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On April 22nd – Earth Day – The Montgomery Country Council in Maryland passed one of the most ambitiously efficient pieces of legislation in the nation: a requirement that all new single-family homes and townhouses satisfy the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR standards, which encourage the use of energy-efficient windows, effective insulation, and tightly-sealed structures.
This new generation of homes would use 15 - 30 percent less energy than those built under current county guidelines. Despite these promising figures, the proposal was not an immediate success, as it was defeated in a Subcommittee of the Montgomery County Council. A staunch supporter of the proposal, Alliance to Save Energy President Kateri Callahan contacted each member of the Montgomery County Council before the final vote, in which the proposal passed unanimously.
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