Moving forward with the Administration's "Recovery Through Retrofit" agenda, Vice President Biden on Nov. 9 announced the rollout of four new initiatives.

First on the list is the Home Energy Score Program, which is designed to help inform homeowners about the existing energy performance of their home, and to recommend various energy improvements. Under this voluntary program, trained and certified contractors will use a standardized assessment tool to evaluate a home and generate useful, actionable information for home owners or prospective home buyers. DOE will launch the program this fall through a pilot initiative in select regions across the country before making it available everywhere. NAHB supports efforts to document energy performance gains in older housing and to account for such upgrades in a revamped valuation and appraisals process.

The second new initiative is the FHA PowerSaver Loan Program that will allow home owners to make energy-saving improvements to their homes through affordable, federally insured loans from private lenders. Home owners will be able to borrow money for terms of up to 20 years to make energy improvements of their choosing, based on a list of proven, cost-effective measures developed by FHA and the Department of Energy. This program will be piloted in a limited number of states and localities for the first year, beginning in early 2011. Note that, unlike PACE bond financing, PowerSaver financing does not "travel" with the home (hence, no first lien issues) but is similar to a home equity loan that must be paid off at time of sale, or in some cases, when refinancing occurs.   

A third initiative announced on Nov. 9 involves the promotion of new Workforce Guidelines for Home Energy Upgrades and Healthy Indoor Environment Protocols for Home Energy Upgrades. The workforce component is a set of voluntary guidelines that identify the skills and knowledge necessary for workers in the home energy retrofit industry; these can be adopted by training providers to improve retrofit course curriculum and training programs. The indoor air quality protocols provide recommended actions for maintaining or improving air quality and resident health when performing home energy retrofits.

 A fourth initiative is the Small Business Administration Green Business Opportunities Course, which is a new online offering providing training for entrepreneurs who are looking to enter the home energy retrofit market.

On the whole, these new endeavors are a good sign that the Administration recognizes the significant energy and cost savings that are to be derived from upgrading the existing housing stock, and NAHB will be submitting public comments on most of them. The next edition of Nation's Building News will have more details on each of the programs that have just been announced. In the meantime, you can view the White House press release for more information. Contacts: Elizabeth Odina (800-368-5242, x8570) and Mike Mittelholzer (x8660).

President Obama's bipartisan Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has just released a discussion draft of its co-chairs' proposals for reducing the federal budget deficit, and as we had anticipated, that report contains some very concerning proposals regarding the mortgage interest deduction. Specifically, the draft report by co-chairs Erskine Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson lists options including completely eliminating the MID and limiting it to primary residences and mortgages under $500,000. Other concerning proposals in the discussion draft would eliminate or otherwise negatively affect other housing tax provisions, such as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the deduction for real estate taxes for home owners, accelerated depreciation for rental housing, energy tax incentives and tax-exempt housing bonds. In addition, the proposals would result in significantly higher tax rates for capital gains and dividends. However, it is important to note that, as yet, none of these proposals have been formalized, and they are only listed as potential "options." Moreover, the overall plan, which includes many controversial proposals, is unlikely to win support from all of the commission members, whose final report could be much different than the co-chairs' discussion draft when it is released this December — also, the commission itself has no actual power to implement its official recommendations. Nevertheless, this is the first concrete evidence we've had that the commission is taking a close look at the MID and other housing incentives with an eye to cutting them back. 

