4 ms·
Interesting to contemplate what could be done to shift those incentives around. Obviously there are certifications (LEED), and there's straight-up regulation, b
by mikepurvis 7y ago
Interesting to contemplate what could be done to shift those incentives around. Obviously there are certifications (LEED), and there's straight-up regulation, but would there be a way to mandate that a builder or landlord is responsible for a portion of future HVAC expenses such that they are motivated to get this right upfront?
- ryanmarsh 7y agoI’m sure if some energy saving tech was commercialized and reasonably cost effective local municipalities could update building codes. LEED standards could be updated as well. What goes into a building isn’t entirely up to the developer. But right now most of this stuff is just in a lab. Frankly the tall cooling towers you see on some buildings weren’t in widespread use until at least the 50’s even though they were invented at the turn of the century.
- mruts 7y agoThe market should (and has in the past) figured this out. Energy costs money, tenants want to spend less money. Tenants will pay more money up front to save themselves money down the line. Therefore landlords should have an incentive to build energy efficient structures even if they aren’t paying for the energy. The problem is when an energy source with an high externality (climate related or otherwise) isn’t priced in. This isn’t a hard problem for the government’s perspective though: just price in the externality through some free market system. Carbon credits are a good example of this.
- rocqua 7y agoPart of the reason is that it is hard to gauge what the energy bill of an apartment will be before you start renting. That is where certification should come in.