfield sites have

discovered, that there can be exaggerated fears of pollution

residues. EPA provided grants and expertise for site tests to

determine the hazard level.

“We’re able to show a clean bill of health,” Hayes says.

Northampton County has become a Rebuild America

partnership. Its vision is to develop green industries,

especially at its Sustainable Technology Park. 

The first businesses have gone into that recently created

industrial park. Atlantis Energy Systems now employs more

than 30 people to manufacture roofing slates and glass

laminates that are photovoltaic. Wako Chemicals USA has

set up a laboratory to extract a protein from horseshoe crabs

– without killing them – for use in pharmaceutical testing.

A company called proVENTO America is developing a

wind farm and plans a second wind farm nearby at a site

that will become a park. The two facilities, each with 9

megawatt capacity, will produce more power than the

sparsely populated county needs, allowing for power sales

into the regional grid.

“So the economic engine is starting to go,” Hayes says.

Rebuild America has been helping the county network

with experts and power-industry market players. At offices of

the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Rebuild America

convened a three-hour meeting of about 40 federal, state

and local interested parties, public and private, to boost the

plan for wind energy.

To help design an energy-efficient, cost-effective building

that will house Northampton County offices, a courthouse

and a jail, specialists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory

have been reviewing the county’s plans.

In St. Paul, MN, a multifamily housing project has been

built on a cleaned-up

brownfield that had been an

unofficial dump. The site

was a swampy patch of scrub

woods in the middle of a

residential area. Its most significant pollution was fly ash

from power generation.

Now, instead of fly ash and mud, the site houses lowincome families. People began moving into the 25-unit

housing project, called Jackson Street Village, at the start of

March. Of the three buildings, two were filled while work

was being completed on the third.

To make Jackson Street become a reality, the Amherst H.

Wilder Foundation (a Rebuild America partnership) received

assistance from Rebuild Minnesota and Xcel Energy,

resulting in a major commitment of the project to energy

efficiency. They also linked up with the U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development and other partners.

For more information, contact Pamela Peak, 415-507-2182,

email pam@SEIinc.org; Cathy Blaney of Heritage Harbor,

401-751-7979, email cblaney@heritageharbor.org; Timothy

Hayes, 757-678-0414, email thayes@esva.net; Tom Schirber,

Wilder Foundation, 651-223-7288, email TJS1@wilder.org.

A former power plant

serves as the building for

Heritage Harbor Museum

downriver from the heart

of Providence, RI.

Heritage Harbor Museum

He had found, as people at other brownfield sites have discovered,

that there can be exaggerated fears of pollution residues.
8 PARTNER UPDATE • May – June 2003

the cost of the plant. Normally, an energy service company

(ESCO) will not guarantee excess savings, notes Bret Hunter,

formerly with CMS Viron and now president of Hunter

Consulting. 

When an ESCO and the customer form a true partnership,

you see success, explains Hunter, who serves on the board of

directors of the Energy Service Coalition, a Rebuild America

Strategic Partner. “Communication is critical,” he notes.

The multi-year energy project received funds from the

Utah Energy Office to study the feasibility of the campus

improvements. The university, a partner of Rebuild Utah,

also used draft procurement documents developed by the

Energy Services Coalition. The Utah Energy Office, which

leads Rebuild Utah, offers technical assistance to state

institutions for performance contracting through the State

Building Energy Efficiency Program. Assistance in

customizing procurement and contracting documents is also

available to state agencies. 

Since energy savings reporting started in November 2000,

the university has saved $6.6 million in energy costs –

$400,000 more than projected.

“It’s been very successful,” notes Orfeo Kostrencich,

financial analyst for the university.

“We’ve been able to improve the campus without

requiring any additional taxes from the citizens of Utah.” 

