Energy Efficient Homes and Sustainability

What is Sustainability?

The term "sustainable" is bandied about

Paraphrased from a United Nations Environmental Programme Document:

'... meeting the needs of people today without destroying the resources that will be needed ... by persons in the future; based on long range planning and the recognition of the finite nature of natural resources...'

In the definition, there is no exclusivity of human-kind, and therefore in broad terms it can represent the protection of resources utilized by all living organisms on the planet. This meaning while broad, does not exclude humanity from utilizing natural resources, whether renewable or fixed, but rather calls for more effective management of our resource utilization so as not to harm the planet or future possible users or uses of our resources.

The concept of "spaceship Earth" comes into play, if one recognizes the potentially finite nature of non-renewable resources -- such as petroleum, coal, nuclear ores, and to be sure potable water. There is just so much of certain kinds of "stuff" (...after Coach John Madden...) that it must be better protected and utilized with more vision. Wealthy developed nations will need to come to terms with developing countries where remaining stocks of such raw materials are located, and in turn the developing world may act to put greater demand upon already strained supplies and utilization methods.

This statement applies to our homes, housing developments, communities, cities, and regions and helps the environment at all levels when successfully implemented. We clearly have a ways to go as a society to meeting the intent of this definition. Our homes can be an important tool in making the developed part of the environment, now strongly intertwined with the natural environment, more healthy and less damaging to future generations well being.

Environmentally sensitive development at all levels -- housing, commercial, institutional, infrastructure -- appears to be a very promising approach to help achieve sustainability in these terms. Humanity shares a common need for affordable, healthy, durable, comfortable housing and workspaces designed and built to maintain or uplift the human condition. Unfortunately, as a general criteria, this does not yet frequently occur as a rule throughout the World.

Some corporate leaders - such as 3M, Dupont, Amoco, Carrier, Trane, and others -- have begun in earnest to recognize the market value of environmentally sound products and manufacturing approaches. Over the next 10 to 20 years, accelerated movement toward a more sustainable economy and infrastructure will be needed, to head off environmental problems such as global climate change, enlargement of the Ozone "hole," possible food-chain disruption and depletion of ocean fisheries, top-soil depletion and erosion, desertification, and ground water contamination.

Energy Star Homes Gain Ground

In 2006, the percentage of newly constructed single family homes earning the government's Energy Star for energy efficiency exceeded 12 percent in 15 states. The 15 leading states are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Vermont.

Nearly 200,000 new homes nationwide earned the Energy Star in 2006, bringing the total number of Energy Star qualified homes across the nation to almost 750,000, according to the EPA. To date, these homes have locked in annual savings of more than $180 million for homeowners by saving over 1 billion kWh of electricity and 100 million therms of natural gas.

Energy Star homes are least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code, and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes. 

Energy Star Homes On the Rise Across the U.S., EPA Finds

Homes that meet the federal government's Energy Star standards accounted for more than 12 percent of new construction in 2006 across 15 states, totaling almost 200,000 highly energy efficient homes nationwide.

The EPA says there are nearly 750,000 such homes now completed in the U.S., and estimates that combined, these homes have saved their owners more than $180 million by saving over 1 billion kWh of electricity and 100 million therms of natural gas.

"Consumers don't have to limit their smart energy choices to energy efficient cars and appliances," said the EPA's Bob Meyers. "EPA is pleased to see builders in so many states leading the effort to offer their customers high-efficiency, low-emission choices in new homes."

Homes that earn the Energy Star mark must be independently verified as meeting the EPA's guidelines for energy efficiency, which include being at least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code, and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes.

Home energy use accounts for nearly 17 percent of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and 21 percent of energy consumption nationwide. For more than a decade, the EPA has been working with the housing industry, utilities, states, and independent energy efficiency home ratings professionals to bring increased energy efficiency to the homebuilding industry. Today, the EPA estimates that there are more than 3,500 builders are committed to building Energy Star qualified homes, and Energy Star qualified homes have been built in every state across the country.

The 15 states with the most Energy Star homes according to the EPA are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Vermont.