Energy Efficient Construction
Commercial and residential buildings consume the vast majority of energy in the United States, including Fayetteville As energy costs continue to rise the owners of these buildings will be hit the hardest. The uncertainty of future energy costs is reflected in a recent decision by Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley to only provide debt financing to new power plants if their economic viability can be proven under future climate change policies.
In short, new climate change policies at the Federal level will impact those most dependent on coal-fired power, such as Northwest Arkansas. Fayetteville residents and businesses will feel a greater impact if we do not begin to focus on energy efficient construction in our community. However, if we are proactive we can gain an advantage by creating an energy efficient building stock, which will limit future costs for residents and businesses alike.
For this reason, I have assembled a group of Fayetteville citizens and building professionals to make recommendations on how to enhance our construction practices to meet these challenges. The group includes:
• Thad Kelly - Cromwell Architects Engineers, Inc.
• Greg Anderson - GA Engineers, Inc.
• Jeff Borgsmiller - CDI Construction, Inc
• Steve Cattaneo - City of Fayetteville
• Edward Hejtmanek – Heartwood Creations
• Fred Rausch - Rausch Coleman Homes
• Jeff Martin - Martin Custom Home Builders
• Jeff Beaver - Green Lighting Company
• Tim McMahon – Fayetteville Resident
• John Coleman - City of Fayetteville
• Jason Brannen - Arkansas Western Gas
• Keith Kaderly - Ozarks Electric Cooperative
They will meet on a twice-monthly basis and in the end will provide recommendations in the areas of education, energy code upgrades and incentives for energy efficient construction.