Any guesses on which region in the U.S. can be called the most energy efficient? If you define it as the greatest percentage of newly constructed single family homes with Energy Star ratings, it’s New England. Woohoo! As a native New Englander, I attribute it to our innate stinginess. Still, Texas, Alaska, Nevada, and Hawaii are whooping our proverbial butts when it comes to the percentage of energy efficient homes being built overall. They lead a pack of 15 states credited with the highest number of Energy Star rated homes constructed. The list includes Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont in New England, Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. Energy Star homes are 15 percent more efficient than homes built to 2004 standards and 20-30 percent more efficient than standard homes. It’s stunning to see that Nevada boasts a 71 percent total of new homes with Energy Star ratings. Clearly, with energy costs continuing to climb, we should all take a page from their book and make more strides toward energy conservation.
Energy Star Starts
