Two Ohio cities, Wooster and Cuyahoga Falls, have enacted strict insulation requirements for new construction in an effort to conserve energy. Proponents of the new ordinance estimate that the additional costs of construction caused by these insulation requirements will be more than offset by fuel savings in the long run. Meanwhile, fuel consumption will be substantially reduced.

The forerunners of these ordinances were minimum property standards for insulation promulgated in 1971 and 1972 by the Federal Housing Administration in response to CEQ requests that government agencies follow sound energy conservation practices.¹ Residential and commercial space heating and cooling account for approximately 20.4 percent of the nation's total energy consumption.² FHA-financed housing uses only a small fraction of this amount, but FHA nevertheless recognized an obligation to contribute to energy conservation by increasing insulation requirements in new construction that it financed.