A new report indentifies steps California policymakers and industry leaders can take to improve and expand state retrofit programs to counteract climate change. The report, Saving Energy: How California Can Launch a Statewide Retrofit Program for Existing Residences and Small Businesses, is a joint project of Berkeley Law, UCLA School of Law, and the California state attorney general’s office.
Homes and small commercial buildings account for roughly 22 percent of California’s total greenhouse gas emissions—most of it from poor insulation, structural air leaks, inefficient heating and cooling systems, and outdated lighting fixtures. Exacerbating the problem is the number of buildings constructed before the late 1970s, when California implemented energy-efficiency standards.
More information about the report is available here. Its recommendations are the result of the fourth in a series of climate change workshops convened by Berkeley Law and UCLA Law, which included industry leaders, policymakers, academics, and business executives.