The SAVE Act
Making Homes Efficient and Affordable
Summary
The SAVE Act is legislation to improve the accuracy of mortgage underwriting used by federal mortgage agencies by ensuring that energy costs are included in the underwriting process. The bill, S. 1737 [112th Congress], was introduced on Oct. 19, 2011, by Senators Bennet (D-Colo.) and Isakson (R-Ga.) and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Read the SAVE Act Coalition Fact Sheet
Read the full text of the bill (S. 1737)
Read our analysis The SAVE Act: Driving Job Creation and Energy Savings. IMT and ACEEE found that SAVE would generate 83,000 jobs and $1.1 billion in consumer energy bill savings in 2020.
The proposal is supported by a diverse coalition of organizations, including IMT, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Appraisal Institute, the U.S. Green Building Council, the Leading Builders of America, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (see full list of SAVE Act Coalition members below).
Benefits
The SAVE Act would help revitalize the hardest hit sectors of the economy by providing lower rate mortgage financing for cost effective energy improvements; allowing homebuilders and homeowners to recover the cost of efficiency investments; and enabling better federal mortgage underwriting while lowering utility bills for American households. Benefits include:
- Enable federal mortgage programs to improve the quality of mortgage underwriting and provide an accurate picture of repayment risk and the expected costs of homeownership
- Greatly accelerate the supply of and demand for energy-efficient new homes
- Quickly return any incremental cost for homebuyers due to home efficiency improvements
- Encourage the purchase of energy-efficient homes that reduce utility bills for American homeowners and reduce the vast amount of energy consumed in homes
- Consistently and accurately account for energy efficiency in appraisals, enabling builders and homeowners to invest in energy-saving features
- Put people in the construction and manufacturing sectors back to work renovating and building energy-efficient homes and products
Press
The New York Times 08/25/11
Strange Bedfellows Back Bill Using Mortgages to Spur Energy Retrofits
The Washington Post 10/28/11
Mortgage Lenders Could Soon Take Homes’ Energy Costs Into Account
CNBC 11/16/11
People, Planet, & Profit: Value for Energy Savings (Video)
SAVE Act Coalition of Supporters
