Thanks to subscriber, Robert O'Brien, for sharing this story with us.  It reminded me of the stories I hear about people who buy high-efficiency refrigerators, and then put the old fridge in the garage to chill the brewskis.

When the Big Box stores get into the turbine business you just have to know that change is in the wind (couldn't resist). It's not for all the stores, but I invite you to read the rest here.

Yes, Home Depot does lobby Congress. That's their right. Here's a breakdown on how much they spent in the first quarter of 2011, and what they focused on. Note the push for CO detectors. That's a no-brainer for them, right?

Thanks to my daughter Erin (who puts this newsletter together) for the heads-up on this story from Fast Company. It's amazing the difference one person can make when that person focuses on an end result.

Or maybe not. Depends on how you see America's place in building stuff. Remember when we used to build stuff? I mean really big stuff, mined from big ideas. Now we get the Chinese to design and build that stuff for us. Got jobs?

Need even more proof that our military is driving, and will continue to drive, the market for energy efficiency, and for very good, life-saving reasons? Here 'tis.

I'm sharing this story with you because of where it's happening. Marburg made news a few years ago (I told you about it) when the local government declared that whenever you fix or alter a roof you must install solar panels. Here's that story. Good examples of how European law drives the market when it comes to changing habits. Can you see us getting such laws? Me neither.

What we're learning about good construction and great insulation as we watch the Passive House movement, the folks in the U.K. learned 30 years ago when they build these houses. None of this is really that complicated. It does go to show that common sense is not necessarily common practice, though.

Hug your kids.