The Cost of Enforcing Building Energy Codes

摘要

Building codes, if complied with, have the ability to save a significant amount of energy.rnHowever, energy code compliance rates have been significantly lower than 100%. Althoughrnthere are many reasons for lack of compliance, funding and cost may play an important role. Thernincremental cost of the construction measures needed to comply with building energy codes hasrnbeen well documented, but the cost of enforcing the energy code has received little attention. Inrnorder to estimate the costs of enforcement at the local level, and to inform a national dialoguernabout the investment needed to improve compliance with building energy codes, researchersrninitiated a two-phase study. Phase 1 was a literature review, conducted in early 2013, coveringrnmore than 150 documents. Phase 2 comprised surveys of 17 general and 23 local experts, fromrnMay –July 2013. Phase 2 found the incremental cost of enforcing residential and commercialrnenergy codes using a traditional plan review and inspection process ranged from typically $50 orrnless per home to nearly $200, and from typically less than $150 per commercial building to overrn$1,000, exclusive of overhead and travel. Other activities associated with enforcement andrnimproving compliance (such as performance testing, use of voluntary programs, training, andrnoutreach) involve additional costs that are also reviewed in this paper.