Practical solutions for sustainable building with Steve Easley
The Real Deal
Smart Scale
Here’s how to make the EnergySmart Home Scale work for you. By Steve Easley
In my seminars on high-performance homes, I often get asked how you convince homeowners to pay more for energy-efficient features in a new home. The DOE EnergySmart Home Scale, or E-Scale, can be just what you need to set yourself apart from builders who market themselves as providing the biggest home for the lowest square foot cost. (See the E-Scale, next page.) We all know this price-per-square-foot
mentality inherently drives down energy performance, durability, and quality. It certainly contributes to the McMansion syndrome.
A New Metric Why would builders go beyond the code if home buyers won’t pay more for a higher performing home? Home buyers are using the only metrics they have to make purchase decisions when shopping for a home, which is: “How many square feet of space can I get for the lowest price?” Builders are forced to respond to this misguided customer demand in their product offerings to compete. The bottom line
www.greenbuildermag.com
is that there’s no major incentive for builders to build homes more efficient than code. In all fairness to consumers, they get a
lot of conflicting and confusing information regarding energy efficiency. In their marketing brochures, many builders proudly tout the R-values and energy components of their homes as if they were something more than the code minimum, which, by the way, is the least energy efficient home by law that they can build. It is knowledge that opens buyers’ wallets.
The only reason any customer will pay more for anything is because they believe they will be better off. In the absence of knowledge, price will always be the consumers’ yardstick to measure value. They won’t pay more for energy-efficient features unless they understand why it’s a good investment.
Comparison Tool It’s important for builders to remember that a home sale is partially based on trust, and trust is based on credibility. This where the new E-Scale
and home energy ratings help. The E-Scale is similar to a MPG sticker on a new car. The E-Scale was developed from the knowledge acquired by the Building America program under the DOE. The E-Scale is based on the well- established Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index. This is a national program so builders and consumers can feel confident that it is an apples-to-apples comparison tool to rate the efficiency of homes—everyone is using the same yardstick.
The EnergySmart Home Scale is a
scale from 0 to 150. The lower the score the more efficient the home. A home that has a zero rating is a net-zero energy home, meaning it produces as much energy as it uses. A typical existing home would score about 130 and a typical new home built to the 2004 energy code would be about 100. This scale is based on the Residential Energy Services Network (Resnet) HERS Index. Resnet develops standards for home energy and is officially recognized by the federal government as a verifier of building energy performance. Resnet is a nonprofit organization and offers accreditation for training providers that produce certified energy raters. Builders
September 2010 GreenBuilder 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60