Residential Building Codes Do Save Energy: Evidence from Hourly Smart-Meter Data

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Kevin Novan ◽  
Aaron Smith ◽  
Tianxia Zhou

In 1978, California adopted building codes designed to reduce the energy used for temperature control. Using a rich dataset of hourly electricity consumption for 158, 112 houses in Sacramento, we estimate that the average house built just after 1978 uses 8% to 13% less electricity for cooling than a similar house built just before 1978. Comparing the estimated savings to the policy's projected cost, our results suggest the policy passes a cost-benefit test. In settings where market failures prevent energy costs from being completely passed through to home prices, building codes can serve as a costeffective tool for improving energy efficiency.

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hunt Allcott ◽  
Christopher Knittel ◽  
Dmitry Taubinsky

A corrective tax or subsidy is “well-targeted” if it primarily affects choices that are more distorted by market failures. Energy efficiency subsidies are designed to correct multiple distortions: externalities, credit constraints, “landlord-tenant” information asymmetries, imperfect information, and inattention. We show that three important energy efficiency subsidies are primarily taken up by consumers who are wealthier, own their own homes, and are more informed about and attentive to energy costs. This suggests that these subsidies are poorly targeted at the market failures they were designed to address. However, we show that “tagging” can lead to large efficiency gains.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 73-78
Author(s):  
J. Baptista ◽  
◽  
G. Sequeira ◽  
E.J. Solteiro Pires

The buildings' energy consumption increasing requires solutions to improve their energy efficiency, thus reducing the electricity bill's associated costs. This paper aims to study the load profiles of a service building and its optimization to reduce the costs related to electricity consumption. The electrical load profiles are analyzed, and the electrical equipment and its consumption are characterized. Moreover, to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy costs, a renewable energy system based on photovoltaic panels is sized and integrated into the building. The analysis of the building's consumption profiles allowed the PV system's dimensioning to eliminate power peaks, enabling a reduction in the contracted power. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, resulting in a reduction of the electricity bill.


Author(s):  
А. П. Дзюба

Статья посвящена оценке результатов реализации мер по энергосбережению и повышению энергетической эффективности экономики России, производимых за период последнего десятилетия с 2010 по 2019 годы. Автором проводится эмпирический анализ данных потребления электрической энергии в России за период с 1990 по 2019 годы, с углубленным анализом характеристик изменения потребления электроэнергии с 2010 по 2019 годы, по отношению к уровню базового 2017 года. Автором проводится анализ фактических и плановых данных показателей электроемкости и энергоёмкости ВВП России за период с 2010 по 2019 годы, с выявлением значительного отставания фактических характеристик уровня эффективности от запланированных в рамках нормативных актов, утвержденных Правительством РФ. В материалах проводится анализ динамики и направлений фактического расхода электроэнергии и тепловой энергии на единицу отдельных видов произведенной продукции и услуг в России за период 2012-2019 годов. Проведен анализ доли затрат на конечное потребление энергетических ресурсов экономикой России в ВВП в текущих ценах за период 2012-2015 годов, а также распределение затрат на энергоресурсы по их видам и структуре основных потребителей. The article is devoted to the assessment of the results of the implementation of measures to save energy and increase the energy efficiency of the Russian economy produced over the period of the last decade from 2010 to 2019. The author conducts an empirical analysis of data on electricity consumption in Russia for the period from 1990 to 2019, with an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of changes in electricity consumption from 2010 to 2019, in relation to the level of the base year 2017. The author analyzes the actual and planned data on the indicators of electrical intensity and energy intensity of Russia’s GDP for the period from 2010 to 2019, revealing a significant lag in the actual characteristics of the level of efficiency from those planned within the framework of regulations approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. The materials analyze the dynamics and directions of the actual consumption of electricity and heat energy per unit of certain types of products and services produced in Russia for the period 2012-2019. The analysis of the share of costs for the final consumption of energy resources by the Russian economy in GDP in current prices for the period 2012-2015, as well as the distribution of costs for energy resources by their types and structure of main consumers.


Author(s):  
Marat R. Lukmanov ◽  
◽  
Sergey L. Semin ◽  
Pavel V. Fedorov ◽  
◽  
...  

The challenges of increasing the energy efficiency of the economy as a whole and of certain production sectors in particular are a priority both in our country and abroad. As part of the energy policy of the Russian Federation to reduce the specific energy intensity of enterprises in the oil transportation system, Transneft PJSC developed and implements the energy saving and energy efficiency improvement Program. The application of energy-saving technologies allowed the company to significantly reduce operating costs and emissions of harmful substances. At the same time, further reduction of energy costs is complicated for objective reasons. The objective of this article is to present additional methods to improve the energy efficiency of oil transportation by the example of the organizational structure of Transneft. Possibilities to reduce energy costs in the organization of the operating services, planning and execution of work to eliminate defects and preparatory work for the scheduled shutdown of the pipeline, the use of pumping equipment, including pumps with variable speed drive, the use of various pipelines layouts, changing the volume of oil entering the pipeline system and increase its viscosity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7251
Author(s):  
Mushk Bughio ◽  
Muhammad Shoaib Khan ◽  
Waqas Ahmed Mahar ◽  
Thorsten Schuetze

Electric appliances for cooling and lighting are responsible for most of the increase in electricity consumption in Karachi, Pakistan. This study aims to investigate the impact of passive energy efficiency measures (PEEMs) on the potential reduction of indoor temperature and cooling energy demand of an architectural campus building (ACB) in Karachi, Pakistan. PEEMs focus on the building envelope’s design and construction, which is a key factor of influence on a building’s cooling energy demand. The existing architectural campus building was modeled using the building information modeling (BIM) software Autodesk Revit. Data related to the electricity consumption for cooling, building masses, occupancy conditions, utility bills, energy use intensity, as well as space types, were collected and analyzed to develop a virtual ACB model. The utility bill data were used to calibrate the DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus base case models of the existing ACB. The cooling energy demand was compared with different alternative building envelope compositions applied as PEEMs in the renovation of the existing exemplary ACB. Finally, cooling energy demand reduction potentials and the related potential electricity demand savings were determined. The quantification of the cooling energy demand facilitates the definition of the building’s electricity consumption benchmarks for cooling with specific technologies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 6005
Author(s):  
Daniel Villanueva ◽  
Moisés Cordeiro-Costas ◽  
Andrés E. Feijóo-Lorenzo ◽  
Antonio Fernández-Otero ◽  
Edelmiro Miguez-García

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the question regarding whether the integration of an electric battery as a part of a domestic installation may increase its energy efficiency in comparison with a conventional case. When a battery is included in such an installation, two types of electrical conversion must be considered, i.e., AC/DC and DC/AC, and hence the corresponding losses due to these converters must not be forgotten when performing the analysis. The efficiency of the whole system can be increased if one of the mentioned converters is avoided or simply when its dimensioning is reduced. Possible ways to achieve this goal can be: to use electric vehicles as DC suppliers, the use of as many DC home devices as possible, and LED lighting or charging devices based on renewables. With all this in mind, several scenarios are proposed here in order to have a look at all possibilities concerning AC and DC powering. With the aim of checking these scenarios using real data, a case study is analyzed by operating with electricity consumption mean values.


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