There are a lot of components in a home where a cheaper up-front cost is offset by a higher total cost of ownership. For example, the cheap water heaters use four times as much electricity as the more energy efficient models. This translates to a break-even point on cost in ~5 years, for an appliance that can last 15+ years. Sadly, almost every builder installs the former.

IMHO, we ought to encourage home builders to make purchases based on TCO instead. This would translate into higher initial home prices, but lower costs overall, which thus increases affordability. Perhaps we could require people to prepay for electricity when you buy an HVAC, water heater, or similar power-hungry appliance, and discount the mandatory prepayment if you install solar panels?