They would also have the option of investing in efficiency improvements elsewhere in the issuing jurisdiction. If builders could reduce pollution more cheaply by improving the operating efficiency of an old schoolhouse or fire station or office building, for example, they could do so and be given credit for doing so as if they had achieved that pollution reduction inside their new structure. Such a performance standard would be easy to monitor. Moreover, it would allow designers and builders great latitude in how they would meet the standard. Even for those who doubt the global warming thesis, an emission performance standard makes sense.
Efficiency is a wise investment.
Today, however, the focus almost entirely is on minimizing the construction cost of structures, not their operating cost. This results in an enormous waste of money, by one estimate tens of billions of dollars a year nationally by commercial and industrial buildings alone. Minnesotans can begin to redress our share of global pollution and, by doing so, foster a home-grown expertise that could become one of our major exports. And in the process we can save hundreds of millions of dollars.