January—February 1998 Your Choice For Success

After promoting renewable energy as a mechanical

engineering student,professor and practitioner for over

20 years,it’s natural that Dr.Dan Turner is enthusiastic

about Rebuild America.

He said that,“Rebuild America is a cornerstone project”

ofTexas A&M University’s Energy Systems Lab (ESL),

where he is the division head. The Rebuild America

program,founded in 1996,is called the Brazos Valley

Energy Conservation Coalition.

In addition to running Brazos Valley,the Energy Systems

Lab is one of the U.S.Department of Energy’s Industrial

Assessment Centers. Its 60 engineers and researchers also

work on the State Energy Office’s Loan Star Program,

which provides infrastructure upgrade loans to state

agencies,schools,and municipalities.

A Win-Win Situation

“Our goal [for Brazos Valley] is to provide energy

efficiency to the public sector,” Turner said. “Energy

efficiency is important to all of us,whether from the

standpoint of the environment,global warming,or just

using less energy.”

So far,Brazos Valley has completed walk-through audits

of 7 million square feet of space for clients including

Brazos County,Bryan Independent School District,and

Wichita Falls Independent School District [Summer 1997

Partner Update]. Turner said they are well on their way

Continued on page 3 

DOE/EE-0149

‘Brazos Valley’

Rebuilds Texas

Continued on page 2

Little Rock, Hawaii

& New York

Million Solar Roofs Initiative

Innovative 

Financing

Welcome 30 New Partnerships

Rebuild America welcomed its 150th

partnership – the Washington,DC Public

School System – with a kick-off event in

October 1997 featuring Department of

Energy Secretary Federico Peña and

General Julius W.Becton Jr.,the schools’

chief executive.

The partnership,called Rebuild DC

Public Schools,will reduce the schools’

energy costs by $3 million a year for five

years,a 20 percent reduction from the

system’s current $16 million annual

energy bill.

The U.S.Department of Energy (DOE)

will provide expertise,training,and

contracting assistance to the partnership,

including establishing an energy-use

baseline and producing a

comprehensive energy retrofit plan for

the school system.

“At the local level,this partnership will

cut the schools’energy bills and give

students hands-on experience and

training,”said Secretary Peña. “There’s a

double benefit – any time we cut energy

consumption,we are reducing

greenhouse gases that contribute to

global warming.”

“We’ll be focusing on increasing

lighting efficiency,repairing and

replacing boilers and chillers,

and taking other steps to improve the

school atmosphere,with your help,”said

General Becton. The $3 million savings

will be used,he said, “to hire more

qualified teachers;buy computers,

books,and other instruction materials;

and improve the school security.”

Team Systems International,a

Washington,DC-based energy

management firm,is managing the 

project. They are joining DOE,the

school system,Friends of the Earth,and

others determined to make the school

system a model of facility renewal.

Chief Operating Officer Charles

Williams noted that Rebuild DC Public

Schools is the first K-12 school system to

take the lead role in a Rebuild America

Secretary Peña congratulates General

Becton at Wilson High School

Rebuild DC Public Schools 

Is 150th Partnership
View from DC

by Mark Bailey

With this issue marking the start of the

newsletter’s second year,Rebuild America

Partner Update has been revised with a fresh

new look and refined content.

Partner Update provides a timely source of

news about the Rebuild America effort. Starting

with this issue,we’ll begin publishing Partner

Update on a bimonthly basis.

Six times a year,Partner Update will now

provide you with useful information on

partnership activities,industry trends and

program news.

With your suggestions in mind,we’ve added

more of what you want in these eight pages – 

features on people and partnerships,how-to

technical and financial articles,news from

Rebuild America,and more.

Please continue to let us know what you

want to read about in Partner Update,and send

us news about your activities,successes,and the

people who make your program work. Send

your comments and ideas to the address on the

back page.

