Are Building Codes Effective at Saving Energy? Evidence from Residential Billing Data in Florida

Grant Jacobsen and Matthew Kotchen

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2013, vol. 95, issue 1, 34-49

Abstract: We evaluate the effect of a change in the energy code applied to buildings using residential billing data on electricity and natural gas, combined with data on observable characteristics of each residence. The study is based on comparisons between residences constructed just before and after an increase in the stringency of Florida's energy code in 2002. We find that the code change is associated with a decrease in the consumption of electricity by 4% and natural gas by 6%. We estimate average social and private payback periods that range between 3.5 and 6.4 years. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Keywords: building codes; energy; electricity; natural gas; Florida (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H4 Q4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (96)

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