Builders and ENERGY STAR: Part II

"A major contributor to our increasing energy problems is that the public and their leaders simply do not know the realities of energy and how it relates to their lives. "
- Tom Robertson, Energy Resources

Two production builders and one manufactured housing company in northern Colorado have committed to building a significant portion of their homes to the EPA's ENERGY STAR performance level. This short list includes McStain Enterprises, Lifestyle Homes, and Genesis Homes of Colorado. The EPA has scheduled a public relations blitz scheduled for this month on these and other ENERGY STAR builders, so you're likely to be hearing more about this.

As described in detail last month, an ENERGY STAR home must score at least an 86 on the 0-to100 E-Star home energy rating scale. To earn the ENERGY STAR label-the highest energy threshold recognized nationwide today-a builder will have to consistently exceed the CABO 1993-95 Model Energy Code by 30 percent and the new International Energy Conservation Code by an additional 15 percent.

Motivations for taking this step, plus the associated costs, varied somewhat. One common issue that comes through here is that these builders do indeed appreciate the realities of energy, both at the household budget and broader lev els. Another issue is achieving a quality edge.

McStain