Window INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

“Remodeling Industry Has Room for Recovery”
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

Energy Efficiencies
According to the Harvard report, homeowners in 2007 spent more than $52 billion of their improvement expenditures on energy-related projects. That’s up from less than $33 billion, in inflation-adjusted terms, a decade earlier. Homes are becoming more efficient as owners are replacing windows, appliances and lighting systems, upgrading heating and air conditioning systems and improving insulation.
And that desire to be more energy efficient might not be completely stifled by a sluggish economy.

Only 17% of the 761 homeowners interviewed for a December survey sponsored by the Propane Education & Research Council said that improving the energy efficiency of their homes has become less important today because they can’t afford to make the improvements. Thirty-nine percent said their homes’ energy efficiency has become more important because they can save on energy costs over the long term.
In fact, 57% of homeowners surveyed said they will probably invest in new home appliances or home improvements in the next year or two. Sixty-one percent of those planning upgrades are doing so to save on monthly energy bills, while only 13% are making the changes to improve the resale value of the home.

Better energy efficiency is also a priority from the top: President Obama’s agenda for energy and the environment, posted on the White House Web site, includes ensuring that 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25% does by 2025. Obama also wants to weatherize one million homes each year.

Source: NARI.org