The energy sources powering the average home are primarily Electricity (made from Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear and Renewable sources), Natural Gas for heating and hot water and Petroleum for home heating oil.

Depending on how you heat your home and where you live, your home energy profile may have a heavier weighting towards any of the fuel sources shown. For example, the province of Quebec has a relatively high share of power generated from hydroelectric renewable energy sources than elsewhere in North America, while most of the southern US states rely heavily on coal to power their electric plants.

Buildings and their construction consume more energy than transportation or industrial applications, and because buildings are responsible for the largest portion of greenhouse emissions, they have the largest impact on man-made climate change. The American Institute of Architects has proposed making buildings carbon neutral by 2030, meaning that the construction and operation of buildings will not require fossil fuel energy or emit greenhouse gases. As a homeowner today, there are many steps that you can take to reduce your home’s consumption of fossil fuels. So while you may not get all the way to a zero energy building, you may be able to implement solar hot water or other technologies to reduce your environmental footprint.