Hannah Roselle
Martha Bell
Geography30, Final Project
1 May 2014
Residential Energy Efficiency When the topic of energy efficiency is brought up, many people do not know how large of an issue it has become. People think that it is such a hard issue to tackle, but if it is brought down to a personal and residential level, it becomes more personal. Residential energy efficiency is considered a human-environment issue. It involves humans in several ways. For example the human decision-making process can shape and change the natural environment. In this case, whether a person decides to be energy efficient and sustainable or not can affect the environment that they live in. If a person uses an excessive amount of fossil fuels by have several cars instead of using public transportation it can cause the air around them to become polluted. One third of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in our atmosphere is produced simply from on-road vehicles (“Cars, Trucks, & Air Pollution”). Just as humans affect the environment, the environment affects humans as well. If the environment is better, in turn the quality of human life will be better. When there is less pollution the air that humans breathe is cleaner. Also when the environment is more sustainable, it is then better for future generations. The effects that the environment has on humans and vice versa are an ongoing cycle.
Energy efficiency is important for countless reasons, all of which will make the world that we all live in a much better place. Energy efficiency saves money; the average household spends about $5,550 per year on energy. Just by making energy-efficient home improvements and taking action will save hundreds of dollars. Being energy efficient also improves the economy by saving money on energy costs, creating new jobs, spurring innovation. Another reason that energy efficiency is important because it improves national security. Energy efficiency safeguards our nation by decreasing the overall demand for energy and therefore the need to import and transport fossil fuels. An obvious reason that energy efficiency is important is because it is good for the environment; we use less energy therefore we save precious natural resources and cut down on pollution. If all of these things are improved because of energy efficiency then the overall quality of life will be improved. We will be more comfortable, especially in our homes with the consideration of insulation. We will be more productive; businesses can improve productivity by taking advantage of energy efficiency in office building and production processes. We will also have smart growth technologies and transportation systems that will make us more accessible and make it easier for use to get around ("Top 5 Reasons to Be Energy Efficient"). Ultimately the environment and humans lives are at stake if we do no become more energy efficient.
I feel like this topic is not easily solved because it is not easy to create new technologies over night that will save mass amounts of energy to save the environment. It is an extreme process to be able to start creating a new technology that will help with energy efficiency. First someone has to brainstorm an idea that could potentially be beneficial to the environment. Since 2009, E3T has used a standard process for identifying, screening and assessing emerging technologies. This framework, developed through interdisciplinary collaboration with public power stakeholders, consists of a series of assessment stages, in which our criteria increase in precision and confidence. Each of several "stage gates" provides a decision point for advancing technologies with greatest potential for adoption by energy efficiency programs in the Northwest ("Energy Efficiency-Technology Selection Process”). Along with that, it takes more than one person who takes action to save energy to make a change in the environment. It will take a lot to get a large group of people to do something let alone an entire nation. Building awareness should be the first step to fix this problem. The majority of people do not understand how big of an issues energy efficiency is and how it effects the environment. After people understand the problem, educating them on the subject will cure them of their ignorance of the subject. Developing school and university curricula on energy us and productivity, conduct consumer outreach programs will help the people get a better idea of what is going on. Developing technical certification, and providing related workforce training and continuing education will allow people to put what they know understand about energy efficiency into action (“Educate”). Some people even make the stretch to say that letting the environment and nature run its course is the best solutions to any environmental issues that are coming about. There have been studies that show that the human population may not cause the cause of the increased temperature on the Earth. Some people would argue that the climate is always fluctuating and changing and has been doing that since we have been able to see (A Big Picture Look At "Earth's Temperature”). This will allow people to say that become more energy efficient is not worth their time and it will not help the environment because there is nothing wrong with what is happening. This then leads into the morals and beliefs that a certain person has, whether they think that it is morally right to help the environment thrive or just let it run it course.
