Carbon emissions from the commercial building sector: The role of climate, quality, and incentives

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kahn, Matthew E.; Kok, Nils; Quigley, John M.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Maastricht University; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.03.003
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 1-12
• 关键词: Energy efficiency; Durable capital; TECHNOLOGY; human capital; Carbon mitigation

摘要

Commercial buildings play a major role in determining U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, yet surprisingly little is known about the environmental performance of different buildings at a point in time or how the same buildings perform over time. By exploiting a unique panel of commercial buildings from a major electric utility, we study the association between a building's electricity consumption and the physical attributes of buildings, lease incentive terms, indicators of human capital, and climatic conditions. We find that buildings that are newer and of higher quality consume more electricity, contrasting evidence for the residential sector. However, using our panel data set, we document that newer buildings are most resilient when exposed to hotter weather. Those buildings that have a building manager on-site and whose tenants face a positive marginal cost for electricity also demonstrate a better environmental performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.