Residential energy conservation. [OTA study]
The report reviews existing and promising technologies, and a broad set of issues affecting why these technologies are or are not used, how their level of use and effectiveness can be improved, and related Federal programs and policies. The choices Congress makes in framing energy conservation policy reflect society's views of the present and the future, its concept of the appropriate role of Government, and its sense of urgency about the changing energy picture. The diverse nature of residential housing in this country, the many decisions involved in planning, building, buying, and operating a home, and the basic desire of consumers to be allowed the maximum freedom of choice - all of these factors make policy decisions in this area difficult. This study focuses on the demand aspect of residential energy use, specifically those functions that consume most of a home energy budget - fuel to heat and cool space and to heat water. A number of related issues are relevant to this topic but go beyond the scope of this study which deals only with ways to improve energy efficiency within the 80 million existing housing units and in housing to be constructed over the next two decades. Active solar systems are not included, because of the recent publication of OTA's Application of Solar Technology to Today's Energy Needs. Conservation as discussed in this analysis is the substitution of capital, labor, and ingenuity for energy, in the form of products that make a home more energy efficient. The report addresses human factors that play such a major role in shaping energy consumption. Choices open to builders, designers, suppliers, local and State officials, lenders, utilities, owners, renters, and others are examined. This work attempts to address comprehensively a problem that proves to contain many economic, behavioral, and motivational variables, many technical and human unknowns, and many possible policy paths.
- OSTI ID:
- 5263048
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Produced by Office of Technology Assessment, US Congress, on request
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ENERGY CONSERVATION
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
ENERGY DEMAND
ATTITUDES
DECISION MAKING
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HOUSEHOLDS
LEGISLATION
LOW INCOME GROUPS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
SPACE HEATING
BUILDINGS
DEMAND
EFFICIENCY
HEATING
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
320101* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Residential Buildings- (-1987)
291000 - Energy Planning & Policy- Conservation
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology