Energy Efficient Housing: how to encourage it

Residential energy efficiency isn't well encouraged by current US fiscal policy. A potential buyer of a pre-owned house or a potential renter do not know ahead of time how much it will cost to live there; for that matter, potential owners of condos might not know their fees in advance either! About-to-sell property owners and rental property owners have little incentive to make investments such as replacing antiquated heating systems because there is no way for a renter or purchaser to determine the future value of energy efficiency investments that were made earlier, and therefore determine how much a more efficient house or apartment is worth paying for extra per month.

Electrical, gas, or heating oil companies do not provide usage information to people who are not current customers at the property. Some utilities currently provide a graphical past-year or past-two-year informational graph showing usage , but only to current occupants. If prospective customers had such graphs from all energy providers serving the different houses they are considering, they could make a purchase or rental decision with more complete knowledge, and lenders and property managers could better determine the ability of the applicant to pay. Complete information is one of the requirements of a free market.

There are definitely concerns:

• new software needs to be implemented, especially for small energy providers such as oil distribution companies. Professional organizations might help here.
• Usage records need to be stripped of personally identifying information (not too difficult)
  
• there might be a risk that the interpretation of the usage info will be skewed to favor cheapskates who go without heat for two winters to make the house look efficient when it really isn't.

On the other hand:

• the energy usage summary could inform a first time home buyer of how much house they can really afford to heat and cool
  
• the energy usage summary could show the house's standing relative to other houses with similar square footage and similar heating and cooling systems
  
• the fact that a homeowner knows that the consumption will be accessible to a potential buyer might encourage her/him to make energy-wise investments sooner rather than later!