The university’s success in saving energy and water has

been recognized with numerous awards over the past several

years including the Rebuild America Energy Champion

Award for Universities and Colleges (2001); an Energy

Champion Award from the Association of Professional

Energy Managers, Utah Chapter and the Utah Energy Office

(2001); an award from the World Wildlife Fund (2001); and

selection for the 1999 ENERGY STAR® Buildings program

honors society.

Pieter van der Heev, director of plant operations for the

university, offered some advice for other universities looking

to use performance contracting: Be sure there is good

communication between building occupants, the university

and contractors before improvements are to begin. For

example, it is necessary to understand how a change in the

indoor environment could affect the work of university

researchers and scientists.

He also emphasized the importance of working closely

with a university’s financial officials when entering into an

energy performance contract.

For more information on Rebuild Utah, contact Bernell

Loveridge at 801-538-5413 or email

bernellloveridge@utah.gov.

University Saves Millions

continued from page 1

Biomass soon will be an expanding part of purchases by

federal agencies. Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural

Investment Act of 2002 mandates that agencies give

purchasing preference to those products “composed of the

highest percentage of biobased products practicable.”

Regulations still need to be promulgated.

Agencies will not need to purchase such products if

availability or price are considered unreasonable, or if the

products’ performance standards are inadequate. 

Biomass also was given a boost by the Agricultural Risk

Protection Act of 2000, which focused one section on federal

research and development.

The private sector is not waiting for government R&D.

One of the largest agricultural companies has teamed up

with one of the largest chemical companies to form a joint

venture, Cargill Dow LLC, that manufactures biomass

products. Its two chief product lines are Ingeo fibers – for

various textile uses – and NatureWorks packaging resins.

If the many markets for oil products actually shift to

biomass products, the supplies of soybeans and corn and

other common agricultural products will not be sufficient to

meet the demand, DeCot admits.

“We need cellulosic material as a source,” he says. “We

can do it already, but it’s expensive.”

By cellulosic material, he is referring to corn stalks, woody

plants and other things not now considered agricultural

products. Ethanol, biodiesel and other biomass products are

being made from corn kernels and soybeans, which means

they are being siphoned off the edges of the supply streams

that primarily sell as food for humans and livestock.

If a breakthrough can turn cornstalks and woody material

into sugars and then into alcohols at a reasonable price, that

will be when the markets are transformed.

For more information, visit the Biomass Program Web site,

www.eere.energy.gov/biomass.html, and the EnergySmart

Schools Web site, www.energysmartschools.gov. To learn

more about Cargill Dow LLC, visit www.cargilldow.com.

Biomass Gains Ground

continued from page 5
May – June 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 9

The units, which range in size from 1,350 square feet

to1,450 square feet, should save the homeowners about $300

to $500 each year in utility costs, depending on such

variations as household size, weather and energy usage.

The new homes are expected to be finished this summer.

The houses feature ENERGY STAR appliances, high-performance

windows and high-efficiency boilers and hot water heaters.

In addition to services provided through the New York

ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes program, NYSERDA provided a

grant to Habitat for Humanity-NYC to obtain engineering

and training services from Steven Winter Associates. The

firm also trained the Habitat for Humanity-NYC staff on best

practices for building.

The New York ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes program builds

upon the national ENERGY STAR program by requiring added

ventilation and electricity consumption standards.

Habitat for Humanity-NYC plans to build all of its singlefamily residences to the New York ENERGY STAR Labeled

Homes standards from now on. The organization will also

continue its relationship with NYSERDA, with plans to build

33 new homes and perform 17 rehabilitations over the next

three years. “It’s been a very fruitful partnership for both of

us,” explains Kevin Sullivan of Habitat for Humanity-NYC.

NYSERDA is teaming up with

another Habitat for Humanity

affiliate through its New York

Energy $mart Communities

program. Raquette Valley

Habitat for Humanity is

working with NYSERDA to build

a New York ENERGY STAR Labeled

Home in Rensselaer Falls. The

town is a partner of the North

Country Energy $mart

Communities, a Rebuild

America community partnership.

