Vice President Biden today unveiled Recovery Through Retrofit, a report designed to expand green job opportunities and boost energy savings by making homes more energy efficient. The report, according to a DOE release, is a proposal for federal action to lay the groundwork for a self-sustaining home-energy efficiency retrofit industry. "Recovery Through Retrofit is a blueprint that will create good green jobs -- jobs that can't be outsourced, and jobs that will be the cornerstones of a 21st-Century economy," said Biden in a statement. "And, thanks to the Recovery Act's unprecedented investments in energy efficiency, we are making it easier for American families to retrofit their homes -- helping them save money while reducing carbon emissions and creating a healthier environment for our families."

Some recommendations in the report include:

• Provide homeowners with home energy retrofit information
• Provide access to retrofit financing
• Establish national workforce certifications and training standards
• Proper certification and training.

The Department of Energy (DOE) today also announced $454 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for energy efficiency efforts nationwide, and the DOE is now accepting applications for a new $390 million "Retrofit Ramp-Up" program that will deploy innovative approaches to energy efficiency building retrofits.