Bigger houses are resulting in zero saved energy (Photos)

February 18th, 2013

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Houses built in 2000 and later are 30 percent larger and consuming about 2 percent more energy. The improved construction standards have resulted in zero energy savings for the United States.

A new book, The Myth of Resource Efficiency, says that increasing energy efficiency won’t save much energy at all–when consumers have more energy efficient homes, they just use the money saved on energy use to build larger homes. When driving more energy efficient vehicles, they can afford to drive more miles. Savings from things like energy-efficiency or giving up meat in the diet allows consumers to vacation more, using more energy.

This is also called the Rebound Effect, or Jevons Paradox, and the new housing data proves that it is happening. Way back in 1885, William Stanley Jevons noted that as coal burning became more efficient, people burned more coal and this has become known as the Jevons Paradox. Coal prices were decreasing at that time.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), released in 2012, contains data that shows that the newer homes:

have about 30 percent larger square footage. Home size is strongly associated with energy consumed for heating, cooling , lighting and appliances
are more likely than older ones to have dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, and two or more refrigerators
have more computers, TVs, and TV peripherals like digital video recorders (DVRs) and video game systems
averaged about 18 percent more energy consumption for appliances, electronics, and lighting in 2009
averaged 21 percent less energy for space heating, mainly due to increased equipment efficiency, improved building shells built to new energy codes, and warmer locations
are using more air conditioning; 85 percent of new homes have air conditioning
are being built with higher ceilings, 52 percent in the 2000s versus 17 percent in the 1970s have higher than the traditional eight-foot ceilings
accounted for about 14 percent of all occupied housing units in 2009
are being built in the more temperate South, 53 percent compared to 35 percent previously
are being built the largest in the extreme winter weather areas of the U.S., with the smallest in milder climates.

The EIA says “square footage typically stays fixed over the life of a home and it is a characteristic that is expensive, even impractical to alter to reduce energy consumption.” The RECS report shows homes built in the 1970s and 1980s average less than 1,800 square feet, versus 2,200 square feet in the 1990s, and 2,465 square feet in the 2000s.

Some interesting data is broken out by state. For example, 70 percent of California households use energy-efficient light bulbs versus 47 percent of Pennsylvania households. In Wisconsin, 48 percent use separate freezers versus 14 percent in Massachusetts. In Tennessee, 12 percent use front-loading clothes washers versus 24 percent in neighboring Virginia–front-loaders use much less water and energy than top-loaders.

The four authors of The Myth of Resource Efficiency suggest that “taxes could make up for any savings introduced by efficiency improvements, thereby avoiding the paradox. In the United States, at least, this approach is politically infeasible, but the general principle is sound.” A 2009 Treehugger article on The Jevons Paradox and energy efficiency says that “when stuff is expensive, people use less of it. And prices are going to rise, whether we tax them or not.”

Martin Holladay at Green Building Advisor wrote in 2009 “I’m calling instead for the voluntary adoption of a simpler lifestyle: one with less work, fewer possessions, and more leisure time. A graceful transition to such a lifestyle would be the greatest possible gift to our children and grandchildren.” With the lack of jobs and rising costs of living, more people are involuntarily living simpler lives. As painful as it is, it is better for the earth.

Source Article from https://www.examiner.com/article/bigger-houses-are-resulting-zero-saved-energy?cid=rss