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Get Your Questions Answered by Professionals!
Visit the Moderated Better Insulation Forum and get your insulation questions answered by professionals and peers.
Homeowners, Contractors, Architects, all are welcome to ask/answer.
Become a Better Insulation Contractor and let YOUR potential customers know that you care enough to support your Association and that you take advantage of continuing education opportunities by being A Certified Better Insulation Contractor.
Get Your Company Listed and the educated public will find you!
You can find a Certified Better Insulation Contractor listed on this website. Our Members are good people with professional ethics and they truly care about saving energy, which saves YOU money!
They will even make sure you understand and have the necessary paperwork to file with your taxes to get the Tax Credit!
Get Your Product Certified Eco-Safe by the Association for Better Insulation! Let your customers know that your product does not contain chemicals that are known to be a bio-hazard and may be dangerous to humans and pets.
Today's Educated Property Owner Deserves Better Insulation!
After selecting a contractor to do the work, ask for a written contract in accordance with the estimate. Read More for some great consumer tips to consider when hiring a Professional Waterproofing Company through the Association.
Read MoreAre your home energy bills getting out of hand? Does your house feel drafty even when you crank up the heat? Have you been dragging your feet on giving your house an energy-efficiency tune-up and aren't sure where to start?
Find Out MoreOur site visitors repeatedly ask us for recommendations for Green Builders and Remodelers so we opened up our listings to accomodate our visitors and provide a "less than a $1 a day" listing option for your company so you're easy to find.
Get ListedHome conservation: ($2 billion over 10 years) - The stimulus plan greatly expands tax credits currently in place for doing things like replacing an old furnace or adding better insulation to your home.
Currently homeowners can deduct 10% of the amount paid for an energy efficient furnace, better windows or improved insulation.
The new rules increase that to 30%, although the tax credit can't exceed $1,500.
Just save the receipt for the item you purchased and the deduction can be taken on your income tax return. A special form is needed to claim the refund, available wherever income tax forms are handed out, plus you need a "Manufacturers Certificate of Compliance" for insulation installed. This will be supplied to you by the Contractors on this site so you are fully documented to get your tax credits.
But be careful - the items have to meet a certain efficiency level to be eligible for the credit. (and Better Insulation Does!)
While almost all windows that get the government's Energy Star efficiency seal of approval comply, not all Energy Star appliances make the grade, said Lowell Ungar, director of policy at the Alliance to Save Energy.
We recommends consulting the manufacturer's Web site to make sure the item is eligible for the credit if you are using non Better Insulation Contractors.
Backyard renewable energy: ($872 million over 10 years) - Currently, if you buy a small windmill for your field, a solar hot water heater for your roof or a geothermal heating system under your lawn, you can write off 30% of the cost on your federal tax bill, capped at $2,000 for the heating systems and $4,000 for the wind turbine. This bill removes those caps, although the 30% limit remains.
Utility or state-sponsored energy conservation programs ($8.7 billion) - Not all this money will go for energy improvements at home. In fact, most will go to make government buildings more efficient.
But a part of it may be used to offset the cost for utilities that run energy conservation programs.
Those programs include things like performing standard energy audits where contractors come in and evaluate the insulation and appliances in your home, then make the necessary upgrades. They also include more innovative things like things giving consumers a cash reward if they reduce their energy bill by a certain percent.
Utilities or state governments will typically pick up a third to a half of the cost of an energy audit and fixture upgrade, which can run anywhere from $1,000 to $18,000.
Contact your local utility or state energy office to see what programs are available in your area.
Grants to weatherize low- and middle-income homes ($5 billion) - Money for this goes for things like better insulation and windows and it covers 100% of the bill.
It's a huge increase in this program, up from a current allocation of about $500 million a year currently.
The program should go from serving about 100,000 homes year to more than 1 million, thus increasing dramatically the need for Better Insulation Contractors, Energy Auditors, Remodelers and Home Inspectors.
Eligibility requirements vary by state, but generally recipients must make less than one-and-a-half times the federal poverty level - so about under $32,000 a year for a family of four.
For more information, see the Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program.
Rebates for energy efficient appliances: ($300 million) - This will provide matching funds for state programs that offer rebates on energy efficient appliances.
Energy efficiency retrofits in public housing projects: ($250 million) - Money for things like lighting upgrades, appliance upgrades and better windows and insulation at homes run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
