Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the explosion, which leveled the house, scattered lumber, sheet rock and insulation and shattered windows at surrounding homes.
The simple act of retrofitting these buildings to make them more energy-efficient --insulation new windows and doors, insulation, roofing, sealing leaks, modernizing heating and cooling equipment -- is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work while saving families money and reducing harmful emissions.
If you are living on means tested benefits AND you live in the hardest-to-heat homes you may be eligible for a free new central heating boiler, insulation for a hot water cylinder, loft, cavity wall and solid wall insulation, draught proofing for doors and windows or renewable energy technologies such as solar panels.
Improvements could include attic and wall cavity insulation, high-efficiency windows and appliances, duct-sealing, or rooftop solar.
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This will not only save families money, it will create jobs in the hard-hit construction and manufacturing sectors, since things like windows and insulation are overwhelmingly made in the United States of America.
The credit is 10% of the cost of the building materials (labor excluded) for insulation, exterior windows and doors that meet Energy Star requirements, and roofs (metal roofs with pigmented coating, or asphalt roofs with cooling granules).
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Jobs for contractors to install energy-saving windows and insulation.
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Weatherization is a catchall term for measures to make the home run more efficiently, such as improved lighting, weatherproofing windows and building insulation.
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This technology has been in development since the 1960s and is only just now reaching viability for manufacturing, said Murray McCutcheon, an analyst at Lux Research who just wrote a report on dynamic windows and advanced insulation.
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David Dwyer, the contractor who built the Yerke family's home and installed their geothermal system, says that if you have an old and drafty house you should, before putting in a fancy heating system, put in new windows, seal leaks and add insulation.
These can be closed beyond the open windows for privacy in summer, and shut in winter for warmth and insulation.
It will have some costs on the front end -- you buy a new boiler, or you get some insulation, or you get some new windows, that's going to have an initial cost, and the same is true from a government perspective.
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Standard green features in each home include LED lighting, recycled glass countertops, a high-efficiency water heater, water-conserving fixtures including dual-flush toilets, FSC-certified bamboo flooring, EnergyStar appliances, zero-VOC paints, finishes, and adhesives, a whole-house ventilation system, low-E windows, high levels of insulation, a fully recyclable, heat-deflecting cool roof, exterior wood siding and decking made from FSC-certified cedar, and much more.
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