Savings, Please

By Charles Wardell. Although 70 percent of home buyers want energy-efficient appliances, only half of large builders offer them, according to a survey by Sears Contract Sales of the nation’s top 100 builders. But 60 percent of those builders will offer an energy-efficient option next year. The survey, completed in January, didn’t call dissatisfaction a major problem or imply that it had any effect on home sales.