HOW SIMPLE STEPS IN THE HOME CAN SAVE MILLIONS IN UTILITY COSTS

PORTLAND - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Director Taylor Caswell today joined
officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and Volunteers of America to speak today with residents of Bayview Heights Apartments to promote energy efficiency and conservation as part of the ENERGY STAR Change
a Light, Change the World campaign.

The objective of the Change a Light, Change the World campaign is to promote energy efficiency and conservation throughout America. The emphasis is to change from an incandescent light bulb to an ENERGY STAR labeled light
bulb, thereby conserving energy, becoming more energy efficient as a nation, and reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.

"One of the most simple, but effective, ways to save energy is to replace our light bulbs," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England region. "New compact fluorescent light bulbs deliver dramatic energy savings, are long-lasting, and deserve a place in everybody's home."

Bayview Heights is a housing development that consists of 60 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors.
The apartments, which are owned by Volunteers of America, are subsidized by HUD so that residents pay only up
to 30 percent of their income. HUD has been working with all of the federally subsidized housing developments throughout New England (more than 300,000 units) to encourage energy efficiency. HUD spends nearly 10 percent
of its budget on energy costs, and lighting accounts for nearly 20 percent of electricity costs. Based on New England's high electricity prices, changing from incandescent light bulbs to ENERGY STAR labeled bulbs, consumers
can save up to $40 over the lifetime of one bulb.

"Because utility bills are the second largest household expense for most Americans, housing affordability and energy efficiency go hand in hand," said Taylor Caswell, HUD New England regional director. "When we reduce utility bills,
we reduce the cost of living for low- and moderate-income families."

June Koegel, President and CEO of Volunteers of America Northern New England added, "We are delighted to be a partner in this effort to reduce costs and hope that others will join with us."

Changing the world starts with simple actions. When light bulbs or entire light fixtures are replaced with ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR label, consumers are helping to preserve energy resources and contribute to a
cleaner environment while saving money and time buying and changing lights in their home.

ENERGY STAR qualified lighting provides bright, warm light while it requires two-thirds less energy than standard lighting, generates 70 percent less heat, and lasts up to 10 times longer. ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures are
available in hundreds of popular styles, including portable fixtures - such as table, desk, floor and torchiere lamps-
and hard-wired fixtures such as outdoor, cabinet, suspended, ceiling-mount, recessed, wall-mount, and ceiling fans.
To save the most energy and money, consumers should replace their highest-use fixtures or the light bulbs with energy-efficient models. The five highest-use fixtures in a home are typically the kitchen ceiling light, the living
room table and floor lamps, bathroom vanity, and outdoor porch or post lamp. ENERGY STAR qualified lighting
fixtures and replacement bulbs can be found at home improvement and hardware stores, lighting showrooms, and other retail stores, including on-line outlets.

The following are examples of how significant the savings are and could be for Maine people. According to Denis Bergeron from the Efficiency Maine Lighting Program:

• In the past three years, more than 1,000,000 light bulbs have been replaced with energy efficient light
  bulbs. This has saved $7,000,000 in electricity costs and reduced carbon dioxide by the equivalency of
  removing 5,200 cars from the road.

According to Bill White, ENERGY STAR Program, U.S. EPA New England:

• If every home in Portland replaced just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with an equally bright 15-watt ENERGY STAR qualified light bulb, together residents would save more than $300,000 on their electric bills
  every year.
• If every home in Maine changes just one bulb, we would save enough energy to light every home in Portland
  for seven months and prevent nearly 60 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere - all
  while saving more than $5.8 million each year on electric bills
• If every home in the U.S. replaced just one bulb, the country will save $565 million in energy bills, save
  enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year, and prevent greenhouse gas emissions
  equivalent to nearly 800,000 cars.

Residents who change their light bulbs can be sure their efforts are included in the regional tally by going to www.energystar.gov/changealight.

Other simple steps today to help make homes more energy efficient include:

• Use a programmable thermostat with air conditioners to adjust the setting warmer at night, or when no
  one is home.
• Use a fan with window air conditioners to spread cool air through a home.
• Use an energy-efficient ENERGY STAR® air conditioner, which can save up to 50 percent on cooling bills.
• Plant trees around your home. Just three trees, properly placed around a house, can save between $100
  and $250 annually in cooling and heating costs. Daytime air temperatures can be three to six degrees cooler
  in tree-shaded neighborhoods.
• Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units, but do not block the airflow.
• Install white window shades, drapes or blinds to reflect heat away from the house. Sunny windows can
  make air conditioners work two to three times harder.
• Replace windows with ENERGY STARreg; models and consider the new double-pane windows with spectrally selective coatings.
• Tightly close fireplace damper.

In July, 2005, the Bush administration formed a new partnership aimed at reducing household energy costs by 10 percent over the next decade while improving our nation's air. The Partnership for Home Energy Efficiency is
providing energy saving solutions for households across the country and is supporting research and implementation
of a new generation of energy efficiency technologies. In support of this Partnership, HUD, EPA and the Department
of Energy are providing Americans, including homebuilders, with the latest home energy savings information on a
Web portal. Information about Energy Star products, home improvement, partner resources etc. can be found at
the Web portal, www.energystar.gov

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