Consumers coming to value green home ratings – … The typical consumer has little idea about the relevancy of perhaps two of the most important markers of a home’s ability to perform efficiently. Such ratings, those who develop and build high-performance homes say, legitimize their efforts in deep-green construction and gives them a competitive edge. Without them, prospective buyers have little more to go on than a builder’s word. … Those focusing on high-performance construction equate the Home Energy Ratings System (HERS) to the miles per gallon listing for a vehicle. It tells a potential homeowner what they can expect in terms of a home’s efficiency. Though HERS scores are the industry standard on efficiency, they are not widely known among the purchasing public. In fact, many within the residential construction industry have advocated that HERS scores be posted on the face of new homes, much like restaurants must post their health safety grades to the public. Standard new homes typically receive HERS scores of 100, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A home with a HERS index of 70 is 30 percent more energy efficient than a standard new home, while one with a score of 130 is 30 percent less energy efficient. … “The end result is trying to get to a better building.” said Matt Belcher, a St. Louis builder who also serves as chairman of the Green Committee of the National Association of Home Builders. … For many builders, certification standards provide a new, more stringent degree of targeted quality. What they tell consumers is that a builder has been held accountable to reaching a higher level of achievement. Belcher said the pursuit of strong HERS scores and other efficiency certifications reshaped his company’s approach to building. Rather than simply constructing something they perceived as efficient, the programs refined his company’s processes and got it focused on the “right” areas. “It raises the bar for all builders,” Belcher said. “They made me a better builder.” There are a number of certification programs across the country. While they might issue scores based on different factors, all of them are the closest things to quality assurance in home building, said Dennis Creech, co-founder and executive director of Southface, which administers the EarthCraft certification system. “Code is the bare minimum of building a home, so you can’t build a house anything less than code,” he said. “But that’s not what green is about. Green certification provides the extra quality people are looking for.” Of course, the value of certifications will depend on those who live in a particular home, Creech said. Generally speaking, though, certification defines a structure as a “special house.” “When done well, green homes are always healthier,” he said. “Few of us don’t value the health of our families. Most of us value the hard-earned dollars we have. So when done well, a green home is going to have less operating costs, not just on energy and water bills, but also on maintenance costs on the life of the home.” Many clients who work with Belcher are initially oblivious to home ratings and certifications. But their mindset quickly changes once the relevance is explained. “At the end of the day, they feel a lot better about what they’re doing,” he said. “All of a sudden, that rating that wasn’t important at all when we first met … now they’re proud of that. They see it as a milestone for them, too.” Story by Steve Arel For more info, please link to: proudgreenhome/article/220165/Consumers-coming-to-value-green-home-ratings Reprinted courtesy of ProudGreenHome. © 2009-2013 Sustainable Community Media All Rights Reserved.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:43:00 +0000
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