On the day that the draft report was released, NAHB immediately posted a reaction statement by Chairman Bob Jones, expressing our deep concerns about the MID proposals. We also took advantage of social media channels to get the word out to consumers via a new MID Facebook page at facebook.com/SaveMyMID and a new Twitter feed located at Twitter.com/SaveMyMID. We encourage all of our members who are concerned about this critical issue to visit these pages and alert your family members and friends to them as well. Going forward, NAHB stands poised to vigorously defend the mortgage interest deduction and other critical housing and business provisions in the tax code as events unfold. As previously reported, the NAHB Board of Directors has proactively allocated resources to fight the anticipated assault on the MID, and an integrated advocacy campaign is already under development in preparation for the Fiscal Commission's final report to be released in December.  You'll soon be hearing more about our campaign, including the rollout of a new website that will provide essential data on the MID and its importance to American consumers, and will facilitate member and consumer outreach to legislators. Stay tuned to Nation's Building News and this report for updates. Contact: MondayMorningQuestions@nahb.org.

Foreclosure problems are dominating the news and raising concerns about immediate and longer-term damage to housing markets and the housing finance system. NAHB is urging immediate and meaningful action to resolve these problems and restore the confidence of home buyers and mortgage investors. In the meantime, to keep our members informed about what is happening and what the potential ramifications are for our industry, NAHB Chairman-Elect Bob Nielsen will moderate a free webinar from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 15.  Speakers will include Amherst Securities Group VP Robert Hunter, K&L Gates Partner Laurence Platt and NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. Register here for "The Foreclosure Mess: Impact on Housing" webinar, or for more information, contact the Office of the Registrar at 800-368-5242, ext. 8338.

*Please note: Registration for this webinar is limited, and available spots are filling up fast. If you miss the chance to participate, a free recording of the webinar will be available on NAHB.org soon after the event takes place. We'll let you know how to access it in our next report.   

The NAHB Executive Board will hold its winter meeting at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Nov. 19, with additional meetings taking place throughout the week. Much of the planned discussion will focus on NAHB's efforts to combat the credit crisis for acquisition, development and construction loans, the mid-term election results, and prospects for NAHB's advocacy agenda in the new Congress. Participants will be able to attend in person or via live webcast. We are looking forward to an interactive and productive meeting, after which the road to IBS will be very short!  Contact: MondayMorningQuestions@nahb.org.   

NAHB has submitted formal comments laying out in detail our criticism of the EPA's sweeping and staggeringly expensive Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) proposal to clean up the Chesapeake Bay — a 15-year plan designed as a model for managing runoff and discharges in watersheds throughout the rest of the nation. EPA has no official cost estimates for the plan, and was not required to consider costs when writing the TMDL for the watershed. However, officials in some of the six states (plus Washington, D.C.) that will be affected by the plan have begun to crunch the numbers, with very disturbing results. “We’re talking tens of billions of dollars for each state to replace and retrofit sewer systems, tear up impervious surfaces and install new storm water management systems,” explained NAHB Environmental Issues Committee Chairman Chuck Collett. For example, Maryland estimates a $21 billion pricetag just to make needed changes to impervious pavements. Also, the Virginia Municipal Stormwater Association in its Chesapeake Bay TMDL comments estimates $39.4 billion for Virginia to meet its urban stormwater costs, with another $4.2 billion per year in operating costs. Read the complete version of this story in the Nov. 15 evening edition of Nation's Building News, or contact Calli Schmidt for more information at 800-368-5242, x8132.

NAHB's campaign to alert consumers about the federal home buyer tax credit program has been named "Best PR & Marketing Campaign by a Nonprofit" by PR News. More than 100 organizations were selected as finalists in 25 categories for their communications work, including the National Football League’s breast cancer awareness campaign, Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, and American Airlines’ UNICEF campaign, along with the campaigns of a number of major trade associations. Our efforts to get the word out were a total team effort, including not only the work of our Public Affairs professionals but also significant contributions from the Economics, Government Affairs and Online Services staff. In related news, NAHB’s tax credit campaign was also a finalist for another PR News award, earning an honorable mention in the Digital PR category alongside multi-million dollar campaigns such as Gatorade’s Super Bowl XLIV campaign, Clorox “Bleachable Moments” and the Coca-Cola Expedition 206 campaign. Contact: Gwyn Donohue, 800-368-5242, x8447.