The green, sustainable technologies that could make for an energy-efficient future were there: super-efficient insulations, radiant cooling systems with geothermal hook-ups - you name it. Smart building controls were there, too: enough software, sensors and networking capabilities to run an entire building automatically. A house could monitor fuel efficiency while you watched a movie.
The problem was that all these wonderful things were unavailable in one coherent, marketable, understandable package. It was as if you had stumbled across a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of the Mona Lisa, but the cover of the box was missing and the pieces were all over the floor. You could tell it meant something important, but it would be quite an exercise to form a clear picture.