[MassHistPres] Stretch Energy Code

[slater at alum.rpi.edu]

>http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/remodeling/w09-1_park.pdf
> 
>On window replacement, the study found that "high performance glazing"
(i.e.,
>double glazed replacement sash with low-E glazing) was second only to
use of
>compact fluorescent lighting in Green Product Usage. It also cited a
1999 study
>(so not very recent) on "More Evidence of Rational Market Values for
Home Energy
>Efficiency" by Nevin, Bender and Gazan in The Appraisal Journal that
>demonstrated that window replacement was fully recovered through an
increase in
>the home's market value. (It wouldn't make a house worth more to me,
but
>apparently it does for others.)
> 

So is the argument being presented that the energy savings is immaterial
for window replacement because the increase in the sales price of the
house makes up for the purchase price? 

I suppose that isn't surprising, given the amount of marketing that has
accompanied window replacements. As others have noted, this is becoming
one of the things that people now desire to do upon moving into a house
-- replace the windows, even if they are replacement windows to begin
with. Preservation of existing windows is getting thumped in this fight.

However, I don't think I could accept resale value as an argument for
hardship for window replacement. Inability to maximize profit (or home
value) is not a hardship. 

Ralph Slate
Springfield, MA 
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