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1/16/09 8:43 AM by Luke Ramirez

Occupant behavior and building envelope should be addressed separately. It seems to me that the building envelope is controlled by the designer and contractor and the occupant behavior by the occupant. I don't see how these two items could be addressed together, unless you mandate that occupants upgrade the envelope. In that case, why not just mandate that the designer/contractor do it? I think the best policy to address occupant behavior is all of the above, i.e. provide information, incentives, and price signals. Everyone is different and therefore will respond to different stimuli. This may be the more expensive option, but could be the most effective as well. I would say don't underestimate the effectiveness of peer pressure but also be aware that it might make some people even more resistant.

12/31/08 8:31 AM by Duane Jonlin

The building envelope and basic mechanical systems have very long lives and cannot easily be changed in the future. Occupants have very little control of those fundamental aspects of buildings. Therefore, those aspects of buildings should be strictly regulated. Plug loads and user behavior are more ephemeral and can easily be changed in the future. There may be some value in mandating public displays of energy use for non-ressidential or multi-family buildings in order to keep it in people's awareness and create some competetiveness or "peer pressure." This currently works well for restaurants in jurisdictions that require the food safety inspectors' reports to be publicly displayed.

12/15/08 1:25 PM by Jennifer Lail - DPD Green Building

KEY QUESTIONS: ? Should occupant behavior be addressed separately from (or in conjunction with) building envelope? ? What are the best policy options for addressing occupant behavior? + Is it more critical to provide information, incentives or price signals? + How effective is ?peer pressure? in eliciting behavior change? ? How could existing City programs (e.g. Climate Action Now!, City Light conservation programs) be exploited to address conservation behavior?

  3 total comments