Building Energy Rating & Disclosure: A Catalyst for Efficiency
Vision 2020: Cracking the Energy Code
1. Cracking the
Energy Code
Cliff Majersik
Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
Leadership Forum
September 4-5, 2012
2. Market Transformation (n.)
A process of strategic intervention in the market to
bring about widespread, permanent change
For IMT, this means creating the conditions for
higher investment in energy-efficient buildings
3. Cycle of Transformation
2.Market compares
buildings, captures
1.Better measurement & savings; rewards
awareness of energy use efficiency
5.Codes
strengthen
3. Competition to
make buildings
4.Higher efficiency more efficient
becomes standard
FLO-0103-2DC-5N
4. • Buildings account for 40% of
total energy use & CO2
emissions
• 85% of the buildings that
will be standing in 2030
have already been built
It’s urgent to reduce building energy use
7. Great progress…
• The 2012 code achieved efficiency gains of about 30%
above the 2006 IECC
• If every state adopted & complied fully with the 2012
International Energy Conservation Code (IECC):
– About $40 billion (real 2008 dollars) annual energy
cost savings for consumers and businesses by 2030
– Annual CO2 avoidance by 2030 equivalent to the
yearly emissions from
• 39 million cars or
• 47 coal-fired power plants
9. Why compliance?
• Compliance with energy
codes is below 50% in many
places
• Compliance is a low-cost
solution with an incredible
ROI
$1 invested in compliance =
$6 in energy savings
10. Innovative strategies boost
code compliance
• Third parties
– Austin, Texas
• Streamlining
• Design professional
accountability
– Wisconsin
…and more
11. Compliance will drive market transformation, creating
• Jobs
• Energy savings
• Favorable insurance rates for efficient
homes
• Better access to mortgages for efficient
homes
Compliance removes uncertainty, which is bad for markets
12.
13. The SAVE Act
• In homes that consume less
energy, owners/occupants pay
lower utility bills. So they’re
better able to make their next
mortgage payment.
• Bipartisan SAVE Act (S. 1737) will
adjust underwriting rules to take
energy costs into account.
14. The SAVE Act
• Under SAVE, mortgage
underwriters would include
energy in the costs of
homeownership, when
calculating a borrower’s debt-
to-income ratio
• They would also include the
net present value (NPV) of
future energy savings in the
valuation
15. The broad SAVE Act coalition
40+ industry, trade and environmental groups include:
16. What manufacturers can do
• Keep labeling products
to assist with energy-
code compliance
• Educate builders,
tradespeople, local
building officials
• Organize and/or sponsor
training programs
17. By 2020…building blocks for 2030
Officials recognize that energy
codes are as critically
important as health & life
safety codes.
Using off-the-shelf
technology greatly reduces
time, cost, labor of ensuring
compliance, pushing
compliance rates way up.
SAVE Act passes. Better access
to capital, better insurance
rates, and bigger price
premiums for energy-efficient
homes
