Is there sufficient data to measure the energy spent managing regulation on both sides (energy spent on compliance, enforcement, permit application processing, and the like)?
Are there tools available to help communities determine what the net impact of a regulatory change on energy consumption is likely to be? One example might be whether permitting for landlords requiring sufficient insulation would require more energy in compliance efforts, enforcement, and permit application processing that would be saved and under what circumstances that might be the case.
Additionally are there tools for lifecycle analysis which allow us to look at embodied energy as including regulatory compliance and governmental actions regarding enforcement and permitting?
I did a few quick looks around and I couldn't find much. Am I missing something or do we just consider this to be "dark energy?" I recognize that all models are simplifications but is there an accepted way to include government energy expenditures in pursuit of regulations in these equations?
(Here's my first guess: Figure average energy consumption, including indirect consumption via materials, per individual in a city, figure the ratio of permitting and inspecting employees, including supervisors, to annual permits, try to add miles driven, but at a bit of a loss, wondering if there are formulas for other admin costs.)