Town of Chapel Hill - Worthwhile Investments Save Energy (WISE) Homes and Buildings Program

September 19, 2015

Summary

Chapel Hill is using money made available to it from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help subsidize energy efficiency improvements in Chapel Hill homes. Qualified homeowners can choose from a list of pre-qualified contractors who will conduct energy assessments to identify improvement areas and will ultimately install the equipment. The town will issue a subsidy of either 20% or 40% of the cost of the project after utility rebates have been deducted. $1,500 is the maximum amount that will be awarded to any home. Solar photovoltaic and geothermal heat pumps will only qualify if they are expected to generate 15% or more in savings when combined with other energy efficiency improvements. See website above for complete details and application forms.

This Program is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Better Buildings Program.  The DOE has awarded over $500 million in federal funds to more than 40 states, local governments, and organizations to administer local programs targeting a variety of building types. Combined, these local programs are expected to improve the efficiency of more than 170,000 buildings through 2013 and save up to $65 million in energy costs annually.