The Real Estate Industry Quietly Removes a Label Showing Energy Use of Older Buildings

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http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/08/04/04climatewire-the-real-estate-industry-quietly-removes-a-la-8072.html

August 4, 2009

The Real Estate Industry Quietly Removes a Label Showing Energy Use of Older Buildings

By SAQIB RAHIM of ClimateWire

The pending climate bill passed by the House has a medley of programs to save energy in buildings, but there was one in particular that drew the attention of the multitrillion-dollar real estate industry.

It was a plan to create an "energy label" for homes and commercial buildings, showing, in one simple illustration, how much energy they use compared to their ideal performance. In theory, the information would be like the miles per gallon stickers on cars, giving vital information to buyers and owners, who are becoming increasingly aware of rising energy costs.

The real estate industry had a different take: It called the labels a scarlet letter that would stigmatize old, energy-leaky buildings, making them harder to sell. They said it would hobble a market already suffering from the mortgage meltdown.

Before the bill reached the House floor, Realtors made their case to Congress. As originally written, the bill proposed by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would instruct U.S. EPA to develop two kinds of labels: one for brand-new buildings, and one for the older buildings that cause the bulk of the sector's CO2 emissions -- roughly 40 percent of the U.S. total.

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