Skip to main content

Use the glossary to access terms and definitions related to residential energy efficiency programs. Click the letters below to find your terms. Letters that do not appear currently do not have glossary terms related to them.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U

Accreditation

A formal, third party recognition of the competence of an organization or program to perform specific tasks. It provides a means to identify a proven, competent evaluator so that the selection of that organization or program is an informed choice.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—commonly called the “stimulus”—was designed to spur economic growth while creating new jobs and saving existing ones. Through the Recovery Act, the Energy Department invested more than $31 billion to support a wide range of clean energy projects across the nation—from investing in the smart grid and developing alternative fuel vehicles to helping homeowners and businesses reduce their energy costs with energy efficiency upgrades and deploying carbon capture and storage technologies. The Department’s programs helped create new power sources, conserve resources and aligned the nation to lead the global energy economy.