Efficiency First

EPA Mulls Revisions to the Energy Star Program

An article in last Friday’s Wall Street Journal by environmental writer Jeffrey Ball offers a thought-provoking preview of how tougher EPA rules could soon make it more difficult for buildings to earn the Energy Star designation. According to Ball, the EPA has determined that current Energy Star standards are “too weak,” and that the program “ignores small improvements that could bring efficiency gains for comparatively little cost, such as low-flow showerheads and better insulation around windows.” Furthermore, he says, current rules linking energy consumption to square feet of floor space tend to favor larger homes over smaller homes that consume much less energy.

Ball cites the example of a four-bedroom luxury house plan called the Llano, built by Kaden Homes of Fort Worth, Texas.

“The Llano, at 4,400 square feet, is 57% larger than the average four-bedroom house in the U.S., which is about 2,800 square feet, according to EPA data. Beyond big rooms, the Llano has vaulted ceilings — meaning more space to be cooled, heated and lit.

“A larger four-bedroom home will almost certainly consume more total energy than a smaller four-bedroom home. But it will likely rate as more efficient when energy consumption is measured per square foot — as the Energy Star ratings do.

“To win Energy Star status for the Llano, Kaden Homes hasn’t had to shrink its rooms or lower its ceilings to consume less energy. It has chosen less-visible tweaks, such as installing shiny panels on the inside of attic ceilings — so-called radiant barriers — that reflect heat from the sun back toward the sky, helping cool a house in a hot Texas summer.

“Even with such Energy Star features, a house the size of the Llano typically consumes more energy than the average four-bedroom American house, given that the residents of the bigger house plug in more electronic devices, says Sam Rashkin, the EPA’s national director of the Energy Star new-home program.

“Big houses would lose their advantage under the tougher rule the EPA is preparing. It includes what would amount to a gas-guzzler penalty for houses. In the case of those two four-bedroom homes, the one that is bigger than average would have to improve its efficiency by a greater percentage than the one that is smaller than average. The rule, which the EPA plans to finalize this year and implement in 2011, is intended “to reward appropriate smallness and penalize wasteful largeness,” as the EPA puts it in a document explaining the change.

To read the full article go to http://online.wsj.com/article/power_shift.html#articleTabs%3Darticle (subscription required).