The document discusses the untapped potential for energy savings in multifamily buildings. It notes that nearly a third of U.S. households live in multifamily housing, which collectively spends $22 billion on energy annually. Comprehensive retrofit programs could save 30% on natural gas and 15% on electricity usage, amounting to $3.4 billion in annual savings nationwide. Memphis has many older multifamily buildings housing low-income renters, representing an opportunity for significant savings. However, multifamily buildings are often overlooked by utility programs due to barriers around split incentives and competing investment priorities for building owners. Successful programs provide assistance, financing, contractors, and incentives to retrofit multifamily buildings and realize the energy and cost savings

1. The Untapped Potential in
Multifamily Buildings
Memphis & Shelby County
Sustainability Summit
June 26, 2013

2. The American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to advancing
energy efficiency through research and
dissemination.
 Established in 1980
 Focus on end-use efficiency in industrial,
building, utility, and transportation sectors
 Local, state, and federal policy development,
economic analysis, and behavioral
programming
 Knowledge sharing: conferences,
publications, and working groups

3. Multifamily Energy
Savings Project
• Three-year project to improve the energy
efficiency of multifamily housing nationwide
• GOAL: Expand the number of utilities offering
multifamily energy efficiency programs and
increase spending and savings for these
programs by at least 25% by the end of
2015
• Focus on building partnerships between the
housing community, utilities, and state and
local governments
www.aceee.org/multifamily-project

4. Presentation Overview
1. The Energy Efficiency
Opportunity in Multifamily
Buildings
2. The Memphis Opportunity
3. Why Are Multifamily
Buildings Untapped?
4. Realizing the Potential for
Energy Savings

5. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity

6. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity
The share of households living in multifamily buildings is rising.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy
Consumption Survey; www.eia.gov/consumption/residential

7. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity
32.9%
41.7%
10.1%
12.8%
2.5%
Composition of the Multifamily Housing Market
2-4 unit multifamily housing (10.5 M units)
5+ unit market rate rental (13.3 M units)
5+ unit subsidized rental (3.2 M units)
5+ unit owner-occupied (4.1 M units)
5+ unit public housing (0.8 M units)

8. At scale, comprehensive programs can
save 30% of natural gas use
and 15% of electricity use.
Collectively, building owners and tenants
spent almost $22 billion on energy in
2009, an average of $1,141 per
household.
The nationwide potential savings from
multifamily energy efficiency are huge.
• $3.4 billion per year in savings.
The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity
Source: CNT Energy & ACEEE, Engaging as Partners: Multifamily
Housing and Utilities (2012).

9. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity
Source: www.aceee.org/multifamily-project
Annual Potential Savings from Multifamily Buildings by State
At 15% electricity and 30% natural gas efficiency improvement
Tennessee Savings =
.7% of total annual
residential electricity &
natural gas consumption

10. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity
Source: 2011 American Community Survey, 3-Year Estimates

11. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity in Memphis
Source: 2011 American Community Survey, 3-Year Estimates

12. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity in Memphis
97% multifamily residents in Memphis rent.
• Only 7% of renters have their utilities included in rent –
creating a split incentive between owners and tenants.
Many multifamily residents in Memphis are
low income.
• 23% (29,534) of multifamily units in the Memphis metro
are publicly owned or receiving federal assistance.
• That’s the highest percentage of any of the 50 metro
areas in our assessment.

13. The Multifamily Efficiency Opportunity in Memphis
Nearly half of
multifamily
buildings built
before 1980

14. Source: Gary Pivo, Energy Efficiency and its Relationship to Household Income in
Multifamily Rental Housing (2012).
The energy efficiency potential of multifamily
buildings, especially rental properties, remains
largely untapped.
• Energy expenditures per square foot in rented
multifamily apartments are 37% higher than in owner-
occupied multifamily homes and 76% higher than in
owner‐occupied single-family homes.
• Energy efficiency measures like high efficiency
appliances, HVAC systems, and insulation are far less
likely to be found in multifamily rentals as compared to
any other type of housing.

15. The Untapped Energy Savings in Multifamily Buildings
• Multifamily buildings
are often overlooked
by traditional energy
efficiency programs.
• 40% of the 50
metropolitan areas
analyzed are not
served by multifamily
energy efficiency
programs (including
Memphis & Nashville).
Source: ACEEE, Scaling Up Multifamily Energy Efficiency Programs: A
Metropolitan Area Assessment (2013).
Major Metropolitan Areas With One or More Multifamily Energy
Efficiency Programs

16. The Untapped Energy Savings in Multifamily Buildings
Barriers Faced By Building Owners:
• Split incentives
• Energy efficiency competes
for investment dollars with:
o maintenance
o tax and water bill payments
o landscaping and security upgrades
o pest control
• Financing needed
• Unpredictable payoff
• Confusion about available
programs & incentives

17. Realizing the Potential for Energy Savings
Successful multifamily retrofit programs help to
overcome these barriers by providing:
• technical assistance
• financing
• qualified contractors
• financial incentives

18. Realizing the Potential for Energy Savings
Expand utility customer-funded programs to target
multifamily buildings, or provide streamlined information
and application process for existing incentives.
Residential? Commercial?
Is this building…

19. Realizing the Potential for Energy Savings
Provide building owners access to
whole-building energy usage data to
enable benchmarking and energy
performance tracking.
Include large multifamily buildings in
energy benchmarking & disclosure
policies.
• Current policies that include multifamily
buildings: Austin, Boston, DC, New York,
Seattle, & Portland*
*policy under development

20. Realizing the Potential for Energy Savings
Build partnerships to develop and market programs with:
• Electric & gas utility energy efficiency programs
• Building owners and property management companies
• Contractors
• Housing advocates and intermediaries
• Financial institutions and housing finance agencies
• Federal, state, and local agencies

21. Example :
Chicago-area program has upgraded
over 10,000 units.
Joint project of CNT Energy and the
Community Investment Corporation
Provides building owners:
• Comprehensive assessment
• Information about utility incentives
• Low-cost financing
• Construction management
• Quality control
• Post-retrofit savings analysis
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22. Remember: Multifamily retrofits are not just
about saving energy.
Energy-efficient buildings = more comfortable, affordable
homes
Building owners save on operations & maintenance,
and reduce turn-over and vacancy rates.
Partnerships between utilities, housing orgs, and
governments help to support local workforce
development.
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23. Thank You! Questions?
Contact:
Kate Johnson
kjohnson@aceee.org
(202) 507-4039
www.aceee.org/multifamily-project
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