Phoenix is off to a faster start than other cities in quickly utilizing stimulus money for sustainability, city officials said in a press conference Tuesday.
Starting Tuesday, owners of low- to middle-income multi-family residential buildings were the first to be able to apply at Energizephx.com for a government rebate on more energy efficient air conditioners, water heaters and windows. The waiting list will be open to all potential participants, including single-family houses and commercial buildings, by December.
The U.S. Department of Energy gave the city of Phoenix $25 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in April to start Energize Phoenix, a partnership between the city, ASU and Arizona Public Service Company.
The program aims to increase sustainability in a “Green Rail Corridor” area around a 10-mile segment of the light rail by retrofitting homes and businesses and installing “smart monitors” that tell how much energy is used and when. The corridor stretches from Camelback Road and Central Avenue to Washington and 44th streets.
“This $25 million grant came together as a result of working with the federal government instead of fighting it, working with our public institutional partner, ASU, instead of ignoring it, working with our great partner, Arizona Pubic Service, instead of seeing them as an independent, private entity,” Mayor Phil Gordon said.
ASU received $3.75 million of the grant to fund analysis by graduate student research assistants to determine how much more efficient the buildings are after the changes and how much money businesses and homeowners can save. ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability is coordinating the university’s partnership.
Mick Dalrymple, a director of the U.S. Green Building Council and former lobbyist for the Arizona University System, was hired as ASU’s project manager. Dalrymple said ASU is still developing a project plan.
By piggybacking on APS’s current sustainability programs, Phoenix has made more progress than other cities that have had to start similar projects from scratch. The city government gives up to a 100 percent rebate, depending on financial qualifications, to participants who use APS’s “Solutions for Business” or “Home Performance with Energy Star” programs. APS sends independent contractors to install more energy-efficient products.
Gordon said by sending the money to individual contractors who would work on buildings in the Green Rail Corridor, the program would create about 2,000 green jobs that “can’t even be exported out of the Valley.”
“It’s a program that sounds like a name, another government entity that’s being created,” Gordon said. “Well, what this is about is jobs.”
Gordon’s estimate is based on the city’s plan to retrofit about 2,000 buildings, Assistant Public Works Director Carolyn Bristo said. While that means more work for the contractors, multiple jobs could go to the same person, meaning the project will create jobs for less than 2,000 people.
The city set up a hotline at 602-495-5275 for applicants for the program.
Contact the reporter at john.l.fitzpatrick@asu.edu
