Curious about what might unify Republicans and Democrats? Would it surprise you to know that it’s something we’ve been excited about here at Sunlight Contractors for years?
Senators Sheehan and Portman are championing The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014 (ESICA), a bill four years in the making and now widely supported across party lines. Senator Sheehan put it best when when she said, “The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use. That’s why energy efficiency is something we can all support.”
The bill aims to increase energy efficiency in building and industry, and it places the responsibility for modeling energy efficiency squarely on the shoulders of the federal government. Implementing the bill would add an estimated 66,000 American jobs and save $2.1 billion and 0.3 quadrillion Btu of electricity by 2020.
As utility bills are often larger than either real estate taxes or homeowners insurance, it only makes sense to take into consideration the energy efficiency of a home when underwriting a mortgage loan. Therefore, the ESICA also includes an updated version of the Sensible Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act, which call for federally backed residential mortgage loans such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA to factor in a home’s expected energy cost savings when assigning a value to the home.
We’ve been telling homeowners about the benefits of energy efficiency for years at Sunlight Contractors, and we had a chance to speak to even more Louisianans this past weekend at the Pontchartrain Home and Garden Show. We introduced new homeowners to ways that they could start off saving money and energy right out of the gate, and we talked with owners of older homes about how they can retrofit their houses with spray foam insulation to decrease utility bills.
If you didn’t make it out to the show, take a look around our website for information on making your home more energy efficient. Between now and April 15, you can also sign up for a free home energy audit, the logical step to identifying ways to make your home healthier, more comfortable, and less expensive.
Locations:
Main Office: Sunlight Contractors, LLC 2323 Bainbridge St #110, Kenner, LA 70062 (504) 919-9993
New Orleans location: Sunlight Contractors, LLC 650 Poydras St, Suite 1400, Rm 33, New Orleans, LA 70130 (504) 302-0058