Room to Grow: Incentives Boost Energy-Efficient Homebuilding

Abstract

“Home is where the hearth is,” goes an old play on words. But what about the solar panel or the wind turbine? Maybe they could be where the home is, too. That’s the view of a growing movement to make energy-efficient homes the norm, not the exception. Such homes currently constitute just a tiny fraction of the U.S. residential market. Now, driven by mounting fuel costs, heightened sensitivities to climate change, and rising worries over indoor air quality, the race is on to reform housing for better environmental performance. Decades ago, U.S. state and local governments began offering limited incentives to motivate energy-efficient homebuilding, and most programs today are still limited to energy conservation; consumers looking for breaks on other green features—for instance, non-toxic or recycled building materials, or rain collection barrels for lawn and garden watering—are largely out of luck, at least for now. Only New Mexico offers a comprehensive incentive package that goes beyond energy to address other green concerns. A few other states are broadening their programs, but slowly, says Jason Hartke, the manager for state and local advocacy for the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). As far as energy efficiency incentives go, the number and variety on offer has swelled dramatically in recent years. In places like Aspen, Chicago, Tucson, Tempe, Santa Monica, Scottsdale, Seattle, and Washington, DC, among others, building departments provide leadership in green residential design, says Darren Meyers, contracts manager for the International Code Council (ICC), a membership association based in Washington, DC. Many of these cities have adopted policies that spur architects, homebuilders, and code enforcers to incorporate green building practices. Most incentive programs today are limited to energy conservation. Only New Mexico offers a comprehensive package that goes beyond energy to address other green concerns. A few other states are slowly broadening their programs. Today, the federal government and a growing number of utilities and private organizations offer incentives with real value. In some states, their combined worth can offset the cost of a solar power installation by more than 50%. Tax credits, utility rebates, expedited permitting for new construction, even coupons for energy-efficient products (compact fluorescent lamps, for example) are jump-starting the market, ideally in a sustainable way. “These incentives are an important step toward making [energy efficiency] standard in residential settings,” says Edward Legge, a spokesperson for the Edison Electrical Institute, a utility trade association in Washington, DC.