Energy Efficient Homes Study
What is driving green building in homes? Pike Research, www.pikeresearch.com, Boulder, Colo., has released the Energy Efficient Homes study, which examines the U.S. market for energy-efficient products and services in both new home construction and remodeling industries.
According to Pike, as new home sales and remodeling activity slow, residential product and service categories have experienced a drop in business, but coming out of the recession a positive outlook about green products and services for homes is emerging.
The research highlights growth potential for key residential energy efficiency areas. While this does include Energy Star, research also shows home energy auditing and the home improvement market will also grow.
The home energy auditing business will triple from 2009 to 2014, growing from $8.1 billion to $23.4 billion. While there are a number of ways homeowner can do home energy audits, some whole home automation systems can track energy trends.
Pike Research shows the energy efficient home improvement market will grow from $38.3 billion in 2009 to $50.2 billion in 2014. This will include electrical systems, appliances, and HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) systems, among others. Automated home technology can also help track some of the energy efficient trends in these systems.
Clint Wheelock, managing director, Pike Research, points to a few factors that will continue to make green building a top priority including new environmental awareness among consumers, government incentives, utility energy efficiency programs, and new offerings and rebates from product manufacturers.