Usefulness of building performance information: Austin requires the disclosure of the home energy audit during sale negotiations of single-family homes. This allows house hunters to use it in their decision-making, but it is likely coming at a time when the buyer is already more or less committed to buying the house. The requirements for multifamily disclosure – to all prospective residents – allow for comparisons across all properties of interest, at a time when building performance can more likely influence decision-making. Comparability across the whole residential market: ECAD applies to all homes, excepting only mobile homes. This is a unique approach out of the four case studies examined in this thesis, and it creates a uniform standard: house hunters know that any property they look at will be subject to ECAD requirements, and hence will either have an energy audit or proof of upgrade ready to view, or will require an upgrade within six months. Among multifamily properties, apartment hunters know that they can compare energy audits across all multifamily buildings. However, Austin also does not use any type of rating scale that could enable qualitative comparisons between two buildings. In other words, there is no percentile score or efficiency rating that summarizes a home’s inefficiency or efficiency. Instead, prospective homeowners and apartment hunters must read through the audit recommendations of different properties. Usefulness to policymakers: Austin officials are collecting and analyzing the label results and, as seen, now have detailed insights into the retrofit needs of the housing stock. Fostering residential upgrades: The use of on-site energy audits allows for tailored recommendations to be at the core of the process. In addition, being able to conduct a retrofit as a means of skipping the audit requirement encourages home upgrades. However, this method may not be suitable in a city where the goal is to have comparable numerical or letter ratings for all homes, retrofitted or not. 43
Nikhil_Nadkarni_Thesis_Final
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.