What’s the use of a fine house if you havn’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?
Henry David Thoreau

Conventional buildings are the largest source of green-house gas emissions, responsible for 40% of worldwide energy flow and material use, that is even more than that of the transport and industry sector. Buildings are also hazardous to health at times. In the United States, buildings account for:

39 percent of total energy use
12 percent of the total water consumption
68 percent of total electricity consumption
38 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions

But there are houses like the German Passive Haus, that make more energy than it uses. Renewable energy design, better insulation and more efficient appliances could reduce our household energy demand by 80%. The cheapest source of energy is conservation. The Eco Tour shows that we can do it, in a myriad of ways.