Similarly, the Federal Government, through the U.S. Housing Authority, provides financial assistance for housing development. These include: · Loans to public housing agencies to assist the development, acquisition and administration of low-cost housing or slum clearance projects; Annual contributions to local housing agencies to assist Capital grants to public agencies for development of low-rent The Federal Government also makes construction grants to state and local governments for construction of: Solar heating and cooling installation requirements could legitimately be written into any of these grant programs as a requirement, or the amount of the grant could be nncreased to provide a monetary incentive for solar heating and cooling equipment but without actually requiring it. Existing Federal grant programs to state and local governments could be expanded to provide some subsidy for any new or existing governmental building equipped (retrofit or new) with a solar heating and cooling system. Another possibility is to have the Federal Government provide technical assistance to state and local governments in installing solar equipment in their buildings. For example, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is authorized to provide technical assistance to nonprofit or public agencies with respect to the construction, rehabilitation and operation of nonprofit organizations of housing for low or moderate income families. 2. State and Local Government Building Programs The possibilities for solar heating and cooling requirements in intergovernmental construction grants can extend to the state/local relationship as well. Thus, for example, states make construction grants to their municipalities for part of the cost of new schools. Solar heating and cooling requirements or inducements could be part of these programs as well in order to capitalize on the new school construction market. In utilizing its intergovernmental grant programs to stimulate new construction with heating and cooling with solar systems, the Federal Government may wish to encourage participation and policy development by all levels of government to achieve national energy objectives. In addition to making solar systems financially desirable to lower levels of government through the grant programs, it could also encourage and provide financial support to state and local efforts to develop solar energy utilization plans, policies and institutional arrangements. The Federal Government is in a position to encourage the formation of special state agencies and a comprehensive state plan to deal with solar energy policy. (Title X of the President's "Energy Independence Act of 1975", the "Building Energy Conservation Standards Act of 1975" requires states to adopt energy budgets (where solar is not counted against the energy budget).) It might do this by using the "single state agency" approach whereby one agency becomes responsible for administering all the grants for solar energy policies. For example, the Federal Government makes grants to states and municipalities for construction of sewage treatment plants. The project must be approved by a state water pollution control agency and be in accordance with an approved state water pollution control plan. Local projects receive a greater Federal subsidy when the state contributes to the cost and certain projects receive additional aid if approved by a planning agency for a metropolitan area. Through the program, the Federal Government is encouraging construction of these plants, coordination among various levels of government and the development of a state policy to deal with sewage treatment problems. Congressional intent for the type of approach is clear from the statute which requires the Secretary of the Interior to develop programs for climination of pollution in cooperation with Federal agencies, state water pollution control agencies, interstate agencies, The Federal Government has an extensive program of direct construction grants to nonprofit and public institutions. It could effectively use these grant programs to encourage or require installation of solar heating and cooling systems in new institutional construction. Many of these grant programs are for construction of medical care and related treatment facilities. These include: O Public and nonprofit community hospitals; O Community mental health centers and mental retardation research facilities; о Nursing schools and teaching facilities for allied health professionals; Developmental disability serfice facilities; and O Alcoholic and drug treatment and prevention facilities. Most of these programs provide that plans and construction be in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and for hospitals, the Surgeon General, relating to minimum standards of construction and equipment. The Federal Government makes grants and loans for the construction of facilities for graduate and undergraduate higher education. It also makes loans to educational institutions for the construction of faculty or student housing and makes annual grants to the institutions to reduce the cost of construction borrowing from other sources. These programs illustrate the wide range of institutional construction projects subsidized by the Federal Government and show the extent to which the Federal Government can encourage use of solar heating and cooling in new buildings. With the Federal Government subsidizing the construction costs, and in some cases, operating costs of these facilities, it would certainly seem to be legitimate for it to require solar heating and cooling, where appropriate, as one of the minimum standards of construction for eligibility of the program. As an alternative, in the absence of a solar requirement, the Government could increase the amounts for such construction grants in order to provide a financial incentive. For buildings that do not qualify under existing programs, new assistance programs might be developed for providing grants for solar heating and cooling (new or existing) facilitics. 56. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY'S QUESTIONS TO FRANK ZARB, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL ENERGY ADMINISTRATION, WITH MR. ZARB'S ANSWERS INTERSPERSED "Commercialization" and "Demonstrations"-(Questions la & b) Questions: What is considered to be the dividing line between "demonstration" and "commercialization"? Is there an appropriate sequence relating demonstration and commercialization, or can they proceed in parallel? Answer: "Commercialization" consists of a broad range of activities that take place both concurrently with research, development and demonstration activities as well as following the time of introduction of a solar product into the marketplace. Activities to accelerate the utilization and widespread commercialization of solar heating and cooling include: Market development/market demand stimulation; Removal, as appropriate, of economic, institutional, environmental and legal constraints. "Demonstration" contributes to developing industry capability, establishing economic feasibility, and (in certain applications) developing public confidence in solar heating and cooling. However, Government actions can go beyond "demonstration" to help achieve the rate of acceptance of solar heating and cooling necessary to accomplish our energy goals. Commercialization (Question 1c) Question: What specific parts of the solar heating and cooling program are considered ready for commercialization? Answer: Solar heating systems for certain applications and solar water heaters are currently entering the marketplace. Although commercialization efforts should begin well before a particular solar product enters the marketplace, it is not too late to support and accelerate the commercialization of these technologies to assure quality products and significant energy savings. The objective of the Federal Government's efforts to achieve the accelera ted utilization and widespread commercialization of solar technologies is substantial energy savings, not just the introduction of additional products into the marketplace. Commercialization and the National Plan (Question 1d) Question: Does commercialization appear in the National Plan for solar heating and cooling? Answer: Chapter VIII of ERDA-23, Interim Report, National Plan for Solar Heating and Cooling, contains some important elements needed for the Rapid and Widespread Utilization of solar heating and cooling, but this endeavor requires a broader scope treatment if it is to be fully effective. The Federal Energy Administration; in cooperation with other agencies, is preparing a National Plan for the Accelerated Commercialization of Solar Energy. The plan will consider options and requirements necessary to achieve an aggressive goal of one million barrels of oil/day equivalency for all solar energies by 1985. A substantial portion of the energy savings to be realized from solar energy during this time frame will be from solar heating and cooling. Lead Responsibilities (Question 1f) Question: Should FEA have the "lead" responsibility, or a "joint" or a "consulting" responsibility in solar heating and cooling with ERDA? Answer: As stated in my testimony, the Federal Energy Administration's role in solar energy is twofold: First, we are concerned with the direction and scope of the Nation's solarrelated endeavors as part of our national energy strategy, particularly as related to our overall energy development/conservation effort. Second, we are developing, implementing, and coordinating programs and policies to facilitate the widespread commercial application and accelerated utilization of proven solar energy technologies. ERDA clearly has the lead responsibility for solar energy research, development and demonstration (R, D&D). However, FEA is concerned, within the con might constrain or accelerate solar energy resource development on a much broader scale. We view our roles in heating and cooling essentially as a team effort with ERDA and FEA concentrating on complementary actions that are both necessary to achieve our energy goals. Number of Demonstration Units (Question 2) Question: On page two of your testimony, you suggest the need for a further clarification of "the maximum number of units which constitute a demonstration." What is the FEA recommendation for this maximum number and why? Answer: "Commercialization" and "Demonstration" each have their objectives. The objective of "commercialization," in FEA's view, is substantial energy savings. The numbers of solar heating and cooling installations which the Government might encourage to achieve significant energy savings by 1985 far exceed those required to achieve the objectives of "demonstrations." "Demonstration" is directed toward establishing the economics and commercial viability of solar heating and cooling (PL-93-577) and also will be useful in obtaining public confidence in solar heating and cooling. (PL-93-473). The numbers which constitute a "demonstration" are now under review by the Energy Research and Development Administration. Adequately Definitive Performance Criteria (Question 3) Question: Also on page two you suggest the need for definitive performance criteria for solar water heaters. How soon should these be available? Are the procedures set forth in PL 43-409 adequate? Answer: In my testimony I discussed the urgency for the preparation of adequately definitive performance criteria. Considerable time will be needed to prepare definitive performance criteria, as called for in PL 93-409, and to obtain a consensus of users and producers on these criteria. Therefore, as an intermediate measure "adequately definitive performance criteria" for testing and certification should be prepared. Such intermediate criteria were not specified in PL 93-409. On June 16, 1975, FEA called together a meeting of representatives from several Government agencies and private sector organizations to accelerate the preparation of adequately definite performance criteria. Organizations represented at the meeting included: Government: NBS; HUD; ERDA; DOD; GSA; NASA; and FEA. Non-Government: ANSI-American National Standards Institute; ASTM— American Society for Testing & Material; ASME-American Society of Mechanical Engineers; ASHRAE-American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & AirConditioning Engineers; SEIA-Solar Energy Industries Association, Inc.; and CAN-Consumer Action Now. As a result of the meeting, a draft of such criteria for solar water heaters and space heating systems will be prepared and ready for publication in the Federal Register in about 31⁄2 months for public comment. We are working to have these criteria ready for public use in 6 months. The National Bureau of Standards and ANSI will have the lead jointly in this endeavor. Lead Times for Commercialization (Question 4) Question: On page 8, you call for commercialization efforts for solar heating and cooling which are concurrent with demonstration. Can you further substantiate through examples the lead times involved for commercialization? Answer: Traditional lead-time for the establishment of a new technology in the market place has been from 8-30 years. Numerous consumer products could be listed such as the refrigerator, television, and others. For example, it took approximately 5 years from the first meaningful experiments on household refrigerators until the product was introduced into the market place in the mid 1920's. However, another 25-30 years passed by before refrigerators reached market saturation. In the case of television (the electronic picture tube), the higher technology RD&D was a longer process, approximately 15 years. Another 15 years were required before market saturation occurred during the mid 1960's. Solar heating and cooling RD&D and commercialization could very well lie between these two examples without substantial Government action. Introduction of innovation into the building industry or the utility industry has traditionally been more difficult. However, the application of new techniques for accelerating the rate of acceptance by the various users of a new technology |