Factors Influencing Energy Consumption of Energy Star and Non–Energy Star Homes

Abstract

Because of depleting global energy resources, an economic necessity in the United States is to reduce energy consumption. The construction industry is proceeding to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by developing efficient designs and constructing buildings that have energy-efficient materials and features. In 1992, the United States EPA and DOE introduced the Energy Star (ES) program to promote energy-efficient products that have the same or better services than their counterparts without the Energy Star label. According to the EPA, ES homes that use these products consume less energy than non–Energy Star (NES) homes. However, it is also important to determine other factors that affect the energy consumption of ES and NES homes. Data were collected from 30 ES and 30 NES homes of similar construction for annual electricity and natural gas consumption, appliance characteristics, and homeowners’ behaviors. Analytical results indicated that six factors that are related to the characteristics of the appliances and homeowners’ behaviors were significantly correlated with the energy consumption of these homes.