The Utah State Energy Program is administering over $2.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) rebate funds for the Cash for Appliances Utah Program. Qualified products include clothes washers, room air conditioners, gas furnaces, gas storage water heaters and gas tankless water heaters. The program aims to replace over 19,000 inefficient appliances with energy-efficient models and save customers over $469,000 in energy costs. The projected CO2 savings from this program is the equivalent of taking 657 cars off the road or planting over 88,000 trees. Rebates are available beginning May 12, 2010 and are offered for qualified products on a first-come, first-served basis until funds run out. Rebates may be combined with existing utility, retailer or manufacturer rebates. Layering rebates is encouraged to maximize your savings.

Cash for Appliances Utah Details
•Cash for Appliances Utah is an appliance replacement program. Consumers must replace an existing appliance to qualify for Cash for Appliances Utah rebates.
•Purchase on or after May 12, 2010
•Available rebates:
•$75 rebate on clothes washers with a modified energy factor (MEF) of 2.0 or greater and a water factor (WF) of 6.0 or less
•$30 rebate on ENERGY STAR® qualified room air conditioners
•$300 rebate on ENERGY STAR® qualified gas furnaces with an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of at least 90%
•$300 on ENERGY STAR® qualified gas tankless water heaters with an energy factor (EF) of at least.82
•$50 on gas storage water heaters with an energy factor (EF) of at least .67
•Recycling your old appliances is encouraged
•Rebates are in addition to available utility, retailer and/or manufacturer rebates
•Rebates are available only while funds last

Go to Cash for Appliances Utah for Rebate Form, list of Qualified Products and FAQs.

The Utah State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (SEEARP) will launch on Wednesday May 12, 2010. A summary of included products, ENERGY STAR efficiency levels and rebate amounts is as follows:

Only purchases made after the start of the program will be eligible for a rebate. Consumers will be required to certify the rebated appliance will replace an appliance being taken out of service. Applications forms will be available at the point of sale and from a dedicated web site that is under development. Consumers can use the ENERGY STAR website to search for products by efficiency rating at this website.

Park City Board of Realtors adds Green Home Certifications and Green Features to MLS Listings
With more new construction being built to Energy Star standards or better, the Park City Board of Realtors has added searchable fields in the MLS System to identify Green Certifications, as well as Energy Efficient features in existing homes and condos.    This represents a significant step forward in identifying properties that perform better and provide the owner savings on  utility costs.
Case studies in areas, such as Seattle, where a larger portion of their homes are Built to a Green Standard, show that a Green Built Home will sell more quickly and for more $$ per sq ft.  We certainly are not that far along and it will take some time before appraisers in this area are assigning higher value for a Green Certified Home.  In the mean time, as more homes are built to these higher standards, it is likely that the market will start to distinguish their advantages and added value, resulting in faster sales.     Click here to view list of PCMLS Green Searchable Fields

Contributed by Eric Miller, New Leaf America

New Leaf America is dedicated to helping homeowners and small businesses to evaluate and implement cost effective energy saving retrofitting options. The process starts with a home evaluation. Once completed, a retrofitting plan is presented to the home or business owner. These recommendations focus on the most affordable, high return on investment, (ROI) energy efficient retrofitting options and include a true “common sense” approach to taking the first steps toward energy saving retrofitting for a home or business.

These first retrofitting steps (before going solar) focus mainly on exterior and interior lighting through the use of state of the art lighting products, water saving devices, slaying power vampires, and weatherization.

The local contact for New Leaf America is long time Park City resident Eric Miller, a LEED Accredited Professional.  Eric Miller can be reached at (435) 640-3934 or email Eric