'Insulation is sexy stuff,' says Obama

Washington, Dec. 16 (ANI): US President Barack Obama has called for more incentives for home energy-efficiency upgrades, as a way to boost job-creation and cut energy costs.

Obama pressed home the importance of green home remodelling in the aisles of a Home Depot here.

"I am calling on Congress to provide new temporary incentives for Americans to make energy efficiency retrofit investments in their homes and we want them to do it soon," The Christian Science Monitor quoted him, as saying.

Insulation is "sexy stuff," he said because it saves money.

The Obama administration is already banking on federal stimulus funding to shift consumer behaviour toward energy-efficient homes.

Green retrofitting of homes is on the rise in the US, researchers say, and Recovery Act incentives may be contributing to that trend.

The US home retrofit market will reach 35 billion dollars by 2013, a 69 percent increase from 2008, according to SBI Energy, a market research company specializing in home energy.

Specifically, the market for energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning retrofits is expected to grow from 3.1 billion dollars in 2008 to 5.1 billion dollars by 2013.

The White House expects stimulus tax credits and funds to push the number of green home retrofits to a million by 2012. Retrofits numbered about 100,000 in January 2008. (ANI)