McGraw-Hill Construction projected at the beginning of 2008 that in this year alone the residential green building market will have annual sales between $12 billion and $16 billion, accounting for between 6% and 10% of of the overall home building market. They also expect the green building market to double by 2012. Alex Veiga writes for the Associated Press and highlights this shift in a recent article. He talks about this shift to “greener” homes and notes that you can save up to 30% off electricity costs by using Energy Star appliances. Additionally, using solar water heaters and fluorescent light bulbs as well as tightening up the home by using efficient insulation enable a home owner to make this shift towards efficiency and lower financial costs. While the cost of energy remains high, moving towards greater efficiency in our homes is a way to save money and natural resources.