A study by economists Grant Jacobsen of the University of Oregon and Matthew Kotchen of Yale University compared monthly electricity and natural-gas bills of 2,200 Gainesville, Fla., homes built three years before and three years after Florida tightened its home-building code in 2002. They found that homes built after the change consumed, on average, 4 percent less electricity and 6 percent less natural gas. The improvements stemmed from several actions, including using less-leaky air ducts, more-heat-resistant windows, better insulated attics, and certain white roofing products.
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