Brittle Power- PARTS 1-3 (+Notes) - Natural Capitalism Solutions

Chapter Seventeen: Achieving Resilience 323known early example is the code which Davis, California developed in 1974and adopted in 1975—the nation’s first comprehensive energy-saving codedesigned, with active participation by many citizens, for a particular microclimate.95 A careful economic-engineering analysis which showed that any extracost of compliance would pay back within three years at energy prices far belowtoday’s. Together with land use and retrofit ordinances, the code has helpedDavis to save thirty percent of all energy used in buildings compared with the1973 level, even though the population has meanwhile increased seven percent.Further improvements and new initiatives are continuing. 96 Partly through theexample set by Davis, the California Energy Commission was able to gatherenough support to enact in 1978 a building standard for new houses which,compared to 1975 norms, saved half the energy and, over thirty years, wouldsave householders between eight and seventeen thousand dollars in net costs.But as technologies evolved and energy prices rose, even that standard soonbecome too lax. In July 1982, revised standards will reduce energy use in newhouses by a further sixty percent. (The standards specify performance, and provideseveral prescriptive options for achieving that performance in each of sixteenclimatic zones, so that builders do not have to do elaborate calculationsthemselves.) The economics are very attractive: in mild San Diego, for example,the buyer of a passive solar house meeting the new standard will pay anextra hundred dollars down and fifty-three dollars on the annual mortgage bill,but will receive a state tax credit (for the south-facing glazing) of one hundredseventy dollars plus a first-year fuel saving of about fifty dollars. 97Existing buildings Local governments have authority to require the upgradingand retrofit of existing buildings in the public interest. In 1979, the CityCouncil of Portland, Oregon adopted a retrofit ordinance meant to reduce thecity’s energy use by thirty percent by 1995, requiring that houses sold in orafter 1984 be brought up to specific efficiency standards. In 1980, severalCalifornia communities passed similar requirements to take effect sooner.Eugene, Oregon followed in 1981 with an ordinance requiring that all housingbe brought up to a stated standard by 1985, with compliance checkedwhenever there is a change in the electrical service. 98 By September 1981,twelve percent of California’s population lived in jurisdictions which hadadopted or were considering retrofit ordinances. The Local GovernmentCommission of California’s SolarCal Council (a Governor’s advisory groupwhich develops and advances innovative programs for faster solar implementation)has published a handbook on the preparation and adoption of suchrules. The California Energy Commission estimates that retrofits could saveCalifornia households half a billion dollars per year in 1985 and by 2000. 99