An increasing number of Americans are making an effort to be more environmentally cautious, especially in the wake of natural disasters that have ravished local communities across the country.
This is especially so for De Young Properties, an environmentally friendly home building company that specializes in the creation of net-zero energy homes.
The company has built more than 140 single-family homes in three different communities, setting a precedent that could bring 100,000 zero-energy homes a year to California, according to CNBC.
From the article:
The homebuilder's early investment in zero-energy construction was prescient. If you buy a new house in California within the next few years, there's a good chance it will be built along similar lines.
In December, California instituted a new requirement that calls for most new homes and multi-family residential buildings up to three stories high to include solar rooftop panels beginning in 2020.
Depending on the specifics of the design and the residence's energy consumption pattern, solar panels could produce all the electricity needed for the home.
According to the article, the state's ultimate goal is to reduce its carbon footprint by producing more net-zero energy homes.
Interestingly, the article notes that in 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that nearly 39% of the total energy consumed in the country was in the residential and commercial sectors.
If implemented, California’s housing market could be one of the first to see a significant reduction in its carbon footprint.
