Farmington Hills offers green building incentives

Thursday, July 29, 2010 | Source: Metromode

The city of Farmington Hills wants to share its wealth and make homes and businesses more energy-efficient in the meantime.

Federal funding is still available for property owners looking to make environmentally sound improvements. The stimulus money came from the U.S. Dept of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, with the purpose of reducing fossil fuel emissions and total energy use and improving energy efficiency.

"There's a broad range of improvements that qualify for the program," says city management assistant Nate Geinzer. Those include heat pumps, hot water heaters, new windows, and other technologies. "We know as exciting as energy efficiency can be in a home -- the idea of reducing energy costs appeals to most people -- economy-wise, not everybody has the capital to invest. Our EECBG funds provide a little extra incentive to take these measures."

The city has been getting multiple applications per week, he says, and had awarded $14,000 by the end of last quarter since its launch in December. He expects there will be money to award through the busy fall season, even with an onslaught of people tightening up their homes for winter.

Farmington Hills has also set aside money to fund energy audits, although those have been of less interest; Geinzer believes families with limited amounts of money to spend on energy efficiency would invest in a product before an audit. "But for homeowners who know there's a lot to do in a home, but don't know where the best dollars could be spent, an energy audit is a good way to go," he points out.

The city received a total of $791,300 from the Department of Energy, of which it set aside about $50,000 for its energy efficiency improvement incentive program, as well as a separate fund for its building energy audit incentive program. Other improvements include renewable energy and energy enhancements at city hall, the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office, and public information dissemination.

Download an application here.

Source: Nate Geinzer, management assistant for the City of Farmington Hills
Writer: Kristin Lukowski