There are secondary considerations that very few people consider when buying. I have had good luck with energy saving even when there is no infrastructure to help with that. The secret is passive solar. You try to find a house that meets your needs that has the least lived in spaces on the north side (bedrooms, more formal areas) and the active spaces (family room, studio, kitchen) on the south side with, hopefully lots of windows on that side and few on the north. Ideally the house aligns east to west. I have built one and bought two. The one I built had 11 windows on the south side and only 4 on the north. With a single fireplace insert, one winter I had a January bill for $78 electric (heat pump) for 2500 sq ft in piedmont North Carolina. The sun alignment with all those south side windows in January flooded the house with solar energy during the day! In summer, the sun was then overhead and didn't heat the house like it did in winter. Win-win. I have saved thousands of dollars over the years in energy costs by focusing on passive energy gain in my homes.
Landscaping is also a very important factor in this. On my south side i had deciduous trees to let that sun through in winter but shade in summer. On the north there were evergreens to be a windbreak for cold winds from the north.
I won't go into all the ramifications of passive solar buildings. There should be plenty of information on the internet. Good luck with your search!