A new program in the pending climate bill passed by the house highlights a classic conflict between new, environmental friendly policy and old, economically rationalized mindsets. The new program would create a label for all buildings that would contain information about their energy performance. This information could range anywhere from how much energy the building consumes compared to its designed consumption--all the way to benchmarking it against the ideal climatic standard or its peers in the same region. While efficiency supporters believe that energy labeling would ultimately save owners/buyers money and assert energy efficiency as a useful commodity in our current economic system, the real estate industry has multiple reservations. It calls the labels a “scarlet letter” that would make older buildings harder to sell and already hurt an unstable real estate market. Incentives, compromises, and debate now revolve around the new program.

SOURCE

Web Article:
• Rahim, Saqib. "The Real Estate Industry Quietly Removes a Label Showing Energy Use of Older Buildings." The New York Times 4 August 2009 Web.14 Aug 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/08/04/04climatewire-the-real-estate-industry-quietly-removes-a-la-8072.html?pagewanted=1>.