An analysis of trends in energy-efficiency improvements reveals the success of policies enacted during the previous decades.

"Compared to 2009, single-family homes built before 1980 are now better insulated, have relatively newer heating equipment, and are more likely to have undergone an energy audit," according to an article by Elizabeth La Jeunesse.
"Homeowners' annual spending for related projects—including roofing, siding, windows/doors, insulation and HVAC—expanded from $50 billion to nearly $70 billion over 2009-2015," adds La Jeunesse.
La Jeunesse is sharing the results of Harvard Center for Joint Housing Studies analysis of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). The article credits the improvement of energy efficiency in the nation's older housing stock to incentives put in place when energy prices spike in the mid-2000s. At the federal level, La Jeunesse, credits the Obama Administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, "which extended and strengthened tax credits for energy improvements to existing homes, including insulation, windows, roofs, water heaters, furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, and central air conditioners."
Energy prices have dropped enough since then, however, that the article includes a warning about a relative lack of incentives for energy-efficiency improvements.
FULL STORY: Significant Improvements in Energy Efficiency Characteristics of the US Housing Stock

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.

Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
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