Heading to Texas

If you haven’t already begun planning to

attend the 1998 Rebuild America National

Conference in San Antonio,now is the time!

We will send out registration packets in midJanuary. You can also visit the Rebuild America 

web site at www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild

to get information online.

With keynote presenters from the worlds of

energy and the environment,sessions on nearly

every aspect of building retrofits,and superb

local attractions,San Antonio promises to be the

best Rebuild America conference yet – you

won’t want to miss it!

You can contact Rebecca Penovich of D&R

International at (301) 588-9387,or e-mail

beckyp@drintl.com for more information.

Thanks,and see you in San Antonio.

Mark Bailey is the Rebuild America program

manager.

Asheville Housing Authority, NC

Asheville, NC, Opportunity Corporation, Inc.

Bridgeport, CT, ERI Services, Inc.

Chicago, IL, Illinois Medical District

City of Concord, NC

City of Greensboro, NC

City of Laurel, MD

City of Mount Rainier, MD

City of New Bern, NC

City of Reno, NV

City of Rocky Mount, NC

City & County of San Francisco, CA

Fayetteville, NC, North Carolina Natural Gas 

Corp.

Goldsboro, NC, Dilland Business Tech.

Greensboro, NC, Yadah Corporation

Hawaii Community Colleges

Laurinburg Housing Authority, NC

Menifee, AR, River Valley Electric Motor 

Rewind & Repair, Inc.

Mount Carmel, PA, Green Heat

Murfreesboro, TN, Middle Tennessee

State University

Rebuild DC Public Schools, 

Washington, DC

Rebuild Roanoke-Chowan Area, NC

Salisbury Housing Authority, NC

Santa Clarita, CA, CEEDS, Inc.

State of Nevada

Tennessee Department of 

General Services

Uptown Shelby Association, NC

Washington, NC, Mideast Regional

Housing Authority

Vancouver, WA, Clark Public Utilities

Virginia Beach, VA, Applied Energy

Solutions

partnership. “We are delighted that we’re

on the leading edge of this,”he said.

Dozens of students will participate in

the “Savings Through Energy Management”

education initiative. They will learn energy

auditing,planning,and

design,and identify costsaving energy opportunities in their

schools. Twenty-five public high school

students will also participate in a summer

internship program at DOE.

“We are going to make this high school

and the other 150 schools in the school

system a better place to learn and a better

place to work,”Secretary Peña said.

Students Rebuild DC Public Schools

Rebuild America 

161 partnerships and counting...

To learn more about Rebuild America, 

call 1-800-DOE-EREC or visit

www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild.

2

Continued from page 1
Eight diverse buildings are slated for

retrofits under the Rebuild Arkansas

program in Little Rock,including historic

Central High School. The partnership “will

be a place others can come to learn about

cost-effective energy-efficiency measures in

a comprehensive group of municipal,

institutional,and residential buildings,”said

Mark Ginsberg,deputy assistant secretary

for the U.S.Department of Energy,at a kickoff celebration in October 1997. The

partnership plans to retrofit approximately

700,000 square feet of space in the eight

buildings,saving over 20 percent on their 

energy bills.

For more information, contact Wendell

Jones, Little Rock’s director of general services,

at (501) 371-4786.

The Hawaii State Public Library

System plans to renovate its 49 public

libraries on Hawaii’s six major islands,the

only public libraries in the state. The

Library System expects to reduce its

$1 million utility bill by making its 422,000

square feet of space more energy-efficient.

Wendy Cheuk,the capital improvements

coordinator,said she expects to issue a

Request for Proposal this spring,after the

state attorney general approves it. By using

a performance contract,Cheuk said 

they expect to pay for the project with

their energy savings. “We’re looking

forward to using energy efficiency as a way

to get a handle on our ever-increasing

utility costs,”she said.

For more information, contact Wendy

Cheuk at (808) 586-3707.

Rebuild New York,a partnership of the

Association for Energy Affordability,Inc.

