One million energy-efficient homes qualifying for the Energy Star rating have been built in the U.S. since the program was launched in 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency said.
This year, Energy Star households will save $270 million -- or an average of $200 to $400 each -- on utility bills. The homes, which tend to be at least 15% more energy efficient than standard homes, will also avoid more than 4 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
Nearly 17% of all single-family homes built in 2008 qualified for Energy Star, compared with 12% the year before. Across the country, more than 6,500 are building to the program’s standards.
The EPA also released a list of the top 20 cities for Energy Star homes, lead by the Houston area, with 144,420 total homes built. Following were Dallas, Las Vegas and Phoenix regions, with the Los Angeles sprawl rounding out the top five with 53,673 homes.
1.Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas: 144,420
2.Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas: 102,872
3.Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.: 79,929
4.Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.: 73,021
5.Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario: 53,673
6.New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.: 25,168
7.Tucson: 18,970
8.San Antonio: 18,847
9.Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.: 18,208
10.San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos: 17,515
11.Columbus, Ohio: 17,396
12.Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa: 16,400
13.Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.: 13,675
14.Austin-Round Rock, Texas: 13,232
15.Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.: 12,454
16.San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont: 10,523
17.Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass., and N.H.: 10,192
18.Denver-Aurora, Colo.: 7,809
19.Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.: 7,619
20.Oklahoma City, Okl.: 7,498
(Article courtesy of the LA Times).
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