Friday, May 21, 2021 On Tuesday, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced a series of initiatives to reduce the negative environmental impacts of residential and commercial buildings. Homes and buildings generate more than one-third of the carbon pollution released by the United States each year, use about 40% of the country’s energy, and result in more than $100 billion of waste due to energy inefficiency. In response to the building and construction sector’s significant contributions to climate change, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled the Initiative for Better Energy, Emissions, and Equity (E3), a program designed to increase energy efficiency in buildings through the use of sustainable heating and cooling technologies.