Each year, the efficiency of America’s housing stock increases because of advances in residential technologies and code standards. Despite gains in efficiency, energy use per home is increasing because the average home size is increasing. “The average U.S. home size has increased forty percent in one generation, and the number of 4,000 square foot homes is up fifty percent in the past fifteen years,” said consumer advocate
Clark Howard on a recent talk show. The upside of an increase in average home size is that energy efficiency saves even more.

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