In chicago when you are buying a home or condo you are supposed to get the last 12 months of energy bills like electricity and natural gas. I have not met a realtor yet that would turn it over without a hassle. The hapless homeowner is often terrorized by the first utility bills for winter heating and summer cooling. It would be great to see this information standardized and made mandatory nationwide. It would really encourage everyone to make better decisions.

This would be a huge help in the home purchase I hope to make this coming year.

I second that. Sign me up!!

I've been keeping a close eye on the Sunset Breezehouse for about a year or more now and hoping that one day in the future I would own a pre-fab of my own. This was certainly one of my favourites.

Electrical goods such as washing machines and fridges are required to have energy consumption data. it is only logical that homes that have a much bigger impact also have similar or more comprehensive data.

Mafan Green lasers rulz

in France when you are selling a home, you have to get an expert to check for different things like a diagnostic of the house for asbestos cement, lead, termite, heating system and how efficient, noise pollution, the gaz and electricity.... and you cann't sell if you don't do these and inform the buyers....

I think Michelle Kaufman's assertion that her Sunset house is superior to the "typical home" is specious at best and blatantly deceptive at its worst. There are so many variables at play here that there is no way one could make an *accurate* assessment of carbon output, BTU's, etc. Shameless.

My feeling is that 99.98% of the public couldn't give two cr@ps about this type of information. The "howmuchamonth?" consumer is only concerned with granite countertops, steel appliances and crown moulding, and whether they can get cash back at closing.

here, here, bring on energy labels for homes! knowledge is more power. or less, as the case here may be.

I think this is a great idea. It would be tough to compare it to a "regular" home because of all of the variables, though. With oil prices well over $100 a barrel, people are interested in how much their utility bills are going to be. The group of homebuyers that hejiranyc is referring to can no longer get a loan. Huge areas of the country have been blackballed by mortgage insurance companies.

hejiranyc, I think the average consumer does care about their (skyrocketing) utility bills. Being environmentally conscious and being cheap have a surprisingly large amount in common. There being a general loss of both credit and equity in the economy, more people are pinching their pennies and complaining about their gas bills. But a house is an exciting thing, and people in an emotional rush do not always consider such costs in their budgeting. Especially when a house is new and has no billing history to inquire about. I wouldn't underestimate the American consumer when it comes to the desire to save money (even if it's just to make room to purchase other stuff.)

brarian, the average consumer wants to save money, but they also want what they are "entitled" to, e.g., granite countertops, marble baths, jacuzzis, etc. Sure, gas is expensive and carbon is producing climate change, but why stop driving the SUV? Because they are "entitled" to drive it because the environment means nothing if it means they cannot load up their Hummer H2's with bulky Chinese-made crap from Walmart. It's the same mindset for why people continue to eat meat despite all of the evidence indicating that it is the single largest pollution/energy wasting source of them all, let alone extremely unhealthy. But people keep right on eating meat just because it tastes good and they are "entitled" to it. It's the mindset for why people making $15 an hour were buying $500,000 houses using suicide loan instruments during the recent real estate bubble. Why? Because they were "entitled" to it. It's why people are addicted to buying things they cannot afford on credit cards- because they are "entitled" to iPods and flat panel TVs.

As you can see, I do not have a lot of faith in the 'average' American consumer's ability/willingness to be responsible with their purchasing habits. Accordingly, given a choice between a modest green abode (not greenwashed like M. Kaufman's house) vs. a Toll Brothers McMansion with brick facade and columns, I think the McMansion would be chosen 99.8% of the time.

I have been loving the Breeze house for years. My favorite is actually the 2112 Glidehouse. I keep a copy of the floor plan on my bulletin board to remind me of my goal of owning one. Unfortunately, her designs are too expensive even for this 40 yr old first time buyer. Despite a great job and a great life, it feels like I'll be renting forever.