As winter heating costs rise, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals a cold truth. Renters – who make up approximately ⅓ of the U.S. population – are missing out on energy efficiency improvements that could lower their bills, make their apartments more comfortable and improve their health.
This study, “Still muddling through: Local sustainability leaders and energy efficiency in rental units,” was published in Energy Research & Social Science. It looks at how local governments across the country grapple with this widespread challenge.
More than 90% of renters in the United States pay at least a portion of their own energy bills, with approximately three-quarters paying the full cost. But this causes tension between the renters who want to save money on their bills and landlords who are the ones responsible for making most energy efficiency upgrades.
“Renters don’t own the building, so they can’t put in insulation, they can’t put in better appliances, and so they have a hard time controlling energy usage or costs. And the people who have the power and the money to make energy efficiency upgrades – the landlords – they don’t reap the financial benefit,” said George Homsy, associate professor and director of environmental studies at Binghamton University.
As a result, landlords often do not make these upgrades, and renters are quite literally left out in the cold. Renters can make small improvements on their own, such as putting sheets of plastic over windows, but these often have only a superficial impact on reducing bills or warming up chilly units.
“The number-one energy upgrade that we should be doing in our homes is adding insulation to the walls and roof, upgrading doors and windows, and so on,” said Homsy. “Such improvements save a ton of money. It makes a home much more comfortable. But you need to own the building to do these kinds of upgrades. And that’s the challenge that we have.”
This is known as the “split incentive” issue, and it has real ramifications beyond lowering costly bills and making a space more comfortable, said Kristina Marty, co-author and professor of public administration and policy at Binghamton University.
“Renters have greater rates of asthma and are more likely to have other health problems because of living in these substandard dwellings,” said Marty. “And so it’s not only inequitable that homeowners can spend less money per square foot on energy. Renters’ inability to improve the efficiency of their units also really impacts the quality of their lives.”
To examine this issue, the Binghamton researchers conducted one of the first-ever studies to explore this challenge from the perspective of local government sustainability leaders across the United States. The team interviewed 59 municipal and county government officials, focusing on the policies and projects different jurisdictions have to promote greater energy efficiency in rental units.
Based on these interviews, the researchers identified several initiatives that these communities offer to increase efficiency. However, most of these efforts were likely to help only a small percentage of rental units in a jurisdiction. Among the factors contributing to these issues, the researchers mention landlord reluctance to make even basic upgrades, poor rental housing stock, hesitancy among renters to participate, and program design issues. (For example, some programs restrict support to rental units in public housing or buildings focused on low-income families).
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