DaninDanville

Don't they have building codes?

As to usefullness, fully weatherizing and insulating all houses that use oil for heating would save more oil than we import from the middle east. Doesn't that sound like a good thing? for other fuels, efficiency means we don't have to find those fuels. Additionally, the money is saved for the life of the house, meaning huge savings.

Also, mortgage companies will give higher loans for well insulated houses - less payment to energy costs means more available for housing costs.

Saving energy through efficiency improvements is far cheaper in the long run (literally pennies on the dollar) than trying to mine the raw materials to produce it. The problem is the prospective house buyer has no input into this process beyond the price of the house. A builder has more incentive to put in fancy counter tops and inefficient furnace/hvac and insultaion than to spend money on efficiency, weatherizing and insulation because houses are marketed almost soley on fickle asthetics rather than function. It is primarily a marketing issue. Maybe to sell energy improvements you have to market the savings and what those savings can do for you in the long run (better loan availability, lower monthly energy payments, more comfortable house, etc).