Getting to code: Economic costs and benefits of developing and implementing Washington State's Residential Energy Code, 1983-2003

摘要

The nature of residential construction makes it possible to standardize changes in construction practices relatively quickly if they are proven to be easy to implement and are cost-effective. Small increments of energy efficiency in each newly constructed housing unit yield huge systemwide energy savings because large numbers of units are built and they last a long time. For example, about 22,000 electrically heated single and multifamily units were built in Washington in 1992. Although annual expenditures for conservation measures may appear large in their absolute numbers, they are relatively small when viewed against the large, persistent energy savings they produce. An analysis conducted by the Washington State Energy Office (WSEO) that covers the energy conservation efforts for new residential construction in Washington State supports this perspective.