This paper reviews data dealing with energy use in residential and commercial buildings and their determinants. Three types of data are discussed: data prepared by and for the federal government on overall trends in buildings energy use, data prepared by and for the federal government related to the details of energy use, and data collected at the state and utility level.
The major conclusion from this review is that existing national data sources are inadequate for answering the kinds of questions being raised on buildings energy use and conservation. These questions concern overall trends, recent changes, determinants of changes, roles of the private sector and government intervention in implementing conservation measures, and the effectiveness of different kinds of government programs.
Relevant data are being collected by many state energy offices and by gas and electric utilities. However, the existence of these potentially-useful subnational data sources is not widely known.
[1]
Eric Hirst,et al.
Historical patterns of residential and commercial energy uses
,
1976
.
[2]
Jerry R. Jackson,et al.
Commercial Energy Use: A Disaggregation by Fuel, Building Type, and End Use
,
1978
.
[3]
Eric Hirst,et al.
Analysis of engineering audits at state-owned buildings in Minnesota
,
1979
.
[4]
Eric Hirst,et al.
Energy use in Minnesota State-owned facilities
,
1981
.
[5]
E. Hirst,et al.
Energy use in Minnesota institutional buildings
,
1980
.
[6]
D. Commerce.
Statistical abstract of the United States
,
1978
.