(AEA),is creating a training center which

offers state-of-the-art technical training,

retrofit certification programs,and seminars

on industry trends to professional and

government staff,contractors,and 

community representatives. The

partnership will also participate in a retail

access aggregation project through which

low-income communities in downstate

New York will have the opportunity to

aggregate,purchase fuels in bulk,and

receive energy-efficiency retrofits and

education. “We expect that this project will

significantly lower the energy burden of

low-income households,”said Rhona Saffer

of AEA.

For more information, contact Rhona Saffer

at (212) 279-3902.

to fulfilling their “hope to far exceed our

stated goals,maybe even in our second year.”

Those goals include completing $6 million

of projects in 2 million square feet of space

over five years. While they are focusing on

capital investment,Turner said,“a side effect is

job creation as we involve the private sector.

This is a real win-win situation.”

A Spectrum of Services

Brazos Valley provides clients with the full

spectrum of energy efficiency services,

including energy audits,project design and

installation,metering and monitoring,savings

verification,and financing. “Texas Energy

Engineering Services,Inc.is the design and

consultation engineering firm. With their

financing subsidiary,SmartMoney,we can do

the whole project,” Turner said.

In a “unique approach”to marketing,

Turner said that Brazos Valley does free walkthrough audits. If there is potential for energy

savings,clients pay

for a detailed audit,

where short-term

metering and

monitoring

equipment is

installed to provide

on-site data. If clients

agree to develop and implement a retrofit

project,Brazos Valley reimburses them for part

of the cost of the detailed audit.

“One key is that we have money available

as a loan for engineering contracts,” Turner

said. “Clients pay back the loan from their

savings,and we do metering and monitoring

to ensure the retrofit is working and report

savings.”

Spreading the Word

As a mechanical engineering undergraduate

at the University of Texas – Austin,Turner

decided to focus on energy instead of

traditional design/control areas. He stayed to

receive his master’s degree,and went on to

earn a Ph.D.at the University of Oklahoma.

“I’ve spent my career teaching and

conducting research in renewables and

energy conservation areas,” Turner said.

Turner and his team of faculty,staff and

students are optimistic about the future for

the Brazos Valley program. They are spreading

the word about Rebuild America through a

series of workshops across the state,and

they’ve sent materials to schools,state

agencies and municipalities.

“That we already have several million

square feet committed is a pretty good

indication of success,” Turner said. “We hope

to build Rebuild America into a stable,longlasting program.”

3

Brazos Valley: A Real Win-Win Situation

Continued from page 1

Dr. Dan Turner
America’s 81 million buildings

account for two-thirds of the total U.S.

electricity use,according to the U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE). That in

turn produces nearly one-quarter of all

U.S.carbon emissions.

To reduce this,President Clinton

recently announced the Million Solar

Roofs Initiative,with a goal of installing

1 million solar energy systems on

buildings across the U.S.by the year

2010.

Rebuild America Program Manager

Mark Bailey said that Rebuild America

partnerships can play a key role in the

program’s success. “Rebuild America’s

network of energy experts and

community leaders is a tremendous

resource to get solar energy systems

onto buildings,where they will save

money for building owners and improve

the environment.”

By 2010,the Initiative will:

■ Create 70,000 new high-tech jobs 

through the demand for solar 

energy technologies like 

photovoltaics and solar water 

heating.

■ Use clean energy from the sun to 

reduce carbon dioxide emissions 

equal to the amount produced by 

850,000 cars in one year.

■ Keep U.S.companies competitive 

as increased demand drives a 

world market expected to reach 

$1.5 billion by 2005.

DOE is leading the Initiative,which

helps develop projects that produce

solar energy installations on

the roofs of residential,

commercial,institutional,and

government buildings. As with Rebuild

America,participants have wide

discretion in choosing program design,

technologies,and deployment options.

Be Solar Friendly

Ideally,solar energy systems should be

installed in energy-efficient buildings.

