[Greenbuilding] The Rebound Effect: Real, but Not Very Large

[peterkidd at shaw.ca]

 From ACEE:

As the energy efficiency of products, homes, and businesses improves,  
it becomes less expensive to operate them. The rebound effect  
postulates that people increase their use of products and facilities  
as a result of this reduction in operating costs, thereby reducing the  
energy savings achieved. Periodically, some analysts raise questions  
about the rebound effect, arguing that it is a major factor that needs  
to be accounted for when analyzing energy efficiency programs. The  
most recent example is a report by the Institute for Energy Research,  
an organization that primarily works on oil, gas, coal, and  
electricity markets. In order to address these recurring arguments,  
today ACEEE released a white paper entitled The Rebound Effect: Large  
or Small? The paper is written in a "question and answer" format  
designed to summarize what we know, what we do not, and---given what  
we know---how large the rebound effect is likely to be. The paper  
examines both direct and indirect rebound effects.

To continue reading the blog post  
visit:http://aceee.org/blog/2012/08/rebound-effect-real-not-very-large.

To go directly to the white paper visit:  
http://aceee.org/white-paper/rebound-effect-large-or-small.