The credit is $2,000 for a dwelling unit that is certified to have an annual level of heating and cooling energy consumption at least 50% below the annual level of heating and cooling energy consumption of a comparable dwelling unit and has building envelope component improvements that account for at least 1/5 of the 50% reduction in energy consumption.

Reminds me of the bumper sticker "He who dies with the most toys wins" or George Carlin - The new American pass time is consumption - maxing out your credit card buying things you don't need with money you don't have.

We replaced all of them with dual flush (3.0l/4.8l, 0.8/1.2 usg) model and reduced the water consumption by ~35%.

To offset that consumption the rest of the property should create revenues to pay for that consumption and ideally provide a profit to the owner occupant after expenses.If you've never read the wealth of nations its pretty awesome stuff but, its NOT light reading and is in ye olde English as it was written in the 1776 :-D~http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/adam-smith/wealth-nations.pdf

There are some steps you can take as a renter to decrease energy consumption such as heavy drapes, plastic seal kits you can use on windows, weather stripping.

It seems like the natural tendency for people is to increase consumption as our incomes increase.

The base charge is the amount you pay anyway even if your consumption is 0.

That may seem like a small example but it represents the shift in mindset that needs to take place and explains why USA is known for consumption rather than producing exports.

We've generally been able to reduce heating oil consumption 40-50% once we buy a building (you have personally been the beneficiary of two of these instances, haha!).

In the mostly low rental areas in NYC but are easy to get to Manhattan or good areas in Brooklyn, Landlords would rather rent short term than to rent to an unqualified tenant and potentially get into a court case, this is ASIDE from making better income on the STRs.That also reduces the supply of available apts.Other issues that has not been addressed but was touched upon when over-consumption was mentioned is that in these rent regulated buildings, there is usually a high demand for services, which will add to a landlord's expense, such as older residents demanding more heating despite conforming to heating laws (BTW, this isn't every landlord...