The Impact of State Level Building Codes on Residential Electricity Consumption PDF Download

Author: Anin Aroonruengsawat
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ISBN:
Category : Building laws
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Author: Susan Murray
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ISBN:
Category : Political planning
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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The effects of climate change caused by the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) are a growing concern for state governments in the United States. The majority of state governments have attempted to mitigate GHG emissions through energy efficiency programs to combat the rising demand for electricity. In order to manage the increasing demand for electricity, states have adopted International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC) for new residential buildings to offset the demand for energy. This paper studies the relationship between state level residential building codes and electricity consumption rates. Using state-level panel data, I construct a database of state residential building code adoptions and energy use from 2000-2010 to measure the relationship between state regulation and residential electricity consumption using an OLS Fixed Effects model. My most conclusive findings suggest that there is a negative association between specific code adoption and electricity consumption, but only in states with low rates of new residential construction. I find that the adoption of the 2006 IECC building code in states with low rates of new residential construction is associated with a 1.7 percent decrease in electrical consumption per 10,000 residents. I also find that the adoption of an up-to-date building code is associated with a .7 percent decrease in electrical consumption per 10,000 residents in states with low rates of new residential construction.

Author: Jieyi Lu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political planning
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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In light of the pressing impacts of climate change and rising demand for electricity, many state governments have adopted International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC) and the Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (ASHRAE 90.1) for new commercial buildings. This paper investigates the relationship between commercial building energy codes and electricity consumption on the state level. Using state-level data on commercial building code adoption and electricity use from 2004 to 2015 in OLS and fixed-effects models, I found a negative relationship between building energy code adoption and electricity consumption. States adopting the building energy codes between 2004 and 2015 are associated with a 1,968.974 million kilowatthours less electricity consumption in the commercial sector, enough to power about 18,300 households per year. However, using a fixed-effects model with a one-year lagged effect, I found a positive relationship between building code adoption and electricity consumption. In this model specification, states adopting building energy codes in the previous year are associated with a 606.918 million kilowatthours increase in annual average electricity consumption in the commercial sector, which indicates the importance of compliance with codes. The inconsistent results indicate a need for future study, which could include additional data, such as compliance with codes, number of new commercial buildings, and building activities.

Author: Anin Aroonruengsawat
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Part I is a joint paper with Maximilian Auffhammer. The study simulates the impacts of higher temperatures resulting from anthropogenic climate change on residential electricity consumption for California. Flexible temperature response functions are estimated by climate zone, which allow for differential effects of days in different temperature bins on households' electricity consumption. The estimation uses a comprehensive household level dataset of billing data for California's three investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison). The results suggest that the temperature response varies greatly across climate zones. Simulation results using a downscaled version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research global circulation model suggest that holding population constant, total consumption for the households considered may increase by up to 55% by the end of the century. Part II is a joint work with Maximilian Auffhammer and Alan Sanstad. We study the impacts of state level residential building codes on per capita residential electricity consumption. We construct a timeline of when individual states first implemented residential building codes. Using panel data for 48 US states from 1970-2006, we exploit the temporal and spatial variation of building code implementation and issuance of building permits to identify the effect of the regulation on residential electricity consumption. Controlling for the effect of prices, income, and weather, we show that states that adopted building codes followed by a significant amount of new construction have experienced detectable decreases in per capita residential electricity consumption - ranging from 3-5% in the year 2006. Allowing for heterogeneity in enforcement and code stringency results in larger estimated effects. In the last part, I estimate the impact of ground level ozone on corn and soybean yields using nation-wide county-level data and ozone measures for the U.S. during 1990-2006. The implementation of the NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP) aiming to reduce NOx and thus ozone during the growing season is used as an instrument to control for endogeneity in the yield regression. The estimated elasticites of soybean and corn yield with respect to seasonal mean ozone concentrations are -0.60 and -0.57 respectively. The estimated elasticities of crop yield with respect to maximum ozone concentrations are higher suggesting a nonlinear relationship. A back of the envelope calculation shows that soybeans and corn loss from a one standard deviation increase in mean ozone during growing season is about $5 billion dollars. The NBP program reduces the value of crop losses by 2.19 billion for soybeans and 3.2 billion dollars corn during 2003 to 2007.

