Richard Tol posted at Climate Economics: How much energy do building code save?
Not nearly as much as expected, according to this paper by Arik Levinsohn. California has had building codes for energy since 1978, and they are tightened every so often. Levinsohn compares the energy use of buildings build before and after a code change, compares Californian houses to houses elsewhere in the USA, and compares the weather sensitivity of houses with different building codes. He finds that codes save energy, but the ex post estimates are lower than the ex ante ones on which the regulation was based.
Arik Levinsohn wrote at American Economic Review How Much Energy Do Building Energy Codes Save? Evidence from California Houses
Abstract
Regulations governing the energy efficiency of new buildings have become a cornerstone of US environmental policy. California enacted the first such codes in 1978 and has tightened them every…
View original post 120 more words
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments