This Fine Homebuilding  article by Mike Maines should be mandatory reading! We already know how to design and build homes that will meet projected 2030 energy codes. The urgency to build better is already upon us.  Why would you settle for current code minimum when you can do so much better.  The financial and environmental reasons are very compelling arguments for why we need to change the way we design and build our homes.  According to Maines,

“Faced with consequences equivalent to a giant asteroid set to hit the earth in 10 to 50 years, we designers and builders owe it to the future to do our part—and we need to start right now.”