A study conducted by Georgia State University reveals that land use policies and preferential housing tax treatment in U.S have affected carbon emission by 2.7 percent, with a six percent increase in annual level.
Kyle Magnum, economist and assistant professor, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, presented the research report “The Global Effects of Housing Policy” at IEB III Workshop in Barcelona which published the effect of housing policies on carbon output.
The research is based on data collected from the nation’s 50 metros based on local construction activity, housing consumption and density, material cost, labor and income ranking them on annual carbon output per person.
“Larger homes consume more energy. Policies that affect amount of housing consumed per capita and housing density are major carbon saving drivers. Imposing strict land regulation laws will decrease overall carbon emission by 2.2 percent,” Magnum said.
The increase in emission can be controlled by removing subsidies on federal house tax and encouraging maximum density population in higher energy-use locations, suggests the report.
Encouraging the relocation to low-carbon cities and decreasing the number of house used per person carbon output can be controlled to an extent, the author said.
editor@greentechlead.com