The City of Chicago has recently launched the residential phase of its Retrofit Chicago Program, which opens the possibility for substantial energy savings for the single family homes and multi-unit buildings that make up half of the city’s energy consumption. 

The process of home retrofitting can be a confusing one.  But the City’s program aims to make the process as easy and as affordable as possible.  Non-profits, energy companies, and city government programs have partnered to support the program, including our very own CNT Energy.

In a recent study comparing the energy efficiency of 12 of the world's largest economies, the United States was ranked 9^th --with the United Kingdom taking first place. With statistics like that, making energy efficiency improvements to your home may seem like a challenge.

This year, voices advocating energy efficiency resonate loudly throughout the U.S.  The energy rating and disclosure movement expands from city to city—showing people want to know facts about their buildings’ energy performance.  New York City, Austin, DC, San Francisco, and Seattle already passed legislation regarding energy disclosure.  Joining these cities are Boston and

Some of the most popular federal income tax credits for home energy efficiency improvements have been renewed for 2011. While the new credits are smaller than the 2010 credits, they still provide a great incentive for homeowners to make needed upgrades.

The 2011 tax credits return 10% of the cost of certain heating, cooling, and building envelope improvements, up to $ 500, with these exceptions:

The US Department of Energy has announced that they're developing a scoring system for energy efficient homes, something that we're very excited about at MyHomeEQ. See part of the press release below.