Shopping Product Reviews

Will Shoppers Go Green in Austin, Texas?

In the city of Austin, a new energy ordinance will require homeowners to complete an energy efficiency audit before selling their home. The audit report must be disclosed to the buyer of your home. The energy audit and disclosure will become part of the home buying process in mid-2009.

In Austin’s hot climate, energy efficiency has a lot to do with how efficiently the central air conditioning system operates. We are more concerned with cooling than heating, but both systems are used throughout the year. The new law aims to improve the energy performance of older homes in these critical areas:

Finding leaks and closing gaps in air conditioning ducts. (Ducts can leak 10% to 30%!)

Improve attic insulation to help retain air conditioning.

Keeping the sun warm with sun screens on the windows.

Reduce the loss of air conditioning through cracks in doors and windows.

After some resistance from homeowners and groups, the law fell short of making power upgrades mandatory to sell a home. In today’s market, there is no point in adding difficulty or cost to the sales process. Therefore, the law was reduced to only require sellers to conduct an energy audit and disclose the results to potential buyers.

Will buyers demand that the home they buy be satisfactory in terms of energy efficiency? The market will have to fix this. I think that, in time, they probably will. Sellers will anticipate this by taking steps to correct the waste of energy in your home. Most sellers would like to have a positive report to show potential buyers. They will want to have a certificate of good health. And we must admit that the elements necessary for the tests are really fundamental.

They are so fundamental that they are generally not noticeable. These are not the eco-friendly features that are ego-satisfying or visually appealing. We don’t see them in Dwell magazine. They are not as exciting as wind turbines, solar panels, rainwater harvesting, or Icestone meters. These are things that most people would rather not think about. As caulking and caulking for ducts. And unglamorous dark screens and dusty old attic insulation. These aren’t the updates that make shoppers say, “I love it.”

Therefore, they have never been the main concerns. Austin’s new energy audit law is going to change all that. It will bring these behind-the-scenes basics into the spotlight. Old houses will meet new technology. Homeowners will be able to improve the basic energy efficiency of homes. That will mean lower utility bills. And fewer carbon-shedding power plants. And, to a greener Austin.

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