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Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings to Improve with Passage of Action Plan
SACRAMENTO - The California Energy Commission today adopted a roadmap to reach Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s goal to double building efficiency savings in California by 2030. The roadmap, called the Existing Buildings Energy Efficiency Action Plan, is designed to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals, and will help consumers save money and enjoy more comfortable homes through energy efficiency.
Commercial and residential buildings account for nearly 70 percent of California's electricity consumption and 55 percent of its natural gas consumption. California has approximately 600,000 commercial buildings, 9 million single-family homes and 4 million multi-family units. An estimated 50 percent of existing buildings in California were built before California Building Energy Efficiency Standards were established in 1978. Doubling the rate of energy savings from existing building efficiency improvement projects would result in lower total building energy use in 2030 than in 2014, despite population and economic growth, and is equivalent to a 20 percent reduction in usage compared to projected 2030 levels.
The Action Plan provides a comprehensive framework centered on five goals, each with a series of strategies for achievement. A key component of the Action Plan is easy access to energy-use data for the public, industry, and policymakers. Another principal strategy is making efficiency project costs and savings available. The plan fosters dissemination of information that should spur investments to make the state's existing buildings more energy efficient.
Energy efficiency can save homeowners money and make buildings more comfortable. The Action Plan proposes to create a new statewide benchmarking and disclosure program, and it encourages local government innovation and better energy codes for existing buildings. Benchmarking, for instance, helps building owners understand how much energy buildings use compared to other similar buildings and how much money could be saved through energy-efficient upgrades, such as heating, cooling and lighting.
Implementation of the Action Plan is expected to accelerate growth of energy efficiency markets, more effectively target and deliver building upgrade services, improve quality of occupant and investor decisions, and vastly improve the performance of California's existing buildings. The push for energy efficiency also is expected to deliver substantial energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, contributing to the collective goal of reducing the impacts of climate change while improving the resilience of the state's built environment and economy
SACRAMENTO - The California Energy Commission today adopted a roadmap to reach Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s goal to double building efficiency savings in California by 2030. The roadmap, called the Existing Buildings Energy Efficiency Action Plan, is designed to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals, and will help consumers save money and enjoy more comfortable homes through energy efficiency.
Commercial and residential buildings account for nearly 70 percent of California's electricity consumption and 55 percent of its natural gas consumption. California has approximately 600,000 commercial buildings, 9 million single-family homes and 4 million multi-family units. An estimated 50 percent of existing buildings in California were built before California Building Energy Efficiency Standards were established in 1978. Doubling the rate of energy savings from existing building efficiency improvement projects would result in lower total building energy use in 2030 than in 2014, despite population and economic growth, and is equivalent to a 20 percent reduction in usage compared to projected 2030 levels.
The Action Plan provides a comprehensive framework centered on five goals, each with a series of strategies for achievement. A key component of the Action Plan is easy access to energy-use data for the public, industry, and policymakers. Another principal strategy is making efficiency project costs and savings available. The plan fosters dissemination of information that should spur investments to make the state's existing buildings more energy efficient.
Energy efficiency can save homeowners money and make buildings more comfortable. The Action Plan proposes to create a new statewide benchmarking and disclosure program, and it encourages local government innovation and better energy codes for existing buildings. Benchmarking, for instance, helps building owners understand how much energy buildings use compared to other similar buildings and how much money could be saved through energy-efficient upgrades, such as heating, cooling and lighting.
Implementation of the Action Plan is expected to accelerate growth of energy efficiency markets, more effectively target and deliver building upgrade services, improve quality of occupant and investor decisions, and vastly improve the performance of California's existing buildings. The push for energy efficiency also is expected to deliver substantial energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, contributing to the collective goal of reducing the impacts of climate change while improving the resilience of the state's built environment and economy