Building codes

I've just come back from 2 weeks of vacation in 2 different locations - lucky me. However, a thought struck me when I was staying at both places...
Why is it that we don't have simple energy savings written into the building code everywhere?
Every time I went to take a shower in location #1, it was quite obvious that the hot water pipes weren't insulated. I had to run the water at full hot for 30-45 seconds before actually getting any hot water. Imagine the energy wasted reheating all of that water. A few dollars of styrofoam pipe wrap insulation when the place was built could have significantly reduced it, but unless the owner requests that the builder have this done, it's not required by code, so no luck.

Then, in location #2, I'm pretty sure that the builder was absent the day they went over "heat rises, cold falls" and undersized the AC on the 3rd floor, which since the house was an upside-down, this was the kitchen/living room, where people congregate and the most heat is generated. Consequently, the AC ran non-stop the entire time we were there. A few simple tweaks in the way that the 3 zones of AC were set up in this house would have made a significant difference in the amount that each unit needed to run to maintain comfort.
Then, the house had an elevator, which was really neat. However, there were two recessed floodlights that were providing the light inside the elevator car. There was no way to turn them off when they were not in use, and they weren't even CFLs, so they ran their incandescent selves 24 hours a day. This house was built a YEAR ago, and no one thought to use energy saver bulbs?

These are good examples of little things that should be done differently in building homes where possible. Many energy saving things can not easily be retrofitted into an existing house without incurring a large additional cost, but new construction should be held to a higher standard via the building codes. Since they have to purchase items like appliances, HVAC, lighting, insulation, etc, the incremental cost of requiring Energy Star or energy saving items would be low, and would make little impact on a house that's costing multiple hundred thousand dollars to build.

Ideally, a conservation think tank or the EPA would come up with a series of guidelines for the minimum, moderate, and maximum energy savings in new construction and major remodels. All builders would be required to comply with the minimum, which would be things such as using CFLs where incandescant lights are not needed, insulating to the recommended max R value for the region, insulating all hot water pipes and HVAC ducts, and recommending Energy Star appliances. Moderate would include using a 90-95% efficient HVAC and hot water system, insulated windows, and all energy saving light fixtures. It would also include replanting trees to replace any that were taken out during construction, and taking advantage of minor design changes to improve energy use, such as taking advantage of northern/southern exposures, shade, and convection patterns to reduce space heating/cooling needs. Maximum would include solar installations for electricity and hot water/heat, or ground-based heat pump, or a small wind turbine, or a green roof, as well as extensive use of renewable building materials.
There are green builders out there doing this today, especially in custom homes, but the vast majority are still looking for the fastest, cheapest way, and aren't going to be inclined to figure this out for themselves. If a combination of a mandate for minimums and guidelines that are easy to implement come out, a builder can make the moderate and maximum items an option or package on their semi-custom houses, just like colors, carpet, and whether or not you get the sun room and the family room option. Standardizing in this way allows a builder (and the consumer) to take advantage of bulk-purchase deals and reusable design elements similar to the way that they build most houses today - a limited range of options based on an existing design.