SubscribeOn the issue of “sustainable” investment from a former VP (and Goldman partner):
The Blood and Gore manifesto also wants firms to have to account for assets that might become “stranded” —worth much less—in the event of policy changes such as the imposition of a price on carbon emissions or higher charges for [...]
DemandSideSolutions
energy issues in the built environment
Category: energy policy
Business Decisions on Legislative Speculation
Follow Up to LIHEAP Post
A convenient (albeit indirect) follow-up to my previous post was written for me by Alex T at MarginalRevolution. He links to a NYT article on the welfare state and produces the following graphic, which speaks to “the appropriate (inappropriate?) role of government question….
Energy Policy for Low-Income Homeowners
The outpouring of response on the recent NYT article about the Hartford family, who had tried to exchange the title to their 16 year old Lincoln Town Car for fuel oil, has brought to light one of the reasons I starting writing DSS in the first place: the intersection of public policy [...]
Withering away?
Due to a lack of pain, The Green Building Curmudgeon makes this, likely correct, prediction:
The big question is, what will happen to the home performance industy as incentives go away? It will probably fare better in regions with high energy costs, where paybacks are faster. Where energy audits or HERS ratings [...]
NYC Code Change
Is anyone familiar with NYC development strategies? I ask because I’m curious as to the significance of these proposed code revisions:
Exempt external building insulation from floor area requirements, allowing existing buildings to add insulation within their property lines;
Eliminate penalties for high-performance envelopes in the way floor area is measured, by exempting a [...]
Lighting Uncertainty
I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a while now. My apologies. Been feeling very busy and the last thing I’ve felt like doing after a long day of work has been to catch up on the industry news and sit in front of a computer. I could continue with additional excuses, but instead I’ll [...]
Carbon Tax and Markets for Retrofit
My good friend Scott, and frequent commenter, pointed out that it’s been a month since my last post. I have lots of excuses for that but will bear you the boring details. Probably as he was writing to tell me that frustrating piece of information I was reading a post from MR that responded to [...]
Here’s another perverse incentive for ya’ll….
I posted this perverse incentive a while ago. Here’s another (hat tip Energy Vanguard’s tweet, via GreenBiz):
Pretend you are a small business owner. You happen to own the building where your business is housed, which has helped you weather the recession. Things seem to be getting better, and you have the opportunity [...]
ASHRAE Calls for Standard EUI Metric
Given that the headline for this recent ASHRAE news brief reads “What is Energy Use Intensity? ASHRAE Seeks to Define, Educate”, this sentence may seem a bit contradictory:
Given that there is no clear single definition for EUIs, comparing one organization’s EUI goals to another’s is confusing, particularly since everyone tends to [...]
More on Disclosure
From BuildingRating.org via GreenSource:
Disclosure advocates like Lane Burt are bullish about the power of data: “Anytime you provide more info into the marketplace in a way that’s usable for the market, it’s a good thing,” he says. But not everyone is happy about these new laws—the National Association of Realtors has been [...]