In my blog, I do a lot of talking about green stuff, particularly as it relates to real estate and the home environment. If you look around, you'll see lots of folks talking the talk about green. But who do you know who's actually walking the walk?
I know a family who's walking the walk.
At the NRVLiving Real Estate Team, we were thrilled when this family decided to work with us to sell their home - not only because their home is exquisite, but also because their home offers unique green and energy efficient features. The house is constructed of a revolutionary material called Auz-Bloc, which is new to the U.S. The block, also known as Timbercrete, is made of sawdust and other waste materials from the local timber industry. So in addition to turning one industry's trash into a treasured building product, it helps reduce the pollution involved in transporting the raw materials and finished product from the manufacturing site to the construction site.
Auz-Bloc also touts its energy saving qualities, claiming to offer up to six times the insulation capacity of conventional bricks. Our sellers didn't just take the product's word for it, though; they had an energy audit performed to assess the home's energy efficiency. After blowing in some additional insulation in the attic and plugging some air leaks (nothing related to the Auz-Bloc itself), the home qualified for 5 Stars on the Energy Star certification scale.
What is Energy Star?
Energy Star Qualified Homes is a national program that qualifies homes based on energy efficiency. To earn the ENERGY STAR, a home must meet guidelines for energy
efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes
are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC) and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes.
The Energy Star Scale
In order to certify the energy efficiency of a home, it must be tested by a qualified and independent energy "rater" according to the Home Energy Rating System (HERS). The HERS scale goes from 0 (the most efficient) to 500 (the least efficient). Here's how Energy Star explains the ratings:
The lower a home’s HERS Index, the more
energy efficient it is. A home built to code scores a HERS Index of
100, while a net zero energy home scores a HERS Index of 0. Each
1-point decrease in the HERS Index corresponds to a 1% reduction in
energy consumption compared to the HERS Reference Home. Thus a home
with a HERS Index of 85 is 15% more energy efficient than the reference
home and a home with a HERS Index of 80 is 20% more energy efficient.
Our clients' Auz-Bloc home achieved a HERS rating of 81, which means it is 19% more efficient than the index home. On a scale from 1 Star (lowest HERS ratings) to 5+ Stars (highest HERS ratings), our clients' home received 5 Stars!
The upshot
Okay, big deal...what do the 5 Stars REALLY mean? The 5 Stars really mean that this house's energy efficient features will provide more comfort (particularly in terms of indoor temperature) and save its occupants money on utility bills. How much money, I can't say, because that's influenced by fluctuating fuel prices and the weather. I've been told that the utility bills for this 2235-sqft house average less than $100 per month; the Home Energy Rating Certificate has the bills estimated at less than that. Compare that to the bills for my own house, which at approximately 1300 sqft averages $100 per month, and you're talking about a significant per-square-foot savings!
The energy efficient features of this home are just a few of the reasons this house is such a great deal. For more information, contact me or my teammate Jeremy Hart! (Home listed and marketed by Jeremy Hart, REALTOR. NRVLiving Real Estate Team - Real Estate. Simplified. Coldwell Banker - Townside, REALTORS. Blacksburg, Virginia)
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