Several state governments have examined the potential for building labeling in whitepapers, studying issues that have come up in case studies and identifying the best path forward for their own state. These studies, such as Massachusetts DOER (2010) and Maine PUC (2010), take a look at some of the decision variables discussed earlier: mandatory or voluntary, minimum building size, focus on commercial vs. residential, assessment-based or not, and type of rating scale. They lay out the advantages and disadvantages of each potential choice and recommend specific decisions. These papers also lay out the case, in general, for transparency in real estate markets. Massachusetts DOER (2010) is specifically written with an eye towards the ongoing pilots in Massachusetts. There are also papers which provide an analysis of the challenges of labeling and offer region-level strategy for labeling. The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships has published its findings (NEEP 2009) on how labeling policies can be designed to have the greatest market impact, making specific recommendations about when to disclose energy ratings and about enforcement mechanisms. Other papers, written by private organizations, advocate for a specific rating standard and identify problems with other standards. For example, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers advocates its BuildingEQ rating program in a position paper (ASHRAE 2011), pointing out shortcomings in commonly used rating tools in the U.S., including EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Much can also be learned from the literature on European labeling to date. As the European Union has implemented building labeling policies in 2009, there is extensive research providing observations on implementation (albeit little in the way of outcomes as of yet). Works such as ECEEE (2009) and BPIE (2010) identify best practices among the E.U. member states’ labeling programs, examining successes to date and the elements of labeling that contributed to the success. Some papers also seek to recommend a plan of improvement for the E.U.’s current form of implementation. Finally, there are several papers
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