MyHomeEQ provides every homeowner with a way to track their energy efficiency. All they have to do is plug in their home address and the new program provides a sense of one’s energy costs and how to cut them.

The program is the work of Energy Impact Illinois, a partnership between city governments, non-profits and utility companies.

“It’s so much easier to make something green when you’re building it new.  This is about the enormous stock of housing we have in the Chicago-area which pre-exisits our present energy situation,” said energy-efficient housing expert Dennis Rodkin.

Since, many of the houses in Chicago predate the 1980s, they weren’t optimized for energy efficiency, since power was cheap at the time.

For example, when users enter their address into MyHomeEQ, the size and type of house is automatically pulled up. Because the utility companies already have access to your records, it will display an estimated usage for gas and electricity.  

Users are then given statistics of usage when compared to similar homes, and suggestions on how to improve their consumption.

Music Button: Desmond Williams, “For The Trees”, from the album Modular Systems, (ESL)