Department of Housing and Urban Development
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Home Energy Score could be a much-needed MPG for houses
The score gives a simple 1-10 rating of a home's energy performance and then -- this is the exciting part! -- a higher score owners might achieve if they take recommended steps like adding insulation, installing a programmable thermostat, shutting down the steel refinery in their basement, etc. So a home might achieve a 6 and have an expected upgraded score of 8.
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The Senate livability bill has no teeth. That’s okay
The administration wants to curb sprawl and promote walkable neighborhoods through incentives, not mandates. Relax, critics -- the market's going to help on this one.
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Obama’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities will put the feds’ weight behind smart growth
The word “silos” is most often used to talk about grain or coal, not the federal government. But in the case of transportation and housing — two sectors that accounted for more than 43 percent of the nation’s carbon emissions in 2008 — Washington’s siloed approach of divided, blindered policymaking could put wheat farmers to […]
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Ron Sims of Seattle plans to green HUD as deputy secretary
Ron Sims. Ron Sims wants to bring a fresh, green perspective to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sims — the county executive of King County, Wash., which encompasses the Seattle metropolitan area — is President Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of the department. “President Obama has … challenged his Cabinet to prepare for […]