Housing conditions can significantly shape household energy burdens. Older buildings, poor insulation, inefficient appliances, and deferred maintenance can increase the energy required to maintain safe indoor temperatures. Renters may be especially affected because they often bear the monthly utility costs without having control over building upgrades or repairs. Low-income homeowners may also be unable to employ decarbonizing upgrades, thereby spending more of their income on energy.
Efforts to decarbonize buildings and transition energy systems can either reduce or deepen inequities depending on how costs and benefits are distributed. Policies focused on equitable building decarbonization should prioritize affordability, consumer protections, and investments that ensure low-income households and historically marginalized communities benefit from the clean energy transition rather than bearing disproportionate financial burdens.
Housing policy, housing code enforcement, weatherization (or lack thereof), and investment in building improvements can function as energy affordability policy, even when they are not understood or labeled that way.
Topic: Energy Security