The cost of enforcing building energy codes: an examination of traditional and alternative enforcement processes

摘要

Building codes, if complied with, have the ability to save a substantial amount of energy. However, energy code compliance rates have been notably lower than 100 %. Although there are many reasons for lack of compliance, funding and cost may play an important role. The incremental cost of the construction measures needed to comply with building energy codes has been well documented, but the cost of enforcing the energy code has received little attention. In order to estimate the costs of enforcement at the local level, and to inform a national dialog in the USA about the investment needed to improve compliance with building energy codes, researchers initiated a two-phase study. Phase 1 was a literature review, conducted in early 2013, covering more than 150 documents. Phase 2 comprised surveys of 17 general and 23 local experts, from May to July 2013. Phase 2 found the incremental cost of enforcing residential and commercial energy codes using a traditional plan review, and inspection process ranged from typically $50 or less per home to nearly $200, and from typically less than $150 per commercial building to over $1000, exclusive of overhead and travel. Other activities associated with enforcement and improving compliance (such as performance testing, use of voluntary programs, training, and outreach) involve additional costs that are also reviewed in this paper.