According to numbers recently released by the EPA, more than 29,000 ENERGY STAR homes were built in Texas in 2010. This represents almost a quarter of all homes constructed to the popular EPA standard across the nation.

These numbers, which include an increase in ENERGY STAR’s total market share are not a surprise; either is Texas’s continued domination of the market. It will be interesting to see if the trend continues into 2012 as the program moves towards its controversial Version 3.0 specifications. Continue this article to read the NAHB press release and see what other states are popular for ENERGY STAR builders.

» Read more: Texas Continues to Lead the Way in Energy Efficient Home Building – and it’s not even close

On June 20, a coalition of 20 business organizations including NAHB and led by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) filed the fourth in a series of briefs challenging the regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“The EPA has consistently pursued an aggressive regulatory agenda that has burdened industry with unrealistic mandates and costly regulations,” said Chip Yost, NAM’s vice president of energy and natural resources. » Read more: Industry Groups Challenge EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulations

Remember that article I wrote about ducts installed against the roof deck and how I said it was probably the absolute worst single location for installing ducts?  Well, in the comments, Dave Roberts, a senior engineer at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), wrote about a paper he co-authored last year and included a link to it. Up against the deck may be the worst place in the attic to install ducts, but Roberts shows that putting them in the attic at all is the worst place in the house you can install ducts.

Read full article by Allison Bailes by clicking here.