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Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.
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Dear Dot,
My wife and I are looking to buy a newly built home and are talking to builders. Here in southeast PA (we’re formerly from Brooklyn), there is no discussion about environmentally sensitive building or efficient heating/cooling issues. We get blank stares when we mention these issues.
Is there a handy checklist you can recommend for us to ask a builder to include in a home in this area? Or things we should look for?
—Joe Lorusso
Dear Joe,
In the mid aughts, when Mr. Dot and I were renovating our leaky, mansard-roofed, two-storey 1960s house, we sought out expertise on installing solar panels. We also considered geothermal heating. But the Dots were a bit ahead of the curve, and we were, like you, Joe, mostly greeted with blank stares. So I understand your frustration. Except. Except it's roughly two decades later, and solar panels are as common as dandelions, heat pumps
are having a moment, and who in their right mind would even consider an appliance that wasn't energy-efficient? What's more, Pennsylvania, while admittedly not Brooklyn, isn't exactly a backwater. So … what gives? Alas, it seems your fate to be something of a Pennsylvania pioneer, pushing forward with environmental consciousness into new territory and urging those around you to travel alongside you.
So, whether you end up buying an existing home or opt for a new build, Dot wants to equip you with what you need to consider or seek out. …
What does Dot suggest? Read on.
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