Full Citation
Title: Sustaining the City: Trends in Energy and Carbon Management in Large US Metros
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2014
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Abstract: Most good definitions of sustainability include economic, social, and environmental aspects. In this paper, two particular areas of sustainability related to all three components are investigated: energy and CO2 emissions. As of this writing, more than 1000 cities in the United States have signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, but only 15% have created comprehensive estimates of their existing energy consumption and emissions profiles, making management a difficult task. In this paper, we provide estimates of both of these measures for the residential and commercial sectors for the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States over the 2000-2010 period. This tracks the progress towards sustainable development in major urban areas nationally, identifying leaders and laggards, as well as opportunities for improvement. For example, the commercial building sector in each MSA is divided into 12 building types in this analysis, so while the entirety of the commercial sector of a given MSA may be high performing, specific building types may be targeted for additional improvements in energy efficiency. The differentiated economic geography of local economies also suggests areas for focus due to scale if a high proportion of commercial energy consumption takes places in the health care subsector, expanded efficiency programs may be warranted, even with high performance buildings. In sum, we expect this research to fill a major gap in the existing literature and to have real-world policy relevance for energy efficiency efforts in the areas where the vast majority of U.S. wealth and innovation are produced.
Url: https://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2014/data/papers/10-875.pdf
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Authors: Cox, Matt; Brown, Marilyn
Conference Name: ACEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings
Publisher Location: Pacific Grove, CA
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Health, Land Use/Urban Organization, Natural Resource Management
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