pennsylvania new home builders
Maximizing new home energy efficiency doesn’t require ideas that may pay off literally somewhere down the road. We can reduce energy use and emissions on every single-family home constructed today by as much as 75 percent or more with just the skills and materials at hand.
To be sure, it’s not an easy sell. We’ve had energy codes for years and there’s an entrenched system for regularly upgrading them incrementally. Making sudden radical improvements in the midst of the one of the worst housing and economic cycles in history is not going to be well received by builders and home buyers. Many of them would argue that it would be better to focus on improving the efficiency of existing homes, which account for 98 percent or more of the housing in any year.
Yet, none of these arguments make sense. Saying a home meets energy codes means even less than saying it meets building codes. They’re minimum standards left up to states and local government to implement and they mostly ignore them, no matter the nature and number of code advances.
Only eleven states – California, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island – have adopted the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code. Pretty soon we’ll ready for the next one, in 2012.
The result has been a steady increase in home energy consumption even as new more (modestly) energy efficient homes are added to the housing stock, including those that may replace less efficient ones.
Nor is there any end in sight. Every projection the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration puts out shows home energy consumption increasing out to 2030. In fact, home energy use will be up more than 25 percent and nearly all of the increase will come from single-family homes, where energy use will rise by 30 percent – 50 percent higher than the population growth rate over the next two decades!
Any case for a delay until the housing market strengthens or focusing on existing homes are red herrings. It’s a lot easier to move a line on a blueprint so you can build a thousand homes with thicker, better insulated walls, than campaign in the years to come for home owners to pay retail busting down their walls to add insulation. In fact, why shouldn’t true energy efficiency be as much a part of a new home as indoor plumbing?
As for waiting for good times, they don’t exist for homebuilders or they’re never good enough. In 2005, when record sales were being racked up month after month, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) successfully fought off a minor improvement in insulation because they thought it would be too high a price to pay.
“For every $1,000 increase in the cost of a new home, more than 240,000 potential home owners are priced out of the marketplace,” argued then-NAHB president David Wilson. Perhaps had the work been done and the potential buyers driven off maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in today.
Indeed, our recent housing bubble experience makes the case for radical overhaul of the energy codes. In a tight market, buyers are in better financial shape and able to spend on improvements instead of the extra dollars in inflated home prices.
The energy efficient improvements cost less too in a recession as the expense of material and labor slumps. New homeowners will be paid back quicker for their investment in the efficiencies through savings on their utility bills, which are likely to rise in the future, and lower mortgage interest payments.
At the same time, speculators will be discouraged by the specter of needing more upfront cash. In short, the house will be more attractive now to home buyer who intend to live in their homes for years because they provide them with a better return on their investment over the long term.
In the end, it’s not asking much. What with more homes, trending bigger and filled with more electricity using gear, maximizing new home energy efficiency will allow us by 2030 to use perhaps somewhat less energy than we’re using now. Still, seeing the shape of the environment today and imagining how worse it could be in twenty years or more can we afford to do anything less?
Tags: California, delaware, Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Illinois, International Energy Conservation Codes, Iowa, Maine, maryland, massachusetts, Montana, National Association of Home Builders, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
Lewisburg — The Union County Housing Authority (UCHA) broke ground on its energy efficient duplex at 1308 and 1310 Market Street on July 14th. The project is designed as a model of “responsible development and affordable green energy-efficient housing,” according to Mr. Jere Engle, Executive Director of the UCHA.
“The point of this innovative residential duplex is to demonstrate how affordable homes can be built to contain and control utility costs,” Engle said.
The project location is a vacant lot owned by the Union County Housing Authority (UCHA) on west Market Street in Lewisburg where the previous home was destroyed by fire. Using this in-fill lot demonstrates how new construction can conserve land, preserve the character of the neighborhood, and offer new homeowners the advantages of an established community.
This energy-efficient duplex is being built by Vision Home Builders LLC in Bloomsburg using modular construction.
The duplex is certified “green” due to the use of many sustainable and energy efficient materials such as:
5.5″ thick solid foam, prefabricated, exterior walls;
3 to 4″ of high-density spray foam in the attic with blown cellulose on top for an assembly of R-70;
recycled-content siding, metal roofing, and countertops.
In addition, these homes will be equipped with all Energy Star rated appliances, super efficient heating and cooling systems and lighting. Ultra efficient, inverter technology, low temperature, mini-split heat pumps will provide heating and cooling in the home. Hot water heat pumps will provide hot water for the home. The lighting systems include CFL, LED and pin-based lighting.
All of the energy efficient features together will save 40% to 70% of the energy used by a comparable existing structure. The home is designed to accommodate the addition of a photovoltaic solar system in the future. With a photovoltaic solar system, the homes’ total energy use will approach zero.
Outdoor features such as a front porch with trellis and rain gardens will allow the homeowner to enjoy the outdoors with a low maintenance garden and connect with their neighbors and their community. There will be two rain gardens, one in
the front of the home on Market Street and another on the side of the home. The purpose of the rain gardens is to capture and divert the flow of excess rainwater away from the home.
The intended homeowners for these homes are the “prime time” 55 year and older community. The homes are designed to be accessible and adaptable for aging in place with low maintenance. They are conveniently located within walking distance of downtown Lewisburg shopping, churches, and the Bucknell University campus.
This project was financed in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Mr. Jere Engle, Executive Director of UCHA, leads the project design team. A collaborative design process for this home began in June 2009 with a design charrette. A diverse group of local architects, contractors and building trades professionals contributed to the design of this model energy-efficient, in-fill duplex home during the design charrette.
UCHA’s mission is to provide safe, decent, sanitary, affordable housing to income-eligible residents and to provide related community services within Union County. With energy prices soaring, the wise use of resources (building materials and energy) is extremely important for the long-term affordability of housing, especially for those of modest income.
More detailed information is available by contacting UCHA or visiting the website www.unioncountyhousingauthority.org.
