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Achieving Scale With Energy Efficiency

If interest is high in building energy efficiency in the United States, why aren’t investments in efficiency growing? Experts from local and federal governments, the private sector, and non-government organizations explored that question at a June 2013 Roundtable Dialogue in Washington, D.C., convened by the Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency (IBE) and the Institute … Continued

Impact Evaluation of Nebraska Energy Code Training on Energy Code Compliance

This report presents the results of an impact evaluation of a building energy code training campaign on residential code compliance rates in the state of Nebraska. The authors conducted field inspections on a sample of 42 newly-constructed homes in Nebraska—normalizing, modeling, and comparing the results to a pre-training compliance evaluation. On average the pre-training study … Continued

Achieving scale in the US: A view from the construction and real estate sectors

Achieving scale in the US: A view from the construction and real estate sectors is an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) paper commissioned by the Global Buildings Performance Network. This paper focuses on how companies in the U.S. approach energy efficiency investments, the challenges and opportunities they face, and the role played by innovative financing in … Continued

Comparing Building Energy Performance Measurement

This paper proposes a classification framework for energy efficiency evaluation tools by comparing 17 building energy performance assessment systems from ten countries. These systems include Energieausweis in Germany; the Ministry of Housing and Urban and Rural Development (MOHURD) rating in China; Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates in the UK; and the Home Energy … Continued

Assessment of Energy Efficiency Achievable from Improved Compliance with U.S. Building Energy Codes

This report presents the results of a state-by-state analysis of the potential energy and cost savings from improving compliance with building energy codes to 100 percent from current levels. The report also examines 45 statewide compliance evaluation studies, providing a summary of evaluation methods and key findings. Evidence in most states indicates that staggering rates … Continued

Home Energy Efficiency and Mortgage Risks

Many have theorized that energy-efficient homes should have lower default risks than standard homes because the former are associated with lower energy costs, which leaves more money to make the mortgage payment. However, few empirical studies have been conducted due to limited data availability. This study examines actual loan performance data obtained from CoreLogic, the … Continued

Home Energy Efficiency and Mortgage Risks: Executive Summary

Many have theorized that energy-efficient homes should have lower default risks than standard homes because the former are associated with lower energy costs, which leaves more money to make the mortgage payment. However, few empirical studies have been conducted due to limited data availability. This study examines actual loan performance data obtained from CoreLogic, the … Continued

Attributing Building Energy Code Savings to Energy Efficiency Programs

Building energy-efficiency codes have received considerable attention lately because of the energy-savings opportunities they present for utilities and other program administrators (PAs). A recent report estimates that upgrades to building energy codes could offset as much as a third of all electricity consumption growth nationally through 2025. PAs are in a strong position to support … Continued

Energy Transparency in the Multifamily Housing Sector

Mirroring recent trends in other real estate sectors, the multifamily housing sector is subject to an increasing number of rules and regulations related to energy-performance benchmarking and disclosure. The goal of these new rules is to enable transparent building energy-performance information to drive energy efficiency improvements in multifamily housing that lower energy bills for residents; … Continued

Energy Transparency in the Multifamily Housing Sector: Executive Summary

Mirroring recent trends in other real estate sectors, the multifamily housing sector is subject to an increasing number of rules and regulations related to energy-performance benchmarking and disclosure. The goal of these new rules is to enable transparent building energy-performance information to drive energy efficiency improvements in multifamily housing that lower energy bills for residents; … Continued