Residential energy consumption in Orange County, NC: assessing the impacts of local efficiency programs

Potential improvements to the energy efficiency of residential buildings present planners and policymakers a number of options for effecting local changes in energy consumption patterns. The possibility of increasing energy efficiency in the US building stock has been explored over the past several decades; however, the geographic scope is often too coarse to account for unique local variables. This paper builds upon past analyses of the relationship between housing characteristics and residential energy consumption to better understand the energy savings potential of local efficiency programs in Orange County, NC. Two energy models for residential consumption were constructed using Residential Energy Consumption Survey variables that were also available in a county parcel dataset. Three policy interventions were simulated for both heating and cooling energy consumption: (1) weatherization, (2) reflective roofing, and (3) tree shading. Overall, if applied uniformly for the entire county, the policies demonstrate potential to save 29, 13 and 19 percent of current heating and cooling energy use, respectively. All three interventions prove most effective for low income households, as well as older (pre-1980) as opposed to newer (1980-present) structures. Weatherization improvements demonstrate the highest heating energy savings potentials for the above variables at 45 percent and 51 percent, respectively. Whereas high income households save 14 percent and new structures see 12 percent savings. Cooling energy policy simulations show a more limited range of energy use reduction (10-23 percent), with low income households and older structures still receiving the highest savings. Resulting savings are comparable to the national, regional, and statewide estimates that appear throughout the literature. Savings estimates provide local policymakers an indication of the effectiveness of potential energy efficiency programs.Master of City and Regional Plannin