Energy user

(cont'd)

"Conventional wisdom" has said that we in the U.S. may expect lower energy demand in the next few decades, since millennials prefer small living spaces and, for transport, bikes or high-mpg vehicles. 

But their direction now appears to be moving toward SUV's and suburban houses. So CW is changing to recognize that energy demand will stay high.

Where those millennials plan to live is significant to those who predict and plan for energy demand. That's because "the buildings where we live, work and vacation consume almost 40 percent of the nation’s energy–about twice that of all the cars on the road. This single fact explains why so much digital tech and public policy is preoccupied with “smart buildings” to save energy. " (For a look at a smart building, go here.)

An average house uses about as much energy per year as an SUV does. Just to build an average home consumes about as much energy as an SUV does over ten years.