Low hanging fruit? Regulations and energy efficiency in subsidized multifamily housing

Reina, Vincent; Kontokosta, Constantine E.

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.04.002

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…'The savings equate to 9.3%, 5.6%, and 3.5% of annual income for extremely low-income, very low-income, and low-income households' (Zhao et al 2018, p 559). At the same time, Reina and Kontokosta (2017) note that subsidized housing is less efficient than comparable private-sector housing, perhaps as a result of limited public funding for maintenance and upgrades. Low-income households living in subsidized or public housing units are eligible for participation in WAP.…”

Section: Other Federal Programs and Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

et al. 2020

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In an era of U.S. energy abundance, the persistently high energy bills paid by low-income households is troubling. After decades of weatherization and bill-payment programs, low-income households still spend a higher percent of their income on electricity and gas bills than any other income group. Their energy burden is not declining, and it remains persistently high in particular geographies such as the South, rural America, and minority communities. As public agencies and utilities attempt to transition to a sustainable energy future, many of the programs that promote energy efficiency, rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and home batteries are largely inaccessible to low-income households due to affordability barriers. This review describes the ecosystem of stakeholders and programs, and identifies promising opportunities to address low-income energy affordability, such as behavioral economics, data analytics, and leveraging health care benefits. Scalable approaches require linking programs and policies to tackle the complex web of causes and impacts faced by financially constrained households. Prog. Energy 2 (2020) 042003 M A Brown et alNumerous clean energy programs fail tests of distributive justice, including many energy-efficiency programs, special rates for electric vehicles, and net metering of rooftop solar installations. Such programs are typically paid for in part by low-income ratepayers who do not receive commensurate benefits Huessy 2018, Carley et al 2018). Intergenerational equityIntergenerational equity adds a time dimension to the equity discussion by considering community obligations to future generations. Actions that serve to increase rather than limit the development options of future generations can be said to improve intergenerational equity (Norton 2005). In the field of clean energy, intergenerational equity frequently involves deliberating which aspects of the present should be maintained or changed for future generations (Williams-Rajee 2015). Most clean energy programs do work to reduce CO 2 emissions and as a result, contribute positively to intergenerational equity in some ways. How these programs may impact the social and economic contours of communities across generations has received much less emphasis. The context: multiple stakeholders in the low-income housing marketNumerous decision-makers and stakeholders influence the energy integrity of low-income housing. This highly fragmented affordable housing market challenges efforts to improve low-income energy affordability. Government agencies have administrative and regulatory roles that influence each of these stakeholders to varying degrees. In terms of word counts, energy utilities are mentioned most often in the abstracts of the 183 publications examined in this review. Local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based groups are also key stakeholders based on this tally. At the other extreme, the terms 'building manager' and 'property manager' do not appear in the 183 abstracts, and 'landlord' and 'property ow...

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Section: Other Federal Programs and Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

et al. 2020

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“…Divided incentives are related to the fair distribution of investor benefits from energy efficiency investments [56,57], e.g., one department in a company may not be responsible for energy use [58]. In addition, a typical case in industry may be that managers who have only a short period of employment are reluctant and hesitant to invest in projects, measures and technologies with a long payback period [59].…”

Section: Market Failure Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of a Transdisciplinary Framework to Overcome Energy Efficiency Barriers in Shipbuilding: A Case Study for an Iranian Shipyard

Vakili

Ölçer

Schönborn

2021

JMSE

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Through a systematic literature review and a holistic perspective, the study proposes a conceptual transdisciplinary framework to overcome energy efficiency barriers during the shipbuilding phase. The process of the proposed transdisciplinary framework consists of five steps of “goal formation”, “system analyzing”, “scenario construction”, “multi-criteria decision making assessment” and “strategy building” to identify and rank the energy efficiency barriers during ship construction based on decision makers’ priorities. The framework categorizes the barriers into five disciplines—operations, policies and regulations, technology and innovation, the human elements, and economics—and the framework is applied to an Iranian shipyard. The results show that the economic barriers have the greatest impact, while the human barriers have the least impact on the shipyard’s energy performance. Due to the generalized structure of the framework, it categorizes not only energy efficiency barriers according to the importance and priorities of stakeholders in the shipbuilding industry, but can also be applied to other phases of the ship life cycle and even to other industries. By applying the framework, decision-makers can make rational and optimal decisions to be able to invest in energy efficiency measures based on their priorities.

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“…In the United States, some state-controlled housing finance agencies that are responsible for distributing federal LIHTC incentives favour development applications which focus on superior energy efficiency or GB certification (Huduser, 2018); a form of 'economic incentives for environmental protection' (Oxley, 2004). Reina & Kontokosta (2017) found that subsidized multifamily housing in the USA is broadly associated with higher utility consumption versus comparable market rate housing (Reina & Kontokosta, 2017). GB principles, and less commonly, GB certification for AH developments have been implemented in various 'showcase' projects within Australia and overseas.…”

Section: Green Affordable Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature provides evidence to suggest that investments in utility efficiency of residential building will yield benefits to AH policy (Reina & Kontokosta, 2017;Schwartz et al, 2018). The benefits of GB are largely understood, however there is much less understanding on how GB affects the 'affordability' of rental housing, particularly in the case of Australia.…”

Section: Green Affordable Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green building, split-incentives and affordable rental housing policy

et al. 2019

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We investigate the notion of capitalizing on investments in energy, water and gas efficiency within the context of affordable rental housing subsidy schemes; how associated utility savings offer a means to deliver policy designed to mitigate for issues of split-incentives. An Australian case study representing a typical affordable housing development is analyzed for two scenarios -a 'Business as usual' and 'Green-certified' case. Over a 10-year rental tenancy, operational utility efficiencies, achieved through green building principles are modelled to reduce total housing costs by 1.7-3.8% (AUD $5-18 per week), for one-and four-person households, respectively. Over the building lifecycle, the net present value of improvements are forecasted to be positive, signalling favourable support for policy interventions. The findings provide evidence to support a broader notion of 'housing assistance' to one that includes improved standards on residential utility efficiency. We present three policy options on how to deliver these benefits to stakeholders.

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Low hanging fruit? Regulations and energy efficiency in subsidized multifamily housing

Cited by 26 publications

References 24 publications

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review

The Development of a Transdisciplinary Framework to Overcome Energy Efficiency Barriers in Shipbuilding: A Case Study for an Iranian Shipyard

Green building, split-incentives and affordable rental housing policy

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