Energy Efficiency

In addition to greening our products and operations, we are also committed to accelerating energy efficiency improvements in the built environment.

More than 120 million homes and 70 billion square feet of commercial buildings in the United States account for about 40 percent of the total energy consumed and more than 70 percent of the electricity used in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Alliance to Save Energy. That is more than industry or the transportation sector. Energy use is expected to grow 35 percent by 2025. With over 80 million U.S. homes under-insulated, there is a great and immediate need to make the nation’s buildings more energy efficient.

ENDORSING THE PICKENS PLAN

Announced in June 2008, the Pickens Plan calls for reducing the United States’ dependence on imported oil through investment in domestic renewable resources, such as wind and solar, and use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. The Pickens Plan originally would reduce 38 percent of foreign crude oil imports. As of December, the plan also called for incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade energy-saving applications, such as insulation, windows, doors, lighting, appliances and HVAC systems. Realistic levels of improvements in homes and buildings are between 30 percent and 50 percent. That level of improvement is estimated to reduce foreign crude oil imports by another 28 percent for a total of 66 percent reduction on dependence on foreign crude oil imports.

In December, Owens Corning publicly endorsed the Pickens Plan to advance energy independence and energy efficiency in homes and buildings for a sustainable future. Owens Corning was the first corporate supporter of the Pickens Plan.

There are several pillars to the Pickens Plan:

• Create millions of new jobs by building out the capacity to generate up to 22 percent of our electricity from wind. And adding to that with additional solar generation capacity
• Building a 21st century backbone electrical transmission grid;
• Providing incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options; and
• Using America's natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel in addition to its other uses in power generation, chemicals, etc.

Mexico's Green Mortgage

Owens Corning Mexico is actively participating in the "Green Mortgage" program, giving homeowners who purchase a sustainable home in Mexico a financial advantage. Sustainable homes include improvements for energy savings and a reduction in water consumption. Additionally, we are participating in the development of building codes that promote energy efficiency in the Latin America region.

FROM BUILDINGS TO COMMUNITIES

In addition to focusing on the energy efficiency and the environmental footprint of an individual home or commercial building, Owens Corning works with customers to improve the sustainability of entire communities. This approach has many benefits including the scale necessary for concepts like district heating or cooling, and combined heat and power systems. Sustainable communities are large enough to justify a central system to heat or cool the community and provide domestic hot water.

If the community includes a combined heat and power system, it can also generate electricity. Beyond efficient buildings, this allows further significant energy and greenhouse gas reductions.

Owens Corning has a long history of advancing progress in energy-efficient design and construction. The most recent example is our involvement in the development of a new multi-purpose sports arena in Toledo, Ohio. Members of the sustainable communities team worked with the arena design team to improve the building’s energy performance using our expertise in the integration of building science and building systems, and through the use of energy modeling. The energy modeling was from the earliest stages of the project development rather than the usual energy simulation done after the project is designed, too late to inform the designers of a more energy efficient solution.

That project is currently under construction and scheduled to open for the 2009-2010 hockey season. The facility is expected to be 39 percent more energy efficient than other arena’s in the U.S. and to achieve LEED Silver Certification, with the potential to reach even higher levels as operational efficiencies are maximized.

Our Sustainable Communities’ Team has also worked with the city of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, to achieve their expected population growth of 50 percent in the next 25 years without any increase in energy use. See their report at www.guelph.ca/cep

FORMING A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE

During 2008, Owens Corning announced the formation of a strategic alliance to provide solutions that help communities reduce energy use by up to 50 percent and CO2 emissions by up to 80 percent versus standard developments. The alliance, which is focused on developers, campuses and entire communities, includes Owens Corning; MVV decon GmbH, an international consulting subsidiary of the Mannheim-based German company MVV Energiedienstleistungen GmbH; and Garforth International LLC, a provider of energy productivity solutions based in Toledo, Ohio, United States, and Brussels, Belgium.