On: Supertanker uses 9.8% less fuel thanks to 130-foot...

[brianwawok]

Or builders.

You can spend $4000 to get an 80% furnace (i.e. 20% of energy burned is wasted), or $4200 to get a 95% effecient furnace (5% of energy burned is wasted). As a homeowner, its a nobrainer as the second one pays for itself in a few months. As a builder - The house sells for the exact same price, so you put in the crappy one and pocket another $200.

Multiply by similar decisions of many things (windows, heat pumps, insulation), and millions of homes, and it's a pretty huge difference.

[ianschmitz → brianwawok]

Indeed. The only way to prevent it is to update minimum code to require a higher level efficiency.

[brianwawok → ianschmitz]

Which works good in this case, someone middleclass or higher buying a house.

But it also screws the poorest people, as it is very regressive to push expensive requirements down to the poor.

So you need to also include some kind of rebate for lower income folks..