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2oldman wrote:

4x4van wrote:
fears of unbreathable air (I grew up in SoCal and remember multiple smog alerts and chest pain while breathing back in the 60s; no more even though the number of vehicles has increased ten-fold).

I'm pretty sure emission controls were instrumental in that.

Exactly, which was my point. The emission control technology that was responsible for that huge improvement in air quality did not exist back in the 60's. It does now. It's naive to think that there is no further technological advances waiting to be discovered/created; advances that will in fact address many seemingly unsurmountable hurdles that face society today.

As to the insulation properties of RV's (and even buildings); that is currently dictated by a number of things, including but not limited to cost. It would be easy to increase the insulation value by making thicker walls. But then you lose interior space. Certain types of material are better insulators than others. But there is of course a cost difference to those materials, both in their manufacture as well as their installation. Of course progress has a way of changing those dynamics.

pnichols wrote:
Part/all of David's (the OP) point may be that - "Why install all this solar stuff all over the U.S. (and the world) without FIRST reducing building heat gains and losses through improved insulation all over the U.S. (and the world)."

Really a pretty simple common sense and logical concept!

20 years ago, windows (in houses) had terrible insulation properties. Today, not only are double and triple pane windows pretty much standard, even RVs often use double pane glass. But there are still plenty of houses (and RVs) out there with single pane glass. Newer homes are built with higher R-values in the walls and ceilings, but there are still plenty of older homes that don't have that advantage. And while adding attic insulation is easy, adding R-value to the walls is a completely different proposition.

Since it is certainly not cost effective to raze all existing buildings/RVs and replace them with the newest insulation technology, solar and other renewable energy sources cannot, and should not, be abandoned in place of improving insulation properties/materials FIRST. It's silly to suggest that we should stop work on solar (or other energy source technology) until we can improve our ability to retain the heat/cool that it produces. On the contrary; both need to be advanced.