NYSERDA gave Raquette Valley

Habitat for Humanity technical and financial support. 

The home utilizes ENERGY STAR windows, energy-efficient

lighting, a heat recovery ventilator, an insulated slab and

radiant floor heating. An ENERGY STAR propane boiler will

provide heat and hot water. 

NYSERDA is partnering with other organizations to build

similar homes. To encourage the construction of New York

ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes, NYSERDA offers technical

assistance and cash incentives to builders and homebuyers. 

For more information on the New York ENERGY STAR

Labeled Homes program, contact 1-877-NY-SMART or visit

www.GetEnergySmart.org.

Habitat for Humanity

continued from page 3

Work in the Building on Faith Blitz

Build in New York City

PETE Helps Colleges

Create Energy Tracks

E

ight colleges are developing pilot programs that may

draw students into careers in energy services and

technologies. The programs are steps toward creating

curricula that lead to associate degrees and certificates.

With financial support from the U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE), the educational effort has been spearheaded

by the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education

(PETE), a non-profit group.

PETE put together a “best practices” guide for both a twoyear associate degree program and a one-year certificate

program for community and technical colleges to train

energy specialists. It also devised a “best practices” guide on

how to launch a program that could attract technicians who

want to increase their career options. 

Now the colleges are testing the waters of such programs,

and each institution is adapting in its own way.

The initial goal of Barton County Community College in

Junction City, KS, was pretty much what PETE had mapped

out, and that remains its final goal, the college reports.

“However, we have developed several classes ... and are

offering them under our environmental program to get

things going,” says a May report from Barton.

Highline Community College in Des Moines, WA,

surveyed 320 companies and organizations in the Puget

Sound area and concluded that there was sufficient business

interest to establish short-term non-credit training. 

The University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla decided to offer

energy management options for students in its Electronics

Technology Program. Development of a curriculum has been

slowed by a lack of faculty knowledge and experience in

energy management. But the university has no intention of

giving up, apparently.

“This project must be continued to guarantee education

and support by focusing mostly on practical experience,”

says a March report from the university.

For more information, call PETE at 207-771-9020. Its web

site is www.ateec.org/pete.

Number of Partnerships:

530

Total Number of Committed or 

Completed Square Feet:

1,174,041,696

as of May 30, 2003 

Rebuild America Progress Calculator
Upcoming Events

July

8 Texas Energy Code Training – Residential,

Omni Hotel Bayfront Tower, Corpus Christi, TX.

Contact Angie Zikus at 979-458-0675 or email

angie@esl.tamu.edu.

12-30 NEED National Energy Conferences for

Educators, Chicago, IL; Galveston, TX; and

Denver, CO. Contact NEED at 703-257-1117 or

email info@need.org.

22 Texas Energy Code Training – Residential,

Clarion Hotel, Houston, TX. Contact Angie Zikus

at 979-458-0675 or email angie@esl.tamu.edu.

24-27 National Association of Housing and

Redevelopment Officials 2003 Summer

Conference, Tampa Marriott Waterside, Tampa,

FL. Visit http://www.nahro.org/conferences/

summer.html

26-29 National Association of College and

University Business Officers Annual

Meeting, Gaylord Opryland Hotel and

Convention Center, Nashville, TN. Visit

http://www.nacubo.org/annual_meeting/

27-29 2003 Educational Facilities Leadership

Forum, co-located with the NACUBO conference

at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention

Center, Nashville, TN. Presented by the

Association of Higher Education Facilities

Officers. Visit http://www.appa.org/ 

August

11-15 Summer Energy Education Program, for

teachers of third through fifth grades, Courtyard

by Marriott, Hyannis, MA. Contact Debbie Fitton

of Cape Cod Cooperative Extension at 

508-375-6703.

17-20 Energy 2003 Workshop and Exposition,

Wyndham Palace Resort and Spa, Lake Buena

Vista, FL. Contact JoAnn Stirling at 800-395-8574.

