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1999 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 339
Commending the Virginia Home Energy Rating Organization.

Agreed to by the Senate, January 21, 1999
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 29, 1999

WHEREAS, the Virginia Home Energy Rating Organization (V-HERO) was founded in 1992 by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and serves as an independent, not-for-profit organization; and

WHEREAS, Virginia HERO is the statewide home energy rating system for the Commonwealth and is widely held to be the foremost program of its type in the country and is the model for a national program that offers similar services in 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada; and

WHEREAS, in the six years since Virginia HERO was founded, more than 18,000 homes in Virginia have been rated and improved; and

WHEREAS, for homes rated and improved by Virginia HERO, the energy efficiency improvement ranges from 30 to 60 percent, resulting in a reduction in harmful greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, for each improved house, an average of four tons of carbon dioxide annually have not been emitted into the atmosphere, a total savings of more than 72,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year; and

WHEREAS, Virginia HERO’s planned program of ratings and energy efficiency mortgages for new and existing residences gives Virginia an opportunity to use this program as part of the Commonwealth’s Environmental Protection Agency compliance for emissions abatement and clean air standards; and

WHEREAS, Virginia HERO has provided training and certification to more than 125 energy raters in Virginia, resulting in the creation of a new industry; and

WHEREAS, new, efficient, inner-city homes in Richmond are being built to Virginia HERO standards and will enable Virginia to apply to be recognized as having the first 5 Star, Energy Star affordable housing community in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Virginia HERO is assisting in bringing quality construction to the inner city and average savings to the citizens of the Commonwealth of 48 percent on utility costs; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly commend the Virginia Home Energy Rating Organization on its status as one of the leading programs of its type in the country; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Christine Lowrie, executive vice president, in recognition of Virginia HERO’s outstanding contributions to the improvement of energy efficiency in homes throughout the Commonwealth.