Assessing the energy-efficiency information gap: results from a survey of home energy auditors
Assessing the energy-efficiency information gap: results from a survey of home energy auditors
复制标题
评估能源效率信息差距：家庭能源审计员调查结果
作者：
K. Palmer;M. Walls;Hal Gordon;Todd D. Gerarden
商业和住宅建筑占美国能源消耗总量的42%，占美国二氧化碳排放量的41%。工程研究发现，在新的节能设备或建筑改造方面的几项投资，从降低未来能源成本的角度来看，将不仅仅是为自己买单，但房主和企业通常不知道如何利用这些机会。能源审计员构成了一个不断发展的专业行业，他们评估建筑能源使用并向建筑业主提供这些信息。本文报告了未来资源在2011年夏季对近500名家庭能源审计员和承包商进行的调查结果。调查询问了这些企业的特点和他们提供的服务，房主跟进他们建议的程度，以及受访者对家庭能源改造障碍和政府角色的看法。调查结果表明，审计行业只是部分地填补了信息缺口。没有足够多的房主知道或了解审计，而且一旦他们进行了审计，对建议的跟进也是不完整的。但调查结果表明，较低的能源价格和改造的高成本可能比信息失败更应该对这些结果负责。
Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for 42 % of all U.S. energy consumption and 41 % of U.S. CO2 emissions. Engineering studies identify several investments in new energy-efficiency equipment or building retrofits that would more than pay for themselves in terms of lower future energy costs, but homeowners and businesses generally do not have good information about how to take advantage of these opportunities. Energy auditors make up a growing industry of professionals who evaluate building energy use and provide this information to building owners. This paper reports the results of a survey of nearly 500 home energy auditors and contractors that Resources for the Future conducted in summer 2011. The survey asked about the characteristics of these businesses and the services they provide, the degree to which homeowners follow up on their recommendations, and the respondents’ opinions on barriers to home energy retrofits and the role for government. Findings from the survey suggest that the audit industry only partially is filling the information gap. Not enough homeowners know about or understand audits, and the follow-through on recommendations once they do have audits is incomplete. But the survey findings suggest that low energy prices and the high cost of retrofits may be more responsible for these outcomes than failures of information.