The United States
can become more energy efficient and create more "green" jobs by
adopting some of the strategies used by the European Union and Australia
to rate and disclose the performance of commercial and government-owned
buildings, according to a new RAND Corporation study issued today.
The study finds that wealthier countries use more than a
third of their energy to heat, cool and illuminate buildings, but not always
efficiently. Recent steps taken by the European Union and Australia to inspect,
rate and publicly disclose the energy efficiency of buildings indicate the buildings
use less energy and are worth more when sold or leased.
The buildings sector has unique characteristics that make
design of energy efficiency policies particularly challenging: transactions are
infrequent, capital costs are high, and the variablility of design and siting
makes energy efficiency comparisons difficulty. Often, owners must bear the
costs of efficiency improvements while costs savings are obtained by tenants.
"Nevertheless, investments in renovation and
energy-aware construction should be part of a green jobs strategy," said
Charles Ries, the report's lead author and senior fellow at RAND,
a nonprofit research organization. "If the United
States wants to be a global competitor in green building
technology, it can learn from the ways in which information disclosure,
building codes, financial incentives and benchmarking have been used in Europe
and Australia."
In examining the recent efforts in the EU and the Australian Commonwealth to promote energy efficiency,
researchers focused on five key policy tools: building codes, energy efficiency
ratings, the role of public buildings, the training and certification of
experts, and the issuance of tradable "white certificates."
Building codes have been effective in improving energy
efficiency in new buildings and in buildings undergoing major refurbishments
because they are mandatory and have specific requirements. However, codes are
slow to have a significant effect on energy use because at most three percent
of a nation's building stock is newly constructed or renovated, the study
finds. The EU now requires all member nations to have energy efficiency
elements in building codes, and the EU codes must be reviewed every five years.
Since a building's good energy performance can be attractive
to potential buyer or tenant, the EU has made presenting a standardized rating
of a building's energy efficiency before or at the time of sale or lease an
integral part of its approach. In 2002, the EU began requiring energy performance
certificates be presented for all building sales or rentals. Some Australian
states also require energy efficiency certificates. The ratings may be based on
a building's design characteristics, energy performance, or both. Many highly
rated building designs fail to perform up to potential, however, often because
of the way they are managed or because of tenant behavior.
"Incentives may be needed to improve the energy
efficiency of older, poorly performing buildings where the biggest aggregate
gains are to be made," Ries said. "Ratings systems should be designed
to allow for achievable improvements for older buildings, so the perfect is not
the enemy of the good."
For public buildings, the EU requires that energy efficiency
ratings be posted in a prominent place, typically at the entrance. In Australia,
several jurisdictions have policies that set a minimum "Green Star"
voluntary rating for any building that is leased or purchased for government
use. The RAND study recommends that public
building ratings be based on measured energy performance rather than design
characteristics alone.
Researchers find that implementing the program throughout Europe has taken time as governments create benchmarks
for efficiency ratings, and inspectors have had to be trained to assess
buildings and given credentials. The EU is considering amending the system,
notably to require a building's energy grade be included in all property
advertisements.
In Australia,
the states of New South Wales and Victoria issued
"white certificates" that could be sold to utilities and big energy
users who are required to reduce energy use under the states' cap-and-trade
programs. Ries said the effort shows promise, but in some cases third party
aggregators distributed low-cost energy saving equipment (compact fluorescent
bulbs or low-flow showerheads, for example) to homeowners in order to claim the
white certificates. Subsequent studies have shown not all the equipment was
actually used and the program had to be changed.
New proposals being considered include a buildings-only
cap-and-trade system in which owners of large buildings are given energy
savings obligations that can be met either directly, or by buying certificates
from better-performing buildings. Such a system would provide more incentives
for owners and users to operate buildings more efficiently, the authors find.
Among the report's key considerations for U.S.
policymakers:
Building-materials manufacturers will be able to better
standardize their products if there is regional consistency in the energy
efficiency requirements for building codes. This will provide relatively quick
benefits. For the long term, performance codes should also be considered, with
expanded use of building codes accompanied by aggressive training and quality-assurance
programs for inspectors.
Energy Performance Certificates should be understandable and
meaningful enough to affect marketplace behavior. Moreover, they should be
required to be used in property advertisements and listings.
Widespread energy efficiency gains are possible only through
retrofitting and making operational improvements to existing buildings. Energy
use monitoring, as well as incentives, inspection and improvement
recommendation systems are essential.
Public buildings should continue to be a test bed for new
energy-saving ideas and should promote awareness of building energy-performance
levels.
• Building energy-efficiency programs can play an important
part of a cap-and-trade program for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. A ratings
system, along with a cadre of trained and licensed experts to conduct the
ratings, is crucial to any roll-out of a broad-based "white
certificate" program.
The study, "Improving the Energy Performance of
Buildings: Learning from the European Union and Australia," can be found at www.rand.org. The study was supported by the
U.S. Real Estate Roundtable, and the U.S. Building Owners and Managers
Association.
Other authors of the study are Joseph Jenkins and Oliver
Wise.
SOURCE: RAND Corporation
