50 Ways to Kick the Energy Efficiency Habit

Energy Efficiency sounds good, but it makes lousy policy, because of the simple financial fact that as a strategy it produces diminishing returns. So, with the thought of Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave your Lover in mind, here are some thoughts on how to free ourselves from this collective insanity which is holding up the transition to increasing deployment of renewable energy and progress towards energy independence, not to mention building property values.

The motto for this list is the famous statement:

Premature optimization is the root of all evil. (Donald Knuth)

This comment from one of the world's most famous computer scientists is exactly to the point, for unless you do the capital budget and a long-term plan first, and you can see a clear timeline on what energy future you want for your property, you are operating without a plan, and capital destruction is sure to follow, as night follows day. All the "energy efficiency retrofits" suck asset values out of properties and transfer them to the financiers, instead of improving property values.

50 WAYS TO KICK THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY HABIT

1. Hop on the bus, Gus, but by all means do proper financial planning, and see for yourself. Failing to plan is planning to fail and you'll fall prey to incentives and be stripped of your asset appreciation.
2. Be honest about how much you've spent on energy efficiency. Shouldn't

   

   To the tune of: 50 ways to leave your lover

   your bills be negative already? If in doubt go back to point #1
3. You can't save yourself rich, not with money, not with energy.
4. Successive Energy Efficiency investments exhibit diminishing returns,
5. Therefore Energy Efficiency literally does not add up - it is NOT additive.
6. The reason you can't save yourself rich is diminishing returns.
7. Not only does Energy Efficiency not add up, it is not additive towards sustainability, instead it is a sure prevention of sustainability - again because of diminishing returns.
8. Energy Efficiency is not interchangeable with renewable energy in achieving sustainability, it is of value only if it is complementary to site-derived renewable energy (SDRE).
9. Energy Efficiency in a fossil fuel system, is like lipstick on a pig and it is mutually exclusive with renewable energy.
10. Premature Energy Efficiency is the best prophylactic the carbon economy has to offer against renewable energy.
11. In a proper capital budget for energy, it will be seen that 30 years of no (or very small) energy bills versus 20-30% energy savings with various energy efficiency programs often easily justifies the far larger CapEx for SDRE, but intelligent use of passive measures and efficiency will reduce the ICap (Installed capacity) for SDRE.
12. The corollary to this is that any would-be analytical models which emphasize energy efficiency and utilize payback analysis automatically move renewables out of range.
13. Every step into renewable energy increases building resilience, yet we offer subsidized programs to quickly convert buildings to natural gas, before anybody gets the idea of going renewable (NYC Clean Heat). OTG Conversions are public enemy number one from the point of resilience and sustainability.
14. If you count in the cost of the consultants on NYC Clean Heat, and various building resiliency studies, we could have converted half those 10,000 buildings to renewables already.
15. Energy Efficiency makes the problem bigger not smaller, and makes it dollar for dollar less likely we'll ever switch to renewables.
16. With gratitude to Steve Hallett & The Efficiency Trap - energy efficiency is much ado about nothing. This book is the behavioral corollary to the financial problem of diminishing returns, providing yet another reason energy efficiency does not add up.
17. Kudos to Steve Hallett & The Efficiency Trap again, energy efficiency expands demand. The mission is to build the alternative.
18. With every dime you spend prematurely on increasing efficiency of your fossil fuel system, you are postponing the transition to a renewable system. This is capital destruction.
19. Successive steps of a well engineered renewable energy transition in a property will show interdependencies, which demonstrate an engineering reason why energy efficiency and renewable energy are mutually exclusive, on top of the financial reasons, unless they are properly planned and leverage each other so as to produce profound synergies.
20. Many if not most NYSERDA programs are for the benefit of your favorite utility company, and/or manufacturers of equipment, at the expense of optimal asset value for property owners. You want to do your own financial model first before you use their programs to see what subsidies you could qualify for. The old adage applies: great financing can make a good project better, but it can never make a bad project good. Happy shiny sales people of energy solutions violate this rule all the time, such as when they ask you if you would like to see if you qualify for "free solar panels." Hold on to your wallet.
21. Most NYSERDA programs as well as direct utility incentives bribe property owners to do what's good for the shareholders of the utility, and necessarily not what's in the best interest of the owners of the property.
22. Most NYSERDA programs, ConEdison's Greenteam, and other similar programs with other utilities, are customer retention programs for the utility and have little or nothing to contribute to property values, nor are they green if they only target energy efficiency.
23. Tax incentives, and financing requirements based on Energy Star ratings of equipment, tempt property owners to specify the wrong equipment for the sake of short term gain, and they make good design harder, not easier. These incentives need to be restated on the basis of GHG emissions, and/or water use reductions.
24. Energy efficiency and Energy Star requirements for buildings are counter productive, GHG reductions should be used instead for law makers, and regulators, while property owners should maximize NPV based on a 30 year energy plan.
