The Real Estate Council of Austin - Point of Sale Energy Efficiency Retrofit Policy page

Energy Efficiency Upgrades Taskforce

History

As part of the Climate Protection Plan resolution adopted by Council in February 2007, the City Council formed a task force to identify cost-effective energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades that can be made to existing homes and buildings and to propose requirements for the implementations of such retrofits and upgrades to Council. The Energy Efficiency Retrofit Task Force held its first meeting on February 13, 2008 and is meeting every other Wednesday in order to report their recommendations to Council.

The task force is studying a number of upgrades that would make homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient, such as radiant barriers, upgraded plumbing fixtures, improved HVAC systems, caulking and sealing windows and doors, and other possible changes. RECA Board Member and Austin Policy Issues Committee Chair Jeff Howard served as a task force member. A RECA sub-committee monitored the issue and provided input to the task force. The Austin Board of Realtors launched "Keep Austin Affordable" web page in opposition to the original mandatory objectives.

Task force members were split into three subcommittees: single-family homes, multi-family homes, and commercial buildings. Each group studyied how the recommended regulations would affect each group, ways to monitor how well voluntary measures are working over time, and whether at some time in the future, if compliance is low, some of the upgrades should become mandatory. Task force members also looked at ways to quantify the results of an energy audit that could help homeowners and potential buyers determine the monetary value of any suggested upgrades.

The three subcommittees concluded their initial deliberations and presented the first draft of their single-family, multi-family, and commercial recommendations to the full task force on Wednesday, July 2, 2008. The task force made the following specific recommendations in its final report, which was passed by a unanimous vote on Wednesday, September 10, 2008:

Within the two years of the effective date of an Energy Efficiency Upgrades (EEU) ordinance, all commercial and multi-family buildings shall conduct an energy audit, the results of which would be shared with Austin Energy, current tenants, prospective purchasers, and residential tenants.
For single-family residences, an energy audit would be conducted prior to the sale of a home and disclosed to the purchaser of the home at closing. The city would establish protocols and program requirements for a voluntary energy efficiency program for each of the three major property sectors. Program participation targets will also be established for each property sector.
In addition, starting two years after adoption of an EEU ordinance, and each year after that, the City Manager will report to the Council on progress towards achieving the participation targets.

The Task force recommended goals, or targets, for the three categories of structures:

Single Family – The number of owner occupied homes sold each year that would perform the specified upgrades would grow from 25 percent in the first year following the passage of the ordinance to 85 percent in the fourth year following passage of the ordinance.
Multi Family – 80 percent of the oldest multifamily units (built before 1970) would perform the specified upgrades within two years; 80 percent of the next oldest multifamily units (1970 to 1979) would perform the specified upgrades within four years; and 80 percent of the next oldest multi family units (1980 to 1999) would perform the specified upgrades within six years.
Commercial – Would be determined by the building’s EPA Energy Star Building ratings with a goal to achieve a score of 50 or higher for 80 percent of the square footage of commercial properties in Austin.

As part of the Energy Efficiency Upgrades Taskforce recommendations, every home owner selling their residence would be required to have an energy audit at the point of sale. It would cost between $200 and $300 to perform the audit, which is mainly a visual inspection of the premises.

November 2008 Update

The Austin City Council voted 7-0 on Thursday, November 6, 2008 to approve a final report issued by the Energy Efficiency Upgrades ("EEU") Taskforce. The recommendations approved by Council are as follows:

Within the two years of the effective date of an EEU ordinance, all commercial and multifamily buildings shall conduct an energy audit, the results of which would be shared with Austin Energy, current tenants, and prospective purchasers.
For single-family residences, an energy audit would be conducted prior to the sale of a home and disclosed to the purchaser of the home at closing.
For multi-family properties that use more than 150% of the average energy use, mandatory upgrades will be required to bring use below 110% of the average within 18 months unless there is a compelling reason to not require compliance.
In addition, starting two years after adoption of an energy efficiency ordinance, and each year after that, the City Manager will report to the Council on progress towards achieving the participation targets.

The Council also approved the following task force recommended targets for the three categories of structures:

Single Family – The number of owner occupied homes sold each year that would perform the specified upgrades would grow from 25 percent in the first year following the passage of the ordinance to 85 percent in the fourth year following passage of the ordinance.
Multi Family – 80 percent of the oldest multifamily units (built before 1970) would perform the specified upgrades within two years; 80 percent of the next oldest multifamily units (1970 to 1979) would perform the specified upgrades within four years; and 80 percent of the next oldest multi family units (1980 to 1999) would perform the specified upgrades within six years.
Commercial – Would be determined by the building's EPA Energy Star Building ratings with a goal to achieve a score of 50 or higher for 80 percent of the square footage of commercial properties in Austin.

To entice property owners to comply, Austin Energy recommends offering $78 million in rebates on energy-efficiency upgrades, which is more than a third of the projected $194 total million costs to meet voluntary compliance benchmarks. It is projected that property owners stand to gain $556 million in energy savings, and Austin Energy rate payers could avoid $337 million of new power plant capital costs and $15 million in avoided CO2 credits should voluntary compliance be successful.

For more detailed information, please reference the task force's approved report and the Council's enabling resolution. The ordinance becomes effective on June 1, 2009.

Resources

Final Task Force Report (September 10, 2008)

Task Force Meeting Notes (June 18, 2008)

Task Force Meeting Notes (April 23, 2008)

Draft Energy Savings Improvements Checklist (April 17, 2008)

Task Force Meeting Notes (April 9, 2008)

Austin City Council Resolution (December 13, 2007)

City of Austin Point of Sale Energy Efficiency Retrofit Task Force Members

Letter from Mayor Wynn

Climate Protection Plan Summary

Research: City of San Francisco Energy Efficiency Program

Research: City of Berkeley Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance