Commercial buildings account for approximately 19% of U.S. energy use. From the late 70’s to the mid-to-late 80’s, the energy use intensity – the energy used per square foot of space – of America’s commercial buildings  declined significantly, according to the EIA. However, as of the most recent data, those efficiency gains ceased in 1986, despite technical efficiency improvements in most building elements:  windows, materials, HVAC, lighting, etc. The Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster for Energy-Efficient Buildings (GPIC), a U.S. DOE Energy Innovation Hub, is working to identify the cause of this gap between building efficiency and technical potential, and address it.

One of GPIC’s theories is that the siloed nature of the contemporary building industry – where the architecture, building, engineering, and systems and structures of a building project are handled by separate, specialized firms or individuals – leaves energy efficiency, which requires the proper interaction of a building’s many parts, out of the equation. [E&E ClimateWire (sub. req.)]

Why hasn’t commercial building efficiency increased at a faster rate? What stands in the way of broader private sector adoption of energy-efficient designs, products and practices? What could Congress do to push energy efficiency forward?