There is no doubt that recent years have seen a giant, nationwide push toward energy efficiency. Eco-friendly lifestyles no longer make up a small niche of Americans' behavior. While the United States is still a long way from becoming completely sustainable and self-sufficient in its power consumption, it's clear that significant progress has been made in that direction. But to what extent? When all is said and done, just how far along is the United States on its path to green power?

A new study from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shows that the answer to that question is mostly positive, but in need of serious improvement. Breaking down national energy consumption into a handful of categories, the ACEEE paper reveals that the greatest strides have been made in homes' energy consumption, savings on electricity and heating bills, fuel efficient cars, building codes updated to reflect more efficient measures and general energy productivity. But while there has been positive growth in all these areas, others are still lacking. Additionally, this rising trend indicates that these gains are still considerably smaller than they need to be, reports Greentech Media.

"The United States is becoming more energy-efficient, but the improvements we measured are generally small, indicating that we are still wasting tremendous amounts of energy," Naomi Baum, ACEEE chief operating officer, wrote in a blog post. "The small improvements we see in the rest of the indicators indicate that we have yet to embrace energy efficiency as a principal objective and are not doing enough to realize its full potential."

Virginia residents interested in creating their own energy efficient homes should make an appointment with Virginia home inspectors. A home inspection will help find ways that your property is wasting energy, giving your a home more eco-friendly edge while bringing down your electric bills.