Various local governments have different housing standards and codes for how homes should be built. It's now time for the U.S. government, or at least state governments, to add to the codes for the betterment of the nation and in a small part help improve the world.
The change that is needed is to mandate that all new homes being built should be able to generate a percentage of the energy they use in a year. The amount of energy should be calculated based on the average consumption for a house in a range of sizes and geographic locations. The percentage of energy that must be produced by the home should be around 25-50% of what is used. I feel this is reasonable, but the percentage would truly need to be determined by a panel of scientists and researchers. In addition to producing energy, each home that is connected to the electrical grid should be built with the capability to sell back the energy they do not use. This eliminates the need for an energy storage system.
To make this transition less painful, I feel that the government should not monitor how much energy is being produced after the home is sold. We do not need "energy police". The benefit to the owners of saving money on their energy costs should be enough incentive to keep using and maintaining their systems (solar, wind, etc...).
There are two ways to make this solution work. A home can produce a large amount of energy, or it can consume a small amount of energy so the required amount to be produced can be small. The heavy use of materials and devices that conserve energy will be extremely beneficial for everyone.
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