Green Building Resource Center

City Announces Launch of Residential Energy Loan Program
If you're thinking about making improvements that could make your home more energy-efficient, now is a great time to begin. The City of Alexandria has launched the "Northern Virginia Home Performance with Energy Star" program to help Alexandrians overcome barriers to improving energy efficiency in their homes. The nonprofit group Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) and CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union (COFCU) have partnered with Alexandria to offer the program to residents.

LEAP administers the program, and will provide home energy assessments, recommend home energy upgrades to maximize the impact on energy use, and refer homeowners to trained and certified participating contractors. To help residents pay for the upgrades, COFCU will offer eligible Alexandria homeowners access to low-interest loans of up to $20,000 (at a rate of 4.9% APR) through the Alexandria Energy Saver Loan program. To get started today, visit http://ilikeleap.com and complete a free online energy assessment. To learn more about resources to help lower-income residents with improving their energy efficiency, contact the City's Office of Housing at 703.746.4990.

Green Building Workshop Series – June 16th at 9 a.m.
An Eco-City Alexandria Initiative
Alexandria Energy Saver Loan & Home Performance with Energy Star Program

The City of Alexandria invites members of the public to attend the eighth Eco-City Alexandria Green Building Workshop on June 16, 2012 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. located in City Hall, 301 King Street, Sister Cities Room 1101.  The workshop will provide an overview of the City's newly released Energy Saver Loan program, energy audit pilot project, and Northern VA Home Performance with Energy Star programs.  Participants are encouraged to RSVP by e-mail to Erica.Bannerman@alexandriava.gov. Door prizes awarded at event.
For more information on the workshop series call the Office of Environmental Quality at 703.746.4065

Green Button Program
Green Button is the common-sense idea that electricity customers should be able to securely download their own easy-to-understand energy usage information from their utility or electricity supplier. Armed with this information, consumers can use a growing array of new web and smartphone tools to make more informed energy decisions, optimize the size and cost-effectiveness of solar panels for their home, or verify that energy-efficiency retrofit investments are performing as promised. Consumers can even use fun innovative apps that allow individuals to compete against Facebook friends to save energy and lower their carbon emissions.

The Green Building Resource Center Goes Live at Alexandria Earth Day
The City of Alexandria's T&ES, Office of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Policy Commission will host a tent at Alexandria Earth Day 2012 entitled the Green Building Resource Center Goes Live!  We will have informational sessions starting at 11am, entitled "ABCs of Going Green", "Consumer's Guide to Purchasing Green Vehicles", and "Green Landscaping for You and the Bay." Green giveaways provided at the conclusion of each session. For more information, please visit Alexandria Earth Day 2012 website.