Rebuild America partnerships can

integrate their expertise in energy

efficiency with solar energy

technologies to cut non-renewable

energy use in buildings even further.

Rebuild America partnerships who

want to bring solar energy into their

communities can start by examining

their action plans to see how to

integrate solar technologies into their

existing programs.

They can also explore ways to

promote solar energy in buildings

through local government policies,the

adoption of net-metering,removal of

zoning restrictions,tax incentives,

training and education programs,and

solar friendly building codes and

standards.

Learn More

To learn more about getting involved

with the Million Solar Roofs Initiative:

■ Contact your Rebuild America 

program representative.

■ Call the Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy Clearinghouse 

at 1-800-DOE-EREC.

■ Visit the web site:

www.eren.doe.gov/millionroofs.

Using the Sun 

To Cool Our World

4

You’re invited to San Antonio,Texas,March 10-12,

for the 1998 Rebuild America National Conference.

The conference will be a dynamic forum for

Rebuild America participants to interact with their

peers from around the country. Experts will add

insight into the latest developments in energy

efficiency and retrofit construction.

Not-to-be-Missed Event

The conference agenda includes knowledgeable

speakers and features many informative sessions

geared to help you implement or augment your

community’s energy-efficiency efforts.

A sample of sessions includes:

■ Collecting utility data.

■ Financing your Rebuild America program.

■ Developing your action plan.

■ Rallying program support in your community.

■ Verifying savings.

■ Media strategies for promoting your success.

Roundtable discussions and exhibitor sessions will

provide opportunities for networking and information

exchange and award sessions will showcase leaders

from this exciting national program.

A Vibrant City

There are also great things to see and do in San

Antonio. The city’s famous Riverwalk area boasts a

panorama of Southwestern nightlife and color.

Everyone is invited to enjoy this and other distinctly

Western experiences.

Those who receive Partner Update will receive

registration materials in mid-January. Otherwise,

visit the Rebuild America web site at

www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild,or contact

Rebecca Penovich of D&R International at (301) 588-

9387,or e-mail beckyp@drintl.com.

Please let us know if someone in your community

should be invited. Everyone involved with

community projects is encouraged to attend.

Rebuild America

Conference
Wallace Heggie,purchasing agent for the

City of Meridian, Mississippi,needed

someone to review technical

specifications for a city-wide retrofit

project.

Through Rebuild America’s assistance

services,experts at Oak Ridge National

Laboratory (ORNL) reviewed Heggie’s

specs and provided suggestions for

changes. “The Rebuild America network

was right on target,”Heggie said.

Reviewing contract documents is one of

the many ways Rebuild America helps

partnerships leverage their resources with

Rebuild America’s network of business,

financial,and technical experts.

According to Rebuild America’s

management plan,“almost anything that

facilitates,expedites,or improves

partnership or community abilities”can be

provided to partnerships.

Business and Technical

Publications

Rebuild America publishes a wide array

of business and technical guides to help

partnerships. The guides cover topics like

financing,building commissioning and

ventilation,and action plan development.

Other Rebuild America resources are the

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Clearinghouse (1-800-DOE-EREC) and

Rebuild America web site

(www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild).

Program Representatives

Wallace Heggie’s program representative

introduced him to ORNL. Program

representatives connect partnerships to

resources from Rebuild America,other

federal or state programs,and private

industry.

They can help arrange workshops,

coordinate on-site assistance,and arrange

for recognition of partnership activities.

Program representatives can also assist

partnerships working on their action plans

by arranging local action planning

workshops,and helping to identify

partners,outline their roles,and select 

target buildings.

Comprehensive Assistance

Partnerships implementing their action

plans can get customized assistance

throughout the building retrofit process,

including:

■ Partnership formation meetings.

■ Technical and management advice.

■ Data collection,interpretation

and use.

■ Action plan development and 

other training workshops.

■ Auditor selection and design review.

