16-Years of U.S. Green and Energy-Efficient Home Building

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the energy and CO₂ savings from U.S. energy-efficient and green building programs for residences over the last 16 years (2000-2015). The energy savings and CO₂ reductions of rating systems such as Energy Star (EPA), LEED for Homes (USGBS), National Green Building Standard (NGBS), and Building America (BA) are calculated and compared to the total number of conventional homes built. Using this data, the weighted averages of each program’s energy savings are determined. The result gives a perspective of how much energy these programs saved compared to conventional homes built in this period. The same calculation method is applied to the nation’s total housing stock.

A brief analysis of super-insulated buildings, such as Passivhaus and Net Zero Energy Homes, is included. These are small in number but indicate the future of very low emissions buildings. The effect of using photovoltaic or PV panels is briefly covered and the trend toward power plant PV over individual house PV is noted. Finally, the installed base of the 118 million occupied housing units is examined. Changes in home characteristics over time are analyzed, particularly size of house, energy intensity, and per capita square footage.