flexiblefullpage
Currently Reading

Energy Consumption Declines Despite More & Larger Houses

Advertisement
billboard

Energy Consumption Declines Despite More & Larger Houses

Between 1980 and 2009 energy consumption per U.S. household declined despite the increased number of larger houses with more personal computers, large-screen TVs, and other electricity-consuming gadgets in the U.S.


By By Sara Elliott, Associate Editor April 17, 2015
Power lines carrying electricity.
This article first appeared in the PB April 2015 issue of Pro Builder.

A study that was released by the U.S. Energy In­for­mation Administration (EIA) contends that energy efficiency improvements were enough to reduce power consumption to levels that offset the more than 70 percent increase in the number of households and the size of dwellings during that 29-year span. The EIA report acknowledged that building codes, incentives from utilities, and Energy Star standards for appliances helped to decrease home energy consumption per square foot by 37 percent compared with 1980. That figure could have been bigger were it not for homebuyers’ preference for larger houses—the average size of a single-family home, either detached or attached, and apartments grew almost 19 percent—and their increased use of home appliances, networking equipment, home entertainment devices, and other electronics. 

Other factors such as population movement, shifts in housing type, and weather only minimally affected consumption. Although the country’s population center moved to warmer climates in the West and South where energy demand for space heating is lower, the regional effect is credited with just 2.7 percent of lowered consumption. The shift from single-family detached and apartments in smaller buildings to single-family attached and apartments in larger buildings accounted for just 1.7% of the reduction in energy consumption. Similarly, climate had little impact between 1980 and 2008, as those specific years had warmer winters and cooler summers. 

The overall consumption of energy by U.S. households in 2009 was 10.2 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), but would have been 13.8 quadrillion Btu without the improvement in energy consumption by square foot since 1980, the EIA report says. PB

Advertisement
leaderboard2

Related Stories

Energy Efficiency

Climate Change's Role in Enhancing Building Efficiency

New building regulations push for increased resilience and energy efficiency amid a worsening climate crisis

Products

10 Energy-Efficient Products for a More Sustainable Home

These energy-saving products can significantly lower utility costs while reducing a home's overall carbon footprint

HVAC

Why Pay Attention to HVAC Faults? Energy Efficiency, for One Thing

HVAC faults usually go undetected, which is a problem, since they can severely compromise a home’s energy efficiency

Advertisement
boombox2

Top Articles

Advertisement
boombox1
Advertisement
native1
halfpage2

More in Category

COVID-19 may be easing its grip on the U.S. after a disastrous two years, but lingering supply chain disruptions have builders holding onto their pandemic business tactics

An archive of NHQA-winning companies that represent home building's best in Total Quality Management

Don’t let the current hype about single-family B2R communities obscure the need to create long-term sustainability and asset value

Advertisement
native2
Advertisement
halfpage1

Create an account

By creating an account, you agree to Pro Builder's terms of service and privacy policy.


Daily Feed Newsletter

Get Pro Builder in your inbox

Each day, Pro Builder's editors assemble the latest breaking industry news, hottest trends, and most relevant research, delivered to your inbox.

Save the stories you care about

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet lorem ipsum dolor sit amet lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

The bookmark icon allows you to save any story to your account to read it later
Tap it once to save, and tap it again to unsave

It looks like you’re using an ad-blocker!

Pro Builder is an advertisting supported site and we noticed you have ad-blocking enabled in your browser. There are two ways you can keep reading:

Disable your ad-blocker
Disable now
Subscribe to Pro Builder
Subscribe
Already a member? Sign in
Become a Member

Subscribe to Pro Builder for unlimited access

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.