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DaBx Demand Side Solutions, Inc, of the Bronx sent an Open Letter to President Obama on Reducing GHG-emissions, to propose a simplification of existing incentive programs pertaining to renewable energy retrofits in buildings.Since April of 2013, Rogier F. van Vlissingen, President and founder of DaBx, has published a series of blogs to demonstrate the proper financial and economic as well as engineering foundation to formulate such incentives more effectively. The current system tends to play to the advantage of either equipment manufacturers, of such equipment as qualifies for the Investment Tax Credit, or to the benefit of energy companies (carbon energy). By refocusing the objectives on one simple objective, namely reducing Green House Gas-emissions (GHG-emissions)at the building level, and directing incentives to the property, instead of subsidizing the equipment, far greater advances in renewable energy in buildings could be realized than is now generally the case.
The Open Letter consists of a three page proposal, with four pages of supporting material, and more extensive supporting arguments are provided on the blog, as the links are live in the online version of the letter.
The proposal is solidly supported with documented cases and clarifications for all of the following:
1) The economics of renewable energy retrofits in buildings.
2) The finance of renewable energy retrofits including PACE bonds etc.
3) The engineering foundation to demonstrate why investments in renewable energy retrofits produce compound returns, while "energy efficiency" as primary investment criteria produces diminishing returns, and defeats the purpose.
4) A comprehensive theory for valuing securities based on lending for energy retrofits, addressing why several states have had difficulty placing the resulting securities in the secondary market.
5) How and why proper underwriting criteria will result in asset appreciation for real estate owners (and thus improvements to the collateral of the financing for such projects).
6) Foundations for property valuation in light of green energy retrofits.
7) How a simplification of the existing programs in this area will reduce bureaucracy and increase the quantity and the effectiveness of renewable energy retrofits.
8) How this simplification and streamlining of incentives can also lead to better financial decisions by owners, as well as better engineering of renewable energy retrofit solutions.
The reason that the current system should be changed, is that it only indirectly targets the primary economic actors, namely property owners, and the benefits of current programs tend to accrue to equipment manufacturers and to energy companies. Mr. van Vlissingen demonstrates in the various blog posts, that as long as energy efficiency is used as an objective, this encourages primarily making existing carbon energy systems more efficient, and thereby helping carbon energy compete against renewable energy, which is the opposite effect of what is intended.
The letter has been circulated to many other relevant officials, including the Secretary of Energy, Mayor Bloomberg of New York, and Governor Cuomo. The conclusion is that this is a proposed simplification which would strongly encourage more rapid development of renewable energy retrofits in buildings, and therefore would speed up reductions in green house gas emissions. At the same time by focusing the incentives on buildings, property values would be increased by using better financial decision criteria.
Contact Info:
Name: Rogier Fentener van Vlissingen
Email: Send Email
Organization: DaBx Demand Side Solutions, Inc
Address: 2141 Starling Avenue, Apt 404, Bronx, NY 10462
Phone: 7188236428
Website: http://www.dabxdemandsidesolutions.com
Release ID: 21725
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