housing
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Home Energy Score could be a much-needed MPG for houses
The score gives a simple 1-10 rating of a home's energy performance and then -- this is the exciting part! -- a higher score owners might achieve if they take recommended steps like adding insulation, installing a programmable thermostat, shutting down the steel refinery in their basement, etc. So a home might achieve a 6 and have an expected upgraded score of 8.
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Big exciting news about building codes. No, really
Maybe it's more inspiring to look at glitzy new green developments like UniverCity or Vancouver's Olympic Village, but these new energy codes improve every new home by 30 percent, not just the ambitious projects.
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Fix public housing by reconnecting it to the street grid
An aging public housing project faces the same challenge as a ritzy New Urbanist neighborhood -- it's been sliced off from the surrounding grid. Here's how to fix it.
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Does new public transit increase gentrification and lower ridership?
Smart Planet points us to a report from the Dukakis Center at Northeastern University that concludes that new transit can lead to gentrification.
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A very impressive two weeks for the federal sustainability partnership
The Partnership for Sustainable Communities has announced an impressive amount of federal assistance to sustainability projects across the country.
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New study says young people want apartments, not houses; iPhones, not cars
A new Canadian study indicates that more and more people prefer to live in high-density apartments.
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Farmers and travelers in a tar-sands boomtown
Stratospheric wages draw laborers from around the world to Fort McMurray, Alberta. So how does a booming oil workers' camp become a town?
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How to find an energy efficient mortgage
Energy efficient mortgages are a potentially transformative tool that rewards homebuyers with well-sealed houses, on the thinking that if your heating and cooling bills are low, you'll have more money to make mortgage payments. A new guide can help you get one.
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Exclusive: Fannie regulator digs in on clean-energy opposition
The Federal Housing Finance Agency solidified its opposition to the home-greening program PACE in a letter to members of Congress.