Energy efficiency will alleviate costs

RE "A GRIM forecast for heating costs," (Page A1, Aug. 4): The home heating "horror show" will not be solved by pouring more money into assistance programs. The only way to solve this problem is to insulate for the increasing energy costs of the future.

Since current oil prices are unlikely to make energy efficiency the number one priority for new home buyers, building codes should be changed to mandate improved insulation to reduce heating costs by 80 percent. No new technology is needed, just thicker walls filled with insulation and sealed against air infiltration.

Improving the efficiency of existing structures and heating systems poses more of a problem (which gets bigger for every home built under current codes), but insulation can still be improved and inefficient furnaces replaced.

The rapid rise in energy costs makes it difficult to afford energy-efficient improvements now, making the proposed "energy bank" invaluable for providing energy-efficiency loans that are paid back with the savings that would otherwise go up the chimney.

Energy independence is not going to be free. But doing nothing will continue to enrich oil companies and countries year after year at our expense, and that will be much more costly.

ROBERT BANTA
Andover

AS PRINCIPAL of a firm that advises real estate developers, I am aware that the housing industry's current slump has been driven primarily by risky lending, foreclosures, and the present tightening of credit. The article on heating prices raised a critical point: the decline in property values has not yet priced in the rising costs of energy to the "true cost" of owning a home.

This winter may be the first where heating bills approach or exceed mortgage payments. The ubiquitous "heat and hot water included" clause in so many Boston leases will likely result in assessments throughout the winter, if not another wave of foreclosures in the spring.

This winter will underscore the difference between "affordable housing" and "housing that is affordable." Will policy makers and developers begin to see the need to shift from fossil fuel to geothermal heating?

On the bright side, necessity drives change. The sharply rising costs will do more to drive adoption of alternative energies than all the economic, environmental, and social arguments to date.

CONSTANTINE VALHOULI
The Hammersmith Group
Bradford