I assume Biden has good intentions to reduce carbon emissions, but it will take more wise understanding of the problem to meet reduction goals. I will give you an example of just one bureaucratic decision that is detrimental to the cause.
In a worthy attempt to weatherize existing homes (I prefer the term “decarbonize” existing homes), the IRA bill uses tax incentives to get people to upgrade their old windows. Homeowners can get tax rebates of up to $600/window on the cost of a replacement windows, but only if the windows havu a U-value of 0.27 or less. U-value is the inverse of an R-value, which is a measure of thermal transmissivity. U-.27 is almost four times the efficiency of a single-pane window. The intention is good; the effect is bad because it incentivizes a bad choice.
The regulation encourages people to buy new windows even though there is a much more cost-effective and less carbon-intensive solution to weathering existing windows. The addition of a glass energy panel to an existing window turns a single-pane window with a U-value of 1.0 to one with a U-value of 0.35. It is by far the simplest way of upgrading the window without throwing the old window away. The process is half the cost, takes less time, is less disruptive, avoids all the carbon input of a new window and the carbon release of an old window, and most importantly it is repairable so you don’t have to replace that new window every 10 or 15 years.
A better approach would be to rebate people cash according to the measured carbon reduction that results from home improvements. This would create a whole industry around measuring carbon emissions rather than energy use, since they are not always the same. Measuring the life-cycle carbon of a home improvement is getting more sophisticated, but its findings threaten the practice of planned obsolescence that keeps most businesses in business.
Being in the business of weatherizing existing windows, I am more aware of the way this regulation defeats its purpose. I am sure many other small business owners have their own stories of governance that undermines its intent. I am not suggesting less government involvement in climate change mitigation, just a wiser one.
Chris Pratt
East Montpelier
Owner and founder of Opensash, a window weatherization company in Montpelier
