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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Money and Energy Savings Waiting in Affordable Housing

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Thursday, June 4, 2015   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Basic upgrades of affordable housing will result in a huge energy efficiency payoff, according to two new studies from the National Housing Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), both part of a broad coalition examining the issue.

Michael Bodaken, executive director of the National Housing Trust, says basic measures such as compact fluorescent bulbs, low-flow faucets, double-pane windows and better insulation would yield big results in existing affordable apartments, adding up to $21 billion in energy savings in eight states over the next 20 years. He says in many areas the return may be more than three times the cost.

"I don't know about you, but tripling my investment in something that actually helps make people more energy-efficient, healthier and more comfortable seems like a good thing to consider," says Bodaken.

The studies also found families in affordable-housing apartments could cut as much as one-fifth of their natural gas and electricity consumption.

According to Deron Lovaas with the NRDC, this is "big, low-hanging fruit." While energy states like Kentucky might have low rates for gas and electricity, Lovaas says the commonwealth doesn't see correspondingly low energy bills, in part because there's very little attention paid to energy efficiency.

"That's something to remember," he says. "Consumers pay bills and rates are just one factor that determine the bills. How much energy they have to use is the other factor."

For utilities, Bodaken says upgrades mean fewer unpaid bills and lower collection costs. For the owners of affordable housing, he says upgrades mean keeping units on the market longer and keeping rents down. Bodaken calls that "groundbreaking."

"Literally billions of dollars of energy-efficiency potential in existing, affordable, multifamily housing," he says "From an owner's perspective, this is really a game-changer."

More details on the studies and on how to make energy efficiency improvements are at the Energy Efficiency for All website, at www.energyefficiencyforall.org.


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