Will the economy and the Housing Slump spur on Green Energy?

I can’t help wonder about the state of our economy and  what the impact will be on future decisions about old traditional homes. After all, didn’t people go just a little crazy buying up homes with very little regard to Energy Efficiencies? Well that was the story I received when I spoke to a housing developer in the Sacramento, California area. Their specialty was Energy Efficient housing. The problem was that buyers were not interested in lower energy bills at the cost of a higher mortgage rate. The result - the homes didn’t sell as expected. With all the electrical systems being carefully wired to Title 24 requirements to save energy, how does this filter down to the consumer level? It seems to me that the push towards green buildings and home buyers are putting the building contractors stuck between a rock and a hard spot.

Let me know what you think -

Would you rather save money, or go green?

Is there a middle ground?