Energy Efficiency Getting Easier

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Richard Branson, the eccentric owner of Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines, had half a billion dollars to spend and has targeted South Florida for his new venture into energy efficiency.

The owners of Habify Energy Consultants showed CBS4's David Sutta how it will work on a tour of a home in Coral Gables.

Consultant Buck Reilly walked around the home with an infrared heat detector. He pointed it up towards a light fixture in the ceiling.

"The red that you see there is hot attic air that is coming in through the unsealed light," Reilly said.

Reilly is a magician of sorts. He pointed the detector at another light.

"That lamp hasn't been on all day, but it's still 84 degrees," he said.

Going room by room in Laurie Nuell's home, he showed her all the money she's throwing away on her electric bill. By the end of his evaluation Reilly showed her improvements that may cut her electric bill in half.

In the past what has stopped Nuell and most of us from spending thousands on new windows, roofs, solar panels is... well, the thousands of dollars it cost.

Starting in 2012 homeowners in South Miami-Dade may have an answer to that problem: a new program called property assessed clean energy, or PACE.

First, you get an energy evaluation of your home. Then, if the savings outweigh the cost of improvements, you get a loan for up to 10% of your house value.

What makes this loan different is that it's added to your property tax bill. Christopher Block, Habify's director explained this is a huge moment for energy efficiency.

"People now have a way to finance these improvements without coming out of pocket which overcomes a monstrous barrier that I think prevented tons and tons of homeowners from jumping in," Block said.

Block said people will immediately be able to take the money they are saving on energy efficiency to pay for the improvements over a 10 to 20-year-loan. Essentially it pays for itself and the loan stays with the house.

"If you sell your house, those payments are then inherited by the next homeowner." Block said.

Since the loan will be built into your tax bill, local governments have to be on board.

So far five cities have signed on to PACE including Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, and South Miami.

"As a citizen, I want it for myself," South Miami's Mayor Phillip Stoddard told CBS4's David Sutta.

Stoddard said it won't cost them a penny to put the program on and save homeowners like Nuell thousands. For him, South Miami's role in the program was a no-brainer.

"Government in general does for people what people cannot do for themselves or cannot do for themselves as well." Stoddard said.

"You are going to spend it one way or the other so I think...I don't see why anybody wouldn't do that." Nuell said.

In addition to the five cities in the green corridor Miami is voting on joining next month. If you are interested in participating in PACE you are going to have to wait. The financing doesn't roll out to 2012.