Systemic impediments to constructing energy-efficient commercial buildings

Exploring a systems-based view of the energy efficiency roadblocks faced by financiers, builders, owners, and tenants. In 1992 Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, wrote a paper entitled "Energy-Efficient Buildings: Institutional Barriers and Opportunities". In it, he detailed roadblocks to constructing energy efficient commercial buildings- from the fear of lenders to finance the unknown, to developers unmotivated to instill efficiency, to mechanical engineers specifying job-securing (and commission-increasing) safety margins when (over)sizing the apparati- every step of a commercial building's genesis is fraught with status quo and timidity. Now, almost 25 years later, we will take a look at what has changed, what hasn't, and what areas still need incentivizing to get on a sustainable track towards efficiency. We model the systems to exhibit the persistent resistance to changes, the extraordinary pace with which some markets have embraced change, and the feedback mechanisms that can make efficiency both possible and profitable.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Franklin, James G

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Harvey Michaels.

• Engineering Systems Division.
• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100372

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/100372