■ Savings measurement and tracking.

Focus Your Needs

Talk about your assistance needs with

your program representative,who can

help you focus in on key areas where

Rebuild America can provide assistance

services.

Bill Mixon of TECH Support Services in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, coordinates Rebuild

America’s assistance services. He can be

reached at (423) 483-7096, or e-mail

billmixon@icx.net.

Assistance Services: 

Technical Advice and More

By Bill Mixon

5

In addition to Partner Update’s new look,

Rebuild America has a new Info Kit and

brochure available to help program

representatives and partnerships spread the

word about energy efficiency.

You can send them to colleagues,distribute

them at conferences,and refer to them for

examples of successful partnerships across the

country.

For copies,contact

your program

representative in

February.

Spread the Word about Rebuild America
As Rebuild America works to meet its

goal of 250 partnerships nationwide,state

governments are becoming more creative

in encouraging new Rebuild America

partnerships. And they’re doing it without

federal funds.

Several states,for example,are using local

Stripper Well funds to create and support

new partnerships. Stripper Well funds are

payments to states resulting from a court

decision to provide compensation for past

overcharges on petroleum products.

Incentives Work

In Connecticut,we’ve used Stripper Well

funds as an incentive for communities to

form partnerships and develop viable action

plans. Without such an incentive,we felt

communities wouldn’t invest the necessary

resources. We offered $150,000 to up to six

communities,based on a competitive

evaluation of preliminary action plans due

after four months [Spring 1997 Partner

Update].

Twenty cities and towns expressed their

interest by joining Rebuild America,and we

held workshops statewide to answer their

questions and help them develop their

action plans. As a result of our solicitation,

five strong partnerships received funding

and are now starting projects in their

communities.

Rebuild America

Communities

North Carolina is also using Stripper Well

funds to target units of public housing,local 

government and commercial buildings.

They began by contacting over 1,500

potential partnership organizations across

the state. Over half of the respondents

were interested,and to date Rebuild North

Carolina has helped start eight

partnerships,some with more than 20 local

partners.

After a partnership develops an action

plan,the state contracts with the

partnership’s lead organization to provide

seed money for projects. These funds (up

to $100,000) can be used either

for energy audits or capital improvements.

Thanks to effective group dynamics within 

partnerships,partners are looking at

community interests rather than individual

organizational interests.

Partnerships receiving this funding must

provide at least a 50 percent match. North

Carolina has found that this leveraging

results in far greater sums of money being

committed to Rebuild America projects.

Community recognition is expected to

be an important part of the program. The

City of Salisbury,for example,is putting up

signs that say, “Welcome to a Rebuild

America community.”

6

Encouraging Projects with Non-Federal Funds

By John Ruckes

“[T]o date Rebuild

North Carolina has

helped start eight

partnerships, some

with more than 20

local partners.”

Sixty Partners in Nebraska

Since 1990,the Nebraska Energy Office has

offered 6 percent Dollar and Energy Saving Loans

to small businesses,home and apartment owners,

farmers,and ranchers. Close to 600 loans totaling

greater than $10 million have financed energy

saving improvements for state businesses.

The state launched Rebuild Nebraska to

reach medium and larger sized firms statewide.

Partners voluntarily agree to improve energy

efficiency and reduce waste in exchange for

services and access to the 6 percent loan pool.

Rebuild Nebraska partners have access to free

energy audits of their buildings and systems,and

media coverage. After the audits,firms complete

action plans that identify recent improvements

and those measures to be implemented in the

near future. At this point,companies are eligible

for project financing from the loan pool.

The Energy Office’s targeting,assessing,and

financing package under the Rebuild Nebraska

program has garnered 60 partners in less than 12

months.

New Audiences

These programs show some of the wide range

of approaches available to states looking to

expand Rebuild America and market it to new

audiences. I encourage everyone to share their

ideas and methods.

