You’ll design your eco-friendly home to reduce the use of carbon dioxide compared to the average home in the state. Estimate greenhouse gas emissions for your house. Use these three government tools to generate the data you need.
First, go to the US Energy Information Administration and click “Average monthly residential electricity consumption, prices, and bills by state.” Find your state and the average kilowatt-hours of electricity used per month in your state. Multiply that number by 12 to get the amount of energy used in one year.
Then visit the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator and enter the kilowatt-hours of energy for one year into the “If You Have Energy Data” box. Select kilowatt-hours of electricity and click Calculate. The kilowatts converted into emissions equivalents (such as miles driven and average household energy). This information will give you a better perspective on the greenhouse gas emissions for the average home in your state.
Finally, click the EPA's Power Profiler and enter the ZIP code. Choose one of the electrical companies listed (any one will work) and press Enter. Scroll down to see how much of the energy in this ZIP code comes from renewable energy and nuclear energy (a nonrenewable, cleaner energy source) compared to fossil fuel sources (oil, coal, and gas). You’ll also see bar graphs that compare your ZIP code’s energy profile to the national average.
Based on the data you gathered, answer the following questions:
What conclusion can you draw about the emissions of greenhouse gases for the average home in your state or ZIP code? What factors do you think contribute to this emission rate?
How do the emissions in your ZIP code compare to greenhouse gas emissions across the nation? Even if it’s better than the national average, is there room for improvement?