[Tech] Solar Panels Becoming a Standard Feature for Homebuilders

 
This article was originally published on Natural Awakenings:
https://issuu.com/holisticchoicepublishing/docs/nahtx_july_digital

Smaller footprints and greener features ranked at the top of the trends list among a 2017 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study published in the Green Multifamily and Single Family Homes 2017 SmartMarket Brief. At least one third of single family and multifamily builders surveyed said that green building is more than 60% of their portfolio. Within this category, nearly 30% of multifamily builders fall into the category of “dedicated” green, i.e. more than 90% of their portfolio is in green building. Within the single family side, this is nearly 20%. By 2022, both single family and multifamily sectors are expected to increase to 50% for people who invest in green.

Increasing energy efficiency continues to be the most common method of improving the performance of a green home, followed by creating a healthy indoor living environment. The report also found that a considerable number of builders are developing net zero homes or plan to build net zero homes in the near future. Among those surveyed, 29 percent of single family home builders have built a net zero home in the past two years, and 44 percent expect to do so in the next two years. Builders see increased customer demand and a competitive advantage as the top two drivers to develop net zero homes.

Literature: Wherein Lies Progress

Swimming in a glowing haze of leaden fog
Breathes raging—lungs crushed with smog
Legs rushing me inside to an iron shell
Man-made shelter in this man-made hell

Outside lies a silhouette of a dying tree,
Skyline smokestacks dance lazily free,
Murky trails rooted in economic demands
To cherish ravages of a thousand lands
A thousand heavens blotted, stained
Such is price of “progress” attained

The vacant ether draws ever nearer
Shall we ever arise from our stupor?
The void through which our planet runs—
A change must brush through every nation
For progress stems not from devastation