This topic connects to both justice and ethics. Ethics is knowing the difference between right and wrong. Therefore ethics is related because it depends on a persons beliefs and morals on how they handle the idea of energy efficiency. This also goes hand in hand with virtue versus action. Virtue is what we should be whereas actions is what we should do. Some people know that it is better to be energy efficient, but they might not do anything to enforce it like recycling or turning the lights off when they are not in a room. Other people understand that action is much more important in the case of energy efficiency. Talking about what can be done to make the environment better is not going to do anything other than waste precious time. If more people took action to help the environment by being energy efficient, the environment and human lives would be all around better in quality. Distributive justice also comes into play here as well. Distributive justice deals with the distributions of gains and losses across populations and the consequences of actions. For the people who just have the virtue part of ethics, their consequences are more severe than those who actually take actions. If a person is not energy efficient or makes no attempt to be, the environment will eventually dwindle along with the quality of life. Being able to have more people who are taking action in a community will allow them to benefit from their actions and live a much happier and healthier life (Bell). Getting the local government would just be one effective way of helping with residential energy efficiency. Local governments can encourage energy efficiency in the construction of new homes throughout the different communities. They can give incentives to local homebuilders who agree to incorporate energy efficiency into their building practices. When homes use the Energy Star specification, they are fifteen percent more energy efficient than home that have not decided to use these specifications. Building homes using the Energy Star specification can have very positive outcomes. First, it improves the home quality and the homeowner’s comfort in their newly built home. Next, these specifications also are able to lower the energy demand that is used throughout the home on a daily basis. They are also able to reduce air pollution and the greenhouse gas emissions into the environment. Some incentives that the local governments could give to the homebuilders that use energy efficient practices can include many different think like discounted or delayed permit fees, priority with code processing and field inspections, increased density allowances, and discounted utility hook-up fees and rates. While new homes can be designed from the ground up with energy efficiency in mind, existing homes typically offer many opportunities for improvement as well. Again at the local level, governments can push for home improvements. They can encourage homeowner to perform comprehensive home assessments and implement the recommended measures from the assessment. Making improvements on already existing homes is a cost effective way to provide significant energy savings to homeowners. Making energy efficient changes and updates to a home can also improve the health and durability of the housing stock. The local government can coordinate with utilities, trade groups, product retailers and other stakeholders to influence existing and future residential energy efficient efforts. Only good things can come from using energy efficient building practicing when building new homes and making energy efficient improvements to existing homes. The local governments are able to reduce energy consumption in their jurisdictions by giving incentives to their residents for being more sustainable. Incentives will then encourage others to follow suit and become more energy efficient in their homes. Local governments can also help save homeowners a lot of money by instating residential energy efficient policies and programs. Promoting and advertising energy efficiency and energy efficient products can use that in the building and making of a home and that can be used on a daily basis, they are able to help reduce annual energy bills by and estimated average of about seven hundred and fifty dollars ("Energy Star Overview of Achievements”). The local governments and increase investment in local economies. Being and energy efficient community will also provide more jobs for skills people in skilled professions such as energy auditors, home energy raters, contractors, retailers and product distributors. The more jobs the community will in turn help the economy flourish and become more stable. When residential houses are more energy efficient in whole communities, it will help in lower the greenhouse gas emissions. The residential sector is responsible for seventeen percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the entire United States of America (“Residential Energy Efficiency”). All of these different building practices for new homes and improvements for already existing homes will not be just a one time, temporary fix. These improvements are an investment to the environment that will last a long time, if not forever.
Overall, being able to make the environment cleaner to enhance the current quality of life and more sustainable to the future generations is priceless when thinking about the simple, trivial improvements that can be currently done. Only positive results will come from doing what we can to help our environment. Being more residentially energy efficient is a simple start to a solution of a much larger issue that effects everyone who lives on this Earth.

Works Cited
"A Big Picture Look At "Earth's Temperature". Watts Up With That. N.p., 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 01 May 2014.
Bell, Martha. "Basic Ethics Concepts." Basic Ethics Concepts. Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Cars, Trucks, & Air Pollution." Union of Concerned Scientists. N.p., 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Educate." Alliance to Save Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Energy Efficiency-Technology Selection Process." BPA - Energy Efficiency | Technology Selection Process. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Energy Star Overview of Achievements." Energy Star.gov. EPA Climate Protection Partnerships Division, 01 Mar. 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
"Top 5 Reasons to Be Energy Efficient." Alliance to Save Energy. N.p., 20 July 2012. Web. 01 May 2014.
"Residential Energy Efficiency." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.