[Fat Charlie]

The problems there are payback time and the market.

The housing market values square feet, number of bathrooms, bedrooms and garages. I've never seen a real estate listing that even mentioned insulation or furnace type (unless it was to mention radiant in the floors of a room or two). It's hard for them to factor in the value of reduced heating costs in the price of the house.

Payback time hurts at construction time, just like with solar. Building in a lifetime of reduced heating and cooling expenses costs a lot right now, while the benefits trickle in very slowly, if they can ever be quantified directly. Banks don't like financing extra insulation costs because when the house gets sold, it still comes back to just how many bedrooms you've got.

When I'm rich and famous I'll have a passive house. Solar and ****. Until then I'm stuck in a regular house and I try to be efficient in it.