Sample Report

The United States consumes more energy than anyone else on the planet–about 20% of the total global demand. Our buildings and our homes–the homes in which I live–devour 40% of all U.S. energy and 75% of all U.S. electricity. And about 30% of that energy is wasted by our homes. Simply put, our homes waste energy.

It takes a lot of energy to heat, cool, and operate a home. Most homebuyers have no idea how much it will cost them to operate their home once they move in. Homeowners do not fully understand how much energy and, therefore, money is being wasted by their home. And if they did understand, they wouldn’t know what to do about it.

The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are embarking upon an effort to develop a national program to assess the energy performance of every home in America and lead homeowners toward investing in home energy improvements.

Most homeowners throw away the equivalent of a 42″ flat-screen TV every year in wasted energy. They’re throwing away a brand-new mountain bike or a really nice gas grill, or a weekend getaway vacation–because their home is wasting energy. And wasting energy is like throwing away money.

The typical American home wastes energy. I know that out of the 130 million homes in the U.S., 80 million were built between 1980 and 2000, which means that they pre-date modern energy standards and are associated with higher energy use and operating costs per square foot.