I was looking around the internet searching for anything having to do with green building, sustainable living, etc.. and I came upon an interesting article over at the Washington Post about one county’s response to global climate change. Montgomery county in Maryland has been pretty aggressive towards reducing their environmental footprint, from using biodiesel in all of their city vehicles, providing tax incentives to home owners with solar, wind or geothermal installations and encouraging telecommuting programs for their employees. Now, city officials just passed legislation which would require all new single family homes built in Montgomery county to meet the federal energy efficiency standards known as Energy Star.
Being an official Energy Star Partner we fully support this federal program and what they are doing to create better energy efficiency standards in products, buildings and homes. However, I am still on the fence as to whether or not I agree with this type of legislation, requiring these Energy Star standards to be met.
Will this legislation help the environment? Absolutely, but at what cost?
Will individuals with lesser income be able to afford these higher efficiency homes or will this new legislation hang them out to dry? I know that by using integrated design, these standards can be met with little or no cost increase, but that may not be the case for low income housing, which, incidentally would fall under this legislation.
What are your thoughts on this type of legislation making Energy Star standards mandatory? Leave your comments below!