Energy Efficiency in Home Building

Energy efficiency in the housing market is a hot topic. The home building industry is already spending thousands on it and now the federal government is joining the band wagon. The two prong approach will add to the effort and ultimately benefit everyone. The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it'll have up to $40 million dollars available to support research & development and the deployment of technologies that will eventually cut new home utility consumption by 30-90%. What is the research zeroing in on you may ask? Their focus is pretty clear. It is looking to bring new energy efficient products to the real estate market and enhance builder productivity. The goal is also to decrease construction time & come up with new and creative home designs and cut waste. It's a comprehensive list of processes in the building of a home and if the program can achieve half of its goals we're making great progress. The research program is supposed to encourage architects, building scientists, home builders, local community planners, mortgage professionals, equipment manufacturers, engineers, material suppliers, realtors and contractor trades people. This initiative is a component of the Building America project and a public & private partnership that is attempting to make green minded changes to the home building industry. Its objective is to achieve by the year 2020 the production of Zero Energy Homes which means that a home would annually generate as much energy as it uses. That would be a huge help to the environment and good for the planet. If tax dollars go to support research like this, I'm all for it.

Thanks,

Eric