Author:
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Author: Grant Jacobsen
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 37

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In response to the 1973 oil embargo, many states began passing building energy codes in order to promote energy efficiency. While the vast majority of states have energy codes in place, policymakers are now attempting to legislate energy codes at the federal level to help address more recent concerns about energy efficiency and climate change. Nevertheless, surprisingly little is known about whether energy codes are an effective way to reduce energy consumption in practice. This paper provides the first evaluation of an energy-code change that uses residential billing data on both electricity and natural gas, combined with data on observable characteristics of each residence. The study takes place in Gainesville, Florida, and the empirical strategy is based on comparisons between residences constructed just before and just after Florida increased the stringency of its energy code in 2002. We find that the increased stringency of the energy code is associated with a 4-percent decrease in electricity consumption and a 6-percent decrease in natural-gas consumption. The pattern of savings is consistent with reduced consumption of electricity for air-conditioning and reduced consumption of natural gas for heating. We also estimate economic costs and benefits and find that the private payback period for the average residence is 6.4 years. The social payback period, which accounts for the avoided costs of air-pollution emissions, ranges between 3.5 and 5.3 years.

Author: Arik Levinson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buildings
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Construction codes that regulate the energy efficiency of new buildings have been a centerpiece of US environmental policy for 40 years. California enacted the nation's first energy building codes in 1978, and they were projected to reduce residential energy use -- and associated pollution -- by 80 percent. How effective have the building codes been? I take three approaches to answering that question. First, I compare current electricity use by California homes of different vintages constructed under different standards, controlling for home size, local weather, and tenant characteristics. Second, I examine how electricity in California homes varies with outdoor temperatures for buildings of different vintages. And third, I compare electricity use for buildings of different vintages in California, which has stringent building energy codes, to electricity use for buildings of different vintages in other states. All three approaches yield the same answer: there is 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.

Author: Matthew J. Kotchen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buildings
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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This paper provides an ex post evaluation of how changes to a building energy code affect energy consumption. Using residential billing data for electricity and natural gas over 11 years, the analysis is based on comparisons between residences constructed just before and just after a building code change in Florida. While an earlier study using 3 years of data for the same residences showed savings for both electricity an natural gas, new results show an enduring savings for natural gas only. These findings underscore the importance of accounting for age versus vintage effects and all sources of energy consumption when conducting evaluations of building codes. More broadly, the results provide a counterpoint to the growing literature casting doubt on whether ex ante forecasts of energy efficiency policies and investments can provide useful information about actual energy savings. Indeed, more than a decade after Florida's energy code change, the measured energy savings still meets or exceeds the forecasted amount.

Author:
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program (BECP) periodically evaluates national and state-level impacts associated with energy codes in residential and commercial buildings. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), funded by DOE, conducted an assessment of the prospective impacts of national model building energy codes from 2010 through 2040. A previous PNNL study evaluated the impact of the Building Energy Codes Program; this study looked more broadly at overall code impacts. This report describes the methodology used for the assessment and presents the impacts in terms of energy savings, consumer cost savings, and reduced CO2 emissions at the state level and at aggregated levels. This analysis does not represent all potential savings from energy codes in the U.S. because it excludes several states which have codes which are fundamentally different from the national model energy codes or which do not have state-wide codes. Energy codes follow a three-phase cycle that starts with the development of a new model code, proceeds with the adoption of the new code by states and local jurisdictions, and finishes when buildings comply with the code. The development of new model code editions creates the potential for increased energy savings. After a new model code is adopted, potential savings are realized in the field when new buildings (or additions and alterations) are constructed to comply with the new code. Delayed adoption of a model code and incomplete compliance with the code's requirements erode potential savings. The contributions of all three phases are crucial to the overall impact of codes, and are considered in this assessment.

Author: J. D. Kneifel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Building
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Energy efficiency requirements in energy codes vary across states, with states having adopted energy codes ranging across editions of the industry consensus standard (ASHRAE 90.1). Some states do not have a code requirement for energy efficiency, leaving it up to the locality or jurisdiction to set its own requirements. This paper uses ASTM building economic standards (E917-05(2010) and E1074-09) to estimate the impacts that the adoption of more stringent energy codes for commercial buildings would have on building life-cycle costs. The results are based on analysis of the Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability (BIRDS) database. For this study, the performance of buildings designed to meet current state energy codes is compared to their performance when meeting a "Low Energy Case" (LEC) building design based on ASHRAE 189.1-2009, which increases energy efficiency beyond the ASHRAE 90.1-2007 design, to determine whether more stringent energy standard editions are life-cycle cost-effective in reducing energy consumption. The approach is described in detail for a single city and building type (Knoxville, TN). Using the same approach, the new savings for each building type in all cities for Tennessee are calculated. The estimated average savings for each of the building types are aggregated using state-level new commercial building construction data to calculate the magnitude of the net savings (80.8 GWh annually and USD28.1 x 106 in life-cycle costs) that Tennessee may realize if it were to adopt the LEC design as its state energy code. These state-level estimates are further aggregated to the national level, estimating the potential total impact from nationwide adoption of the LEC design to be 34 441 GWh and USD1.0 billion for 1 years' worth of construction for a 10-year study period.