There’s something about the beginning of a year that makes the fortune tellers come out in droves. But I guess it’s fun to ponder and pontificate about the future — to string data together to predict what will happen in the next 365 days. Buildipedia took a shot at identifying green home trends for 2012, and here are the five that they list:
It turns out that a green, energy efficient home built with sustainable materials is “most wanted,” according to a Yahoo! Real Estate survey of 1,500 current and aspiring homeowners. Homeowners prefer a green home (50%) over a custom home (38%), water view (38%), suburb (31%), or living on the beach (27%). Yahoo! found that homeowners don’t want urban locations, gated communities, or castle-style homes.
You’re shutting off water, raking leaves, and probably don’t have the slightest concern for irrigation control. But, keep in mind for Spring 2012, the EPA recently announced that irrigation controllers will be the first outdoor product eligible for the WaterSense label. To date, WaterSense has been available for showerheads, toilets, urinals, sink faucets, and entire homes.
Earlier this week, the Shelton Group released its seventh annual Energy Pulse report, which has 450 pages of analysis, charts, graphs, and crosstabs based on the survey of 1,502 Americans. I haven’t seen the $5,000 report but would like to share some takeaways from a release and executive summary. Particularly, of the respondents, 42% had installed high-efficiency windows, 39% had installed extra insulation, 37% had installed higher efficiency HVAC systems, and 24% had installed a higher efficiency water heater.
This month, to provide a new and smarter approach to the home improvement store experience, TreeHouse opened its first retail location in Austin, Texas. The company will offer an assortment of curated materials and products, such as paints, floor and wall coverings, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, cleaning supplies, storage and organization options, and solar power products, as well as services for flooring, countertop, door and window, smart home system, and solar installations.
Project Profiles
