The Northern provinces Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe will not lead the way in energy-efficient housing. These provinces had hoped to enforce a higher energy-performance standard for new housing than is legally required. However, there was not enough support for this among those carrying out the work, who support the ambitions of the provincial authorities, but would prefer to determine the effectiveness of higher energy-performance standards on a project-by-project basis. In consultation with the involved authorities and those carrying out the work, Minister Van Middelkoop of Housing, Communities and Integration therefore decided to exempt the north of the Netherlands from the established Order-in-Council (AMvB) that provides the legal framework enabling authorities to enforce higher energy-performance standards. The AMvB will still apply to the thirteen Areas of Excellence, where innovative and very energy-efficient housing will be built. The AMvB will be implemented in those instances.

Source: VROM

What will play the biggest role in future U.S. economic growth: the new energy that we find ... or the energy that we avoid using? Even as Congress and the news media focus almost completely on the question of where America will find new sources of traditional and emerging energy sources, the little-understood fact is that new energy sources are likely to play a much smaller role in the current U.S. economic recovery and future growth than are new advances in energy efficiency, according to leading experts. Even worse, the overwhelming emphasis today on new energy is "crowding out" meaningful national dialogue and progress on achieving greater energy efficiency in an economy that is struggling today at a level of just 13 percent efficiency in terms of energy use, meaning that 87% of the energy we use is wasted.

In a phone-based news conference today - John A. "Skip" Laitner, director, Economic and Social Analysis, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Robert U. Ayres, emeritus professor, Economics and Political Science and Technology Management, European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), and co-author of "Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future" (2010) - summarized the thinking at a symposium session held Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary year of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). See aceee.org/conf/30th/april26.htm for more information.

A quarter of UK emissions comes from energy used in homes. The 'Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy' aims to cut household emissions by 29 per cent by 2020. The new strategy will help people make smarter use of energy in homes, making it easier to take action and reduce bills. Installing some technologies, such as solid wall insulation, could see energy bills cut by £380 a year. The plan has three key milestones:

* to insulate 6 million homes by the end of 2011
* to have insulated all practical lofts and cavity walls by 2015
* to offer up to 7 million eco-upgrades of homes by 2020 and ensure every home has a smart energy meter

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu today announced an important step forward in the partnership between HUD and DOE to streamline and better coordinate federal weatherization programs. These efforts will make it easier for low-income families to weatherize their homes, saving money for working families and creating tens of thousands of new green jobs.

Today, the Secretaries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to coordinate energy retrofit programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The signing of the MOU today represents the next step in a longer-term partnership between these agencies, as they continue to make it easier and more cost-effective for families to weatherize their homes. View the Memorandum of Understanding.