[Jim Sims]

Tuesday evening my wife and I had dinner with an architect, her husband and their young son. She works for a non-profit organization (supported by foundation money) that is promoting more efficient buildings and housing on a national basis. She stated that the country was way over built in terms of real estate and built for business models and ways-of-living that are likely to become obsolete for various reasons (mainly technology and quality of life). Her organization has been meeting with representatives of Congress and the new administration. They are proposing a work stimulus/energy efficiency improvement/carbon foot print reduction program to the government that would motivate home owners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes through a program of mortgage interest rate buy downs. For every level of improvement the mortgage interest rate drops with homes reaching the highest standard of efficiency qualifying for a 1% mortgage rate for example. The costs of the needed improvements/renovations would be offset by reduced monthly mortgage payments and smaller future utility costs. The economy would benefit from the jobs created in this effort, the country would reduce its dependence on foreign energy supplies and we could burn less coal in this country. The overall quality of the country's housing stock would be improved. Home renovation has always seemed to be very inefficient as compared to new construction so there may be big gains to be had in developing better ways to do it. There would seem to be significant work and opportunities for architects, builders, craftsmen, construction laborers and technical innovators if such a program goes forward. Best wishes for a good 2009. Jim