California funds $3B to improve energy efficiency of existing buildings, Fed to follow suit

October 19, 12:42 PMLA Science News ExaminerSA Kyle

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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 758 into law last week, requiring the California Energy Commission (CEC) to set up a regulatory agency for reducing emissions from existing residential and non-residential buildings. The law was accompanied by a $3 billion spending program to upgrade buildings that do not meet current standards for energy efficiency.

“Over 70 percent of California's 13 million residential buildings and over five billion square feet of commercial structures were built before the implementation of Title 24 in the early 1980's,” Assembly Speaker Nancy Skinner said in a Power Efficiency Corporation press release. “For the most part, these older buildings have been left behind. While a makeshift array of local ordinances, utility rebates and individual initiatives has resulted in some exemplary building improvements, the vast majority of older buildings remain way below their energy efficiency performance potential.”

The new law, with its spending program, is the largest commitment to energy efficiency that any state has yet made. The Federal Government is also looking at improving energy efficiency in older buildings, according to their October 5th announcement to retrofit approximately 500,000 federal buildings.