John Ruckes is the lead planning analyst for

Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management. He

can be reached at (860) 418-6384, or e-mail

john.ruckes@po.state.ct.us.
Partnerships nationwide may soon

benefit from the Peer Exchange

Program set up by Cyane Dandridge,

former executive director of the

ReEnergize East Bay Consortium [Fall

1996 Partner Update],and Paul Johnson

of DOE’s Seattle Regional Support Office.

Designed by and for peers,the program

will increase the exchange of ideas and

experiences among partnerships in the

region served by the Seattle Support

Office. Participants will share their

expertise through meetings,

teleconferences,newsletters and the

Internet. “It is our hope that our region’s

Peer Exchange Program will become a

national model in which all Rebuild

America partnerships can participate,”

Dandridge said.

For more information, contact Cyane

Dandridge at (510) 215-0343, or e-mail

cyaned@aol.com.

The U.S.Department of Energy (DOE)

has brought Rebuild America and other

programs of the Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy together

into Buildings for the 21st Century. In

a partnership between DOE,private

enterprise,and communities across the

country, Buildings for the 21st Century

will improve the way buildings are

constructed and renovated by creating a

“whole buildings”approach that treats

buildings as integrated systems rather than

a series of independent components.

Decision-makers will be better equipped

to optimize siting,design,material and

equipment selections,and financing

options.

For more information about Buildings for

the 21st Century, contact your Rebuild

America program representative.

There was international agreement to

reduce greenhouse gases at the climate

change conference held in December

1997 in Kyoto, Japan. The Kyoto

Protocol to the U.N. Framework

Convention on Climate Change would

require the United States to reduce

emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels

by 2012. The treaty covers the six major

greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide,

methane,nitrous oxide,hydrofluorocarbons,perfluorocarbons,and sulfur

hexafluoride. The treaty would go into

effect after President Clinton and the

Senate both approve it.

Upcoming Conferences:

Greenprints. February 25-27,1998 in

Atlanta,GA. Sustainable design/

construction conference and trade show.

Contact Mary Jim Evans of Southface

Energy Institute at (404) 872-3549 for

information.

Rebuild America 1998 National

Conference. March 10-12,1998 in San

Antonio,TX. Contact Rebecca Penovich

of D&R International at (301) 588-9387,or

e-mail beckyp@drintl.com.

SOLTECH 1998 Annual Meeting.

April 25-30,1998 in Orlando,FL. The

annual meeting of the Solar Energy

Industries Association. Contact the Solar

Energy Industries Association,1800 M

Street,NW,Suite 300,Washington,DC

20036;or phone (202) 383-2620.

7

Tools

In a significant expansion of the current Rebuild

America web site,each partnership will effectively

have its own web page. These pages will serve as a

resource to existing and potential partners across

the country and will be accessible from the current

Rebuild America web site.

They will highlight the accomplishments of the

partnerships and celebrate the successes of each

Rebuild America community. They will also give

the world an up-close and personal look at the

program.

The individual web pages will include:

■ Demographic information about each 

partnership,such as geographical area and 

population.

■ Details about each partnership’s goals,

including square footage to be retrofitted;

total dollars to be invested;total anticipated 

energy and cost savings;and total carbon 

dioxide to be reduced.

■ Excerpts from each partnership’s action plan 

if available,and information about their 

community’s progress.

Partners with existing web sites will have the

opportunity to link their web addresses to the

Rebuild America web site,providing interested

visitors with even more information about each

community.

Rebuild America is currently working with

partnerships who are implementing action plans to

compile the data needed for each web page. Once

compiled,the information will be formatted for the

World Wide Web and attached to the current

Rebuild America web site as a partnership profile.

Visitors to the site will then have the option of

reading through a selection of these profiles.

Check out the Rebuild America web site later

this month for more details:

www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/rebuild.
Come to the 

Rebuild America 

National Conference

March 10–12, 1998

San Antonio, Texas

See page 4 for details!