Residential and Commercial

Components of energy use

Heating and cooling of buildings

Artificial lighting

Appliances

Windows

Costs

Costs reflected in the market price

The price of the fuel

Costs arguably not reflected in the market price (and the size of such costs)

See production background material

Barriers to efficient use of energy in the residential/commercial sector

Lack of information on true energy use of lights, appliances or poorly insulated building

Not caring (energy costs are very small part of operating a building)

Financial (inadequate access to capital, short pay-back time horizon)

Split incentives (landlord vs tenents)

Unavailability of energy-efficient technologies in the market place

Current policies to overcome barriers

Codes and standards

Appliance efficiency standards

Building codes

Voluntary measures

Labeling programs, such as Energy Star, information sources such as state energy offices, Consumer Reports, etc.

Home energy rating systems and energy efficient mortgages

State low-income weatherization programs

Utility demand-side energy efficiency programs

Potential actions to overcome existing barriers and future barriers

Strengthen building codes and appliance standards

Tax credits for efficiency investments

Accelerated market transformation activities including government procurement to jump start market demand

Accelerated research and development

The following chart is taken from “Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future” (2000)

Primary Energy Use by Scenario and Fuel in the Buildings Sector