Energy Inefficient
Bad building codes
Buildings constructed according to supposedly strict energy efficiency codes may not be terribly green after all, a new study finds. The research, conducted by the Georgetown economist Arik Levinson and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, might well drain the batteries of energy-efficient building code advocates.
Levinson compared homes built under California's post-1978 energy building codes to California homes not built to those standards, and to buildings of various ages in other states not built to California codes, while controlling for factors such as home size and weather.
Proponents of the codes predicted reductions of up to 80 percent in energy use. But Levinson found "no evidence that homes constructed since California instituted its building energy codes use less electricity today than homes built before the codes came into effect."
New and old buildings might use similar amounts of energy because older homes made similar upgrades even without the codes forcing them to do so. Or perhaps owners of the "energy-efficient" homes responded to lowered lighting or air conditioning costs by using more energy. But if you advocate such codes because they in and of themselves cause less energy to be consumed, this study suggests you ought to get your mental wiring examined.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "Energy Inefficient."
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
It is very important to become familiar with the local building department and to contact the local building inspector to know about existing building codes. A new home need to be built according to the latest energy efficient codes so as to fit all the energy demands and save you on high energy bills. One of my friend had recently renovated his house with all the latest energy building codes in his area. Alongwith that, all the HVAC appliances in his new home are all energy efficient, bought and installed with the help of HVAC company in Morris County NJ.