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The effectiveness of US energy efficiency building labels

Nature Energy volume 2, Article number: 17033 (2017) Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 11 April 2017

Abstract

Information programs are promising strategies to encourage investments in energy efficiency in commercial buildings. However, the realized effectiveness of these programs has not yet been estimated on a large scale. Here we take advantage of a large sample of monthly electricity consumption data for 178,777 commercial buildings in Los Angeles to analyse energy savings and emissions reductions from three major programs designed to encourage efficiency: the US Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program and the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Using matching techniques, we find energy savings that range from 18% to 30%, depending on the program. These savings represent a reduction of 210 million kilowatt-hours or 145 kilotons of CO2 equivalent emissions per year. However, we also find that these programs do not substantially reduce emissions in small and medium sized buildings, which represent about two-thirds of commercial sector building emissions.

Energy supplied in buildings accounts for an estimated 8.8 gigatons of CO2 emissions globally or about one-third of total energy use and carbon emissions1. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and many energy experts argue that the buildings sector has the largest potential for delivering long-term and cost-effective emissions reductions in both developing and developed countries2. A recent analysis by the National Research Council contends that the full development of cost-effective energy efficiency technologies in buildings could eliminate the need to construct new electricity-generating plants in the United States3. A critical question is what kind of programs can catalyse reductions in emissions. This question is especially important given the current lack of global carbon regulation. In the United States, there are three major voluntary information programs aimed at reducing building emissions: The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Program, the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge. Participation in these programs has increased rapidly over the past 10 years and has reached 21 billion square feet (sqft) of floor space (see refs 4,5,6 and Supplementary Note 1). These programs aim to encourage private investment in energy efficiency. Examples of such investments include structural upgrades for indoor heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC); smart energy management systems; and efficient lighting, sensors and other controls.

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Figure 1: Bias reduction in matched samples for the three energy programs.
Figure 2: Comparison of site Energy Use Intensity.

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Acknowledgements

This study would not be possible without S. Pincetl and her Energy Atlas team at the California Center for Sustainable Communities. For collaboration and access to program data, we thank D. Hodgins and J. Gould at the Los Angeles Better Buildings Challenge and B. Stapleton at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. We also thank T. Vir Singh for high performance computing support on the Hoffman2 cluster. For helpful comments and suggestions, we thank H. Godwin, P. Kareiva, B. Lawrence, J. Lim, S. Neff, S. Muthulingam, S. Pincetl, D. Rajagopal, J. Sekhon and M. Tikoff Vargas. This research was supported by funding from the UCLA Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Program in Real Estate, Finance and Urban Economics; the Easton Technology Leadership Program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management; the University of California Center for Energy and Environmental Economics at Berkeley; the UCLA Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE) Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the Pritzker Distinguished Chair in Environment and Sustainability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Public Policy, 685 Cherry Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA

    Omar Isaac Asensio

  2. UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability and Anderson School of Management Ziman Center for Real Estate, La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Los Angeles, California 90095-1496, USA

    Omar Isaac Asensio

  3. UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability and Anderson School of Management, La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Los Angeles, California 90095-1496, USA

    Magali A. Delmas

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  1. Omar Isaac Asensio
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O.I.A. and M.A.D. contributed equally to this study.

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Correspondence to Magali A. Delmas.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figures 1 and 2, Supplementary Tables 1–11, Supplementary Notes 1–3, Supplementary References. (PDF 1130 kb)

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Asensio, O., Delmas, M. The effectiveness of US energy efficiency building labels. Nat Energy 2, 17033 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.33

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