Think About Home Insulation During This Heating Season
Heating and cooling for an average home account for 50 percent to 70 percent of a homeowner’s energy usage. If your home isn’t adequately insulated that can mean added costs that deplete your wallet each month.
The Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC) strives to achieve an initial 30 percent boost in the energy efficiency of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) over its 2006 counterpart. The EECC writes on its Web site, “Because homes and other buildings are the largest sectors for US energy and electricity consumption, using 40 percent of US energy and 71 percent of its electricity, respectively and, at 37 percent, the largest single source of American’s greenhouse gas emissions, they represent the nation’s last great frontier of wasted energy.
The move toward building more energy-efficient homes is increasing. According to the 2006 McGraw-Hill Construction Residential Green Building SmartMarket Report, by 2010 green homes will make up 10 percent of new home construction; that’s up from just 2 percent in 2005.