Electric utilities lobbied for insulation standards to protect their market.

Evidence

To insure the quality of insulation work, a few even sent out inspectors. In the late 1950s, the industry also pressed the Federal Housing Administration to adopt serious insulation standards. Though a majority of homebuilders opposed the insulation campaign, a few lobbied hard for tougher standards: If the monthly cost of electric heat could be reduced, the boosters believed, the new technology might join air conditioning as a powerful way to sell the idea of the up-to-date home. The insulation industry naturally joined the fray too. By the late 1950s, indeed, the largest insulation manufacturers had decided to bet heavily on the appeal of “electric living.” — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 281

Categorization

• XREF: Industry-led standards advocacy parallels the corporate-backed building codes thread from earlier chapters and general debates about regulatory capture. — connects to: The electrical industry shaped FHA rules to subsidize appliance purchases — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 133