10 PARTNER UPDATE • May – June 2003

National Energy Labs 

Take Tech to Streets

When Rebuild America’s program representatives

encounter questions that require more in-depth

technical assistance than they can provide, they

refer partners to experts in the U.S. Department of Energy’s

national laboratory system. 

Four of the national labs provide much of the technical

assistance for Rebuild America partners: Oak Ridge National

Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, National

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley

National Laboratory (LBNL). Their scientists and

technologists have broadly overlapping responsibilities and

fields of knowledge. 

They also are available for special projects. NREL, for

example, produced the Energy Design Guidelines for High

Performance Schools, a set of climate-specific guidebooks

rolled out in 2002.

When a call is made for assistance, it may go to any given

lab based on such factors as geographic location, a particular

technical interest or availability at that moment.

“Today I’ve been working with the City of East Palo Alto

[California] to identify bulletproof, energy-efficient street

lighting fixtures,” Rick Diamond said recently. 

Diamond, a staff scientist at LBNL’s Environmental Energy

Technologies Division, heads up the Rebuild America

technical support at LBNL. 

“We respond to about 50 to 60 calls per year for design

assistance referred to us from Rebuild America’s technical

assistance coordinator, Bill Mixon, or we hear directly from

the partnerships,” says Diamond. “The help we provide can

range from a simple telephone call to referrals to papers,

Web sites and design guides, to design workshops, to

spending a week or two working with a design team

planning a retrofit project.” 

He draws on more than 20 researchers in LBNL’s

Environmental Energy Technologies Division for assistance

on Rebuild America projects.

Design assistance includes “helping the client understand

what kind of savings is possible to achieve through energy

efficiency in their project, and acting as a resource to the

design team, advising them on their energy modeling

programs, for example,” he adds.

Diamond and his LBNL colleagues also review

specifications for energy-efficient systems in public buildings

and teach workshops on energy-efficient design. Here is a

sampling of a few projects aided by LBNL staff.

Continued on next page
Oakland Housing

The Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) provides housing

for low-income residents of this California city. “We have

been providing design specifications for improving the

energy efficiency of ventilation and of HVAC [heating,

ventilation and air conditioning] systems to OHA for the

rehabilitation of old units,” says Diamond. This has been an

ongoing project for several years.

Occupied in Hawaii

Energy-efficient lighting is often at the top of the list in

retrofit projects. LBNL has assisted cities with a great variety

of lighting projects. LBNL researcher Judy Jennings

responded to a request from Rebuild Hawaii about

occupancy sensors connected to lighting controls. 

“Their question was whether occupancy sensors reduced

the life of energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps,” she

says. “I put together a brief study and a spreadsheet for them

answering the question. ... Occupancy sensors help save so

much money on lighting energy that the effect overwhelms

other factors such as a slight decrease in lamp life.”

A Greener Pittsburgh

The city of Pittsburgh has built a new convention center

that will be the first facility of its kind in the United States

to receive a rating by the U.S. Green Building Council

through its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design) Green Building Rating SystemTM. The center’s

features include natural ventilation, extensive use of

daylighting and other energy-efficiency measures. The

completed David Lawrence Convention Center opened at

the end of April.

LBNL scientist Vladimir Bazjanac responded to a Rebuild

America request for assistance with the daylighting design of

the center. Bazjanac went to Pittsburgh, where he conducted

an analysis at the site using a scale model of the design.

Then, says Bazjanac, “we used DOE-2 to create a model of

energy use in the building. The building’s geometry is so

complicated that it was very difficult to model.” 

DOE-2 is building energy simulation software developed

by LBNL researchers. Bazjanac created a shading system for

the main entry area and the exhibit hall that would reduce

cooling load and provide protection from glare in one of the

exhibit halls.

Training Programs

One of LBNL’s most active areas for technical assistance is

in setting up training programs. The work keeps LBNL’s

Doug Avery busy enough that he’s rarely in his office. 

“We provide training seminars for Rebuild America

partners all over the United States,” Avery said recently, in

between one of many training and consultation trips. 

The seminars attract anywhere from 25 to 200 people. The

audience can include business owners, local government

officials, utility staff, electricians, school officials, facility

managers and operators, managers of low-income housing,

and the general public.

Last year, Avery organized 14 seminars. “This year we

expect to do between 50 and 70,” he says, adding, “The high

demand for these seminars is both gratifying and fearsome.”

May – June 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 11

Labs Offer Tech

continued from previous page

Reaching Energy Labs

Rebuild America partnerships seeking technical assistance

can get some of the best in America, courtesy of the national

energy laboratories. The route to that help is through a

partnership’s customer service representative.

After talking to the partnership to clarify what is needed, the

customer service representative will use the Rebuild America

Web site to submit a technical assistance request. Web-based

communications provide an efficient system of obtaining help

and tracking the progress of a request.

Before going to a customer service representative,

partnerships are encouraged to go to the program Web site

(www.rebuild.org), enter the Solution Center and click on

“Services” to see what forms of assistance are available.

Rick Diamond, at right in cap with box, at Oakland Housing Authority site.
REBUILD AMERICA 

Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy

U.S. Department of Energy

1000 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20585-0121

Address Correction Requested

Rebuild America is a network

of partnerships – focused 

on communities – that save

money by saving energy.

These voluntary partnerships choose to improve the

quality of life in their communities through energy

efficiency. Rebuild America supports them with

customized assistance backed by technical and

business experts and resources.

Published bimonthly by the U.S. Department 

of Energy, Partner Update also incorporates news 

of other programs within the Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Newsletter contact: 

Alan Kovski, 202-466-7391 or akovski@pcgpr.com. 

To subscribe: 

rebuildorders@rebuild.org or 252-459-4664.

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable

energy will mean a stronger economy, a

cleaner environment, and greater energy

independence for America. By investing in

technology breakthroughs today, our nation

can look forward to a more resilient

economy and secure future. 

Far-reaching technology changes will be

essential to America's energy future.

Working with a wide array of state,

community, industry, and university

partners, the U.S. Department of Energy's

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Energy invests in a portfolio of energy

technologies that will:

• Conserve energy in the residential,

commercial, industrial, government,

and transportation sectors 

• Increase and diversify energy supply,

with a focus on renewable domestic

sources 

• Upgrade our national energy

infrastructure 

• Facilitate the emergence of hydrogen

technologies as a vital new “energy

carrier.” 

The Opportunities

Biomass Program

Using domestic, plant-derived resources to

meet our fuel, power, and chemical needs

Building Technologies Program

Homes, schools, and businesses that use

less energy, cost less to operate, and

ultimately, generate as much power as 

they use

Distributed Energy & Electric Reliability

Program

A more reliable energy infrastructure and

reduced need for new power plants

Federal Energy Management Program

Leading by example, saving energy and

taxpayer dollars in federal facilities 

FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies

Program

Less dependence on foreign oil, and

eventual transition to an emissions-free,

petroleum-free vehicle

Geothermal Technologies Program

Tapping the earth's energy to meet our

heat and power needs

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure

Technologies Program

Paving the way toward a hydrogen

economy and net-zero carbon energy

future

Industrial Technologies Program

Boosting the productivity and

competitiveness of U.S. industry through

improvements in energy and environmental

performance

Solar Energy Technology Program

Utilizing the sun's natural energy to

generate electricity and provide water 

and space heating 

Weatherization & Intergovernmental

Program

Accelerating the use of today's best

energy-efficient and renewable

technologies in homes, communities, and

businesses 

Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program

Harnessing America's abundant natural

resources for clean power generation

To learn more, visit www.eere.energy.gov

Marketing and Communications Rebuild America Help Line 202-466-7868

Check Us Out At: www.rebuild.gov or 252-459-4664

A Strong Energy Portfolio for a Strong America