Evaluation of Energy Efficiency Improvement Program for Rental Homes

Recently, the city of Boulder, CO has recently approved mandatory energy efficiency standard, called SmartRegs Program, for rental properties. Improving residential energy efficiency is a goal of the city as they strive to meet the green house gas reduction targets of the Kyoto Protocol. However, energy efficiency is typically not implemented in rental units because of a split incentive between landlords and tenants. This paper evaluates the various retrofit measures that improve rental homes energy efficiency as well as the effectiveness of SmartRegs Program. First, various energy efficiency measures are evaluated through walk-through and detailed energy audits to assess their effectiveness in improving the energy performance of rental homes. Based on the results of the energy audits and survey of various stake holders, a set of recommendations have been defined to ensure that the SmartRegs program be successfully implemented in order to improve the overall performance and quality of rental homes. Moreover, it is found that energy efficient can increase the thermal comfort levels and decrease the energy costs for tenants, increase the value of the property for landlords, and help the city meet their green house gas reduction goals.