Estimating the effect of energy disclosure requirements on building energy use

• In Event: The Role of Policy Design and Implementation in Shaping Energy Program Performance

Abstract

Does the public disclosure of building energy use make a building’s owner more likely to invest in energy efficiency and conservation measures? Scholars and policy practitioners have argued that policies requiring the reporting and disclosure of building energy data will lead to a reduction in energy use, by providing owners with useful information about their building’s energy performance relative to similar structures and by allowing potential lessees to make more informed decisions about where to rent. However, estimating the effect of adopting Building Energy Disclosure and Benchmarking (BEDB) policies on energy use is complicated by the fact that the source of data is closely tied to the treatment — in other words, the data sets do not include measurements of energy use in buildings that are not required to disclose their energy consumption. This study exploits differences in the time of implementation and the square-footage threshold of BEDB policies in Los Angeles and Boston. Using a regression discontinuity design, it estimates the local treatment effect in the vicinity of the compliance threshold for buildings that have been exposed to 2–7 years of BEDB requirements, relative to buildings experiencing their first year of BEDB requirements.

Author

• Ben Hellerstein, Indiana University
  Presenting Author