Columbia officials met with local landlords and residents at city hall Wednesday night to discuss concerns over high-energy costs and consumption in rental housing. Those in attendance were able to voice their concerns to members of the Environment and Energy Commission.
Commission member Nick Peckham owns an architectural company in Columbia. He says he was struck by one woman’s story in particular. Peckham says the woman told him that she had recently had an electric bill that was more expensive than her rent.
“There are so many things that have been done that fall into that category called whoops,” Peckham said, “where it might have seemed like a good idea because somebody was making a living doing it, but in hind-sight, we don’t think it was a good idea because we see the environmental outcome.”
Peckham says he does not believe these issues are simple. He says it is not a battle between struggling tenants and profit-taking landlords.
“I don’t think there are two sides here, because we’re all people. We’re all riding around on the same planet.”
Peckham says he believes the best solution to these problems in the short term is for everyone to be more cognizant of the environmental impacts their decisions have. He says this applies both to residents’ living habits and landlords’ building tendencies.
“A lot of decisions that we’ve made have suffered from the clarity of partial vision. It’s not exactly top-of-mind for most people to think, how can I be as energy-efficient as possible?”