Energy Efficiency has been a huge buzzword in the home building industry lately. The team here at Shea Homes of Charlotte compiled this infographic to help those homeowners, and home buyers, who are energy conscious navigate the waters... or should we say the currents?
For starters, energy conservation is not energy efficiency, while the two both deal with energy use they do so in different ways. Energy conservation is going without in order to reduce energy expenditure, turning lights off or air drying dishes are both great examples of these. On the other hand energy efficiency aims to provide a service using less energy, so instead of turning off the light bulb you would swap it our for a more energy efficient one, such as a CFL bulb.
At Shea Homes of Charlotte, there are many energy efficient components of our homes that come standard, like our low E3 windows, but there are additional options that our customers building a home can choose to invest in, such as a radiant barrier (which we highly recommend). These components of the homes are reshaping the way Americans are looking at their homes expenses. As shown in the pie chart above space heating accounts for 42% of a home's energy use on average so any improvements that can be made, like double checking the sealing in the home with blower door tests to reduce air leaks, can help to lower this large part of energy costs in the home. Over time the savings that these energy efficient improvements can offer add up and can recoup any initial investment.
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