Energy and economic evaluation of the single-family residential building energy performance standards
The Energy Production and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1976 mandated the setting of building energy performance standards (BEPS) for all newly constructed buildings. One of the classes of buildings included in EPCA is single-family residences. These standards cover the energy used for space heating, air conditioning, and water heating. This report describes the evaluation of direct energy and economic impacts of three proposed levels of single-family BEPS: lenient, mid, and strict. The lenient level is the least stringent in requiring improvements in eneryperformance of residence while the strict is the most stringent. Each of the levels and the method of developing them are also described. The ORNL residential energy model is used to calculate energy savings and economic impacts of BEPS to the nation. The model is also used to estimate the sensitivity of the results to several exogenous variables: projected fuel prices, baseline energy codes, capital csts, short-run price elasticities, and discount rates. The Net Present Value (NPV) and cumulative energy savings from 1980 to 2020 are the two measures used to compare the standards. Both the lenient and mid level standards provide a positive economic benefit to the country of 1.24 and 2.58 billion dollars, respectively. Even though the strict standard has the largest energy savings, it has a negative economic cost of 1.5 billion dollars to the nation. The cumulative energy savings of the lenient, mid, and strict level standards are 4.2, 10.2, and 20.1 EJ, respectively.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- OSTI ID:
- 5586995
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/CON-57; ON: DE82004673
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
EVALUATION
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA COMPILATION
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECONOMICS
FUELS
HOUSES
INTEREST RATE
PRICES
BUILDINGS
DATA
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
STANDARDS
291000* - Energy Planning & Policy- Conservation
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology