Media advisory: Urban sustainability conference explores residential energy efficiency

WHAT:

?Energy Efficiency in the Residential Sector: Practice, Policy, Prospects,’ a conference hosted by the University of California, Berkeley, Program on Housing and Urban Policy for researchers, regulators, public officials and practitioners to discuss ‘greening’ the housing sector.

It is the first program in the UC Berkeley Series on Urban Sustainability, sponsored by the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design and Berkeley Law.

Key topics will include:

*Residential energy efficiency incentive and finance programs

*Improved verification of environmental benefits of residential energy efficiency

*Subsidized energy improvements for government-assisted housing

*Understanding variations in household preferences and changes in energy use related to the actions of public utilities and regulators

*Architectural design and innovation

 WHO: A keynote lunch address about innovation in single-family home development will be delivered by Lawrence Gotlieb of KB Homes. A closing keynote address about government’s role in energy-efficient housing will be delivered by Raphael Bostic, assistant secretary for policy development and research in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Conference participants will include researchers from UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, representatives of the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Clinton Climate Initiative, BRIDGE Housing, the California Housing Partnership Corp., and the California Home Energy Retrofit Coordinating Committee.

WHEN: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 8

WHERE:

David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, in Berkeley. Directions are online.

DETAILS:

Press interested in attending should Kathleen Maclay in UC Berkeley Media Relations at kmaclay [a] berkeley (p) edu. Others will need to register through Brian Gothenberg at bcg [a] haas.berkeley (p) edu or (510) 642.0891

The complete agenda is online. The program will be Webcast later.