Full Title: Federal Appliance Standards Should be the Floor, Not the Ceiling: Strategies for Innovative State Codes & Standards
Author(s): Alex Chase, Jonathan McHugh, Patrick Eilert
Publisher(s):
Publication Date: January 1, 2012
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Roughly eighty percent of U.S. building energy consumption is associated with end-uses covered by federal appliance standards that preempt states from adopting more efficacious standards. In the past twenty-five years, federal standards have achieved significant benefits; however, given the energy and climate challenges that we face today, federal standards often fall short on delivering the most cost-effective savings. Furthermore, despite recent adoptions, the Department of Energy’s history of rulemaking delays exacerbates the missed opportunity. Federal appliance standards also limit states or local governments from adopting innovated
building codes (or “green codes”) that take us closer to reaching zero-net energy building goals.