Advocacy

 

CCI Is Making the Case for Healthier Homes -- Join Us Now! Take Action Below!

 

 

 

 

 

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CCI’s Advocacy Work

CCI understands the importance of identifying and removing barriers to advancement of healthy homes for people at all income levels and for both those who rent and those who own their home. We benchmark innovative actions, trends, and best practices around the country and beyond to understand where we can be “doing better” in our region and how to do it. Our focus right now is tackling some of our region’s common home health hazards: lead, mold, and radon.

 

• 82% of Allegheny County homes were built before 1978, when lead was a common ingredient in paint. Lead exposure in children can result in developmental delays, reduced IQ, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other issues.

• Allegheny County homes are statistically likely to have radon counts above the EPA-recommended action level of 4 picocuries per liter. Long-term radon exposure can result in lung cancer and causes more deaths per year in the US than drunk driving.

• Mold can occur in any home wherever there is moisture, causing asthma, obstructive lung disease, and lung infections. It can result from roof leaks, poor foundation drainage, or improper air-sealing, and it disproportionately impacts low-income and minority households.

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ReEnergize Pittsburgh Coalition

CCI began convening and leading the ReEnergize Pittsburgh Coalition when fellow nonprofit  GTECH Strategies “passed the torch” to us in July 2015. The coalition brings together roughly 40 participating organizations spanning the for-profit, nonprofit, academic, public and utility sectors all aligned around a rallying goal: increasing residential energy efficiency and home health awareness, opportunities and implementation in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

ReEnergize Pittsburgh Coalition members sometimes join forces to voice our shared concerns about or support for specific legislative agenda items in formal comments. In addition, the coalition aims to promote participation in existing energy efficiency programs and to heighten coordination across and among these programs, many of whom participate. The group also advances increased engagement with the professional real estate broker and real estate appraisal community and real estate listing services to have homes reflect the value of energy efficiency improvements.

Want to get involved?

Reach out to learn more about CCI's advocacy efforts and how you can get involved in advancing energy efficiency policy!

Home Energy Score Statewide Working Group

CCI supports wider adoption of the Department of Energy’s “Home Energy Score” rating system, and leads a statewide working group to advance adoption of HES in Pennsylvania. The group meets annually in conjunction with (but not as an official activity of) the KEEA conference and throughout the year by phone. More than 50,000 homes have been scored using the HES system across more than 12 states. CCI has become an official HES rater and provider through DOE.