25. Green financing is falling into the efficiency trap and makes the capital blunder of financing short term measures with long term money. It will lead to instability, and it is another underwriting crisis in the making.
26. PACE bonds have become nearly irrelevant by embracing energy efficiency instead of renewable energy.
27. Green Finance including PACE bonds could ensure above market rate appreciation of the underlying assets ONLY by mandating renewable infrastructure, never by energy efficiency requirements.
28. All energy efficiency programs are a greenwash, because they achieve the opposite of what they set out to do, both environmentally, as well as financially.
29. Energy efficiency programs are a rationalization for the good feeling of sacrificing something for the common good.
30. Energy efficiency programs are another demonstration that logic and reason are the horse the emotions ride in on. The only satisfaction is emotional, nothing is being accomplished.
31. The use of marginal analysis in the form of payback on equipment justified by energy savings is irrelevant to property owners, and only of interest to the sellers of that equipment. Caveat emptor applies here, for most retrofits have engineering interdependencies that may lock you out of other options, and you need to understand the holistic view of a long-term plan for your property first.
32. Net zero is not necessarily the sole objective, but a direction. Again: energy independence of your property and even partial independence from the grid, ensures you won't be left stranded.
33. Selling back to the grid can be avoided by implementing heat pumps, particularly high efficiency GSHP (ground source heat pumps - 500% efficient!), but also ASHP (air source heat pumps - 250% efficient).
34. In renewable energy design, energy efficiency comes back in play and should be used to optimize installed capacity (ICap) requirements. Notice that if your energy is free, you can pick your capital tradeoff, if it is cheaper to install more capacity or insulate more. The bottom line is that in deep retrofits there is no payback period for efficiency alone, but the right use of passive measures and efficiency will reduce the overall payback of a project and make it easier to finance.
35. Implementing renewables (SDRE), means shifting energy from liability to asset.
36. Implementing renewables also means focusing on production, not reducing consumption as the predominant strategy.
37. The renewable strategy means playing offense, not defense with energy.
38. Net-zero and green construction is growing like mad in new project development, so existing homes are eventually headed for demolition and abandonment if they cannot come up with a renewable strategy. Search for net-zero and energy efficient homes, and you'll see what I mean.
39. Energy efficiency is a bottomless pit that will keep you in the poor house if you fall into it. Stop now, and make a financial plan to switch to renewables wherever possible.
40. Energy Efficiency is the addiction that covers up our energy addiction, so again it makes the problem bigger, not smaller. Energy is like methadone for heroin addicts: it makes the addiction manageable, but it is harder to kick.
41. If you are a renter, Energy Star appliances and other Energy Efficient Products are your best friend. For renters marginal payback of the equipment from energy savings is appropriate.
42. Whenever renewable energy is treated as a building block in energy efficiency, it will be undervalued and implemented incorrectly.
43. Avoid net metering whenever you can, except in emergencies. Plan your design to capture and use as much energy as possible in your property.
44. The 90by50 report from the Green building council is full of good ideas, but once again gets lost in the weeds of energy efficiency.
45. Manhattan is a heat sink, but renewables will mean the outer boroughs can become far more attractive places to live, while Manhattan will become the energy slum, with a small number of exceptions to prove the rule.
46. When buying a coop or a condo find out the energy plans, it will make at least a 10-20% difference in building values within 10 years.
47. It is time for tenants associations to work with landlords, even to the point of mixed ownership of energy plant if nothing else will work. Community solar is such an idea. It is high time to get rid of the split incentive. There is room for innovation here.
48. Write to your politicians to support the principles of the DaBx Renewable Energy Retrofit Portfolio Standard, and focus on subsidies for achieving reductions in GHG emissions, and try to get exemptions from all rules that stand in your way. Many well intended rules hold up the show because they are counter productive on a building level.
49. Evaluate all technology options that are suitable for your property, not just one. Solar thermal DHW and/or HVAC as well as heat pumps should top your list.  They are mature technologies, wind energy is often superior if you have the right location. Solar PV comes last unless you have space to waste. Don't forget green roofs, and other passive energy strategies either.
50. The reason they are giving away solar PV, is because it is your worst option, unless it fits your overall design and you have the space for it - which most residential owners don't. Solar PPAs are usually a really bad deal for almost all consumers. They are only better than doing nothing. Solar thermal yields up to 7 times the amount of energy per square foot.

Conclusion: renewable energy adds value

50 ways to leave energy efficiency behind, because it is a financial dead-end, the corollary to which is the phenomenon of The Efficiency Trap. Only renewable energy will offer rising property values, as well as dampen any loss of value in downturns, as was widely acknowledged by institutional investors during the downturn of 2008. Net-zero or near-zero properties are one of the best asset classes ever to own.