Energy Star Rated New Construction: the Real Green Choice
Today’s new construction projects, such as house developments on Long Island, now offer the “green” choice: Energy Star rated new homes. Energy Star new construction homes are homes that meet certain stringent government guidelines regarding energy efficiency.
To be considered an Energy Star efficient new home, these new homes must meet these criteria set by the government at www.energystar.gov:
1. Effective Insulation 2. High-Performance Windows 3. Air Tight Construction 4. Efficient Cooling and Heating Equipment 5. Efficient Appliances 6. Third-Party Verification
What exactly is an Energy Star rating and why is it the green choice?
We’ll talk about green . Regrettably, the term is tossed around so often that people claim many products are “green” just because they produce less harm to the ecosystem than other products. When we discuss about green, we’re discussing a significant impact of pollutants or a significant conservation of energy.
When it comes to houses, the main green impact is energy savings. Electricity and heat can be conserved in many ways, reducing the demand on fossil fuels. Electricity, while clean when used, still needs to be produced. Most often, it is produced by coal or other fossil fuels with tremendous negative effects on the environment. By reducing the electric demand, you can help reduce the amount of fossil fuel that needs to be burned. By doing a few things in your home, you can massively reduce the electric demand.
First, you need to take advantage of high quality insulation in new homes. Make use of enough insulation to adequately protect your new house from the outside elements. Ideally, you should insulate your basement, walls, floor and attic to help maintain an even inside temperature. The more consistent the inside temperature, the less often your heating system needs to go on, using energy to stabilize the temperature.
Next, consider your windows. With new homes, you can use higher efficiency windows that reduce drafts, insulate outside cold temperatures and help block UV light (which can fade fabrics, paint and carpets, requiring you to replace them sooner).
Tight construction is critical. Small cracks and holes can create significant drafts that can allow heat to get out in the winter and air conditioning to escape in the summer. When this happens, your air conditioning and heating need to work overtime to compensate. Fixing these leaks will greatly reduce your energy costs. With new construction, tight construction, especially around external pipes and duct work, you will have a major savings.
Finally, as you choose a builder, for example www.EmmyHomes.com on Long Island, be sure the new houses have a verification of their Energy Star rating. This helps protect you to ensure that you are getting the energy savings that you expect from your new construction.
Craig Axelrod is one of the partners with Emmy Homes. Emmy is one of Long Island’s most trusted real estate developers. Emmy’s Commack development features new construction in Commack. Visit EmmyHomes.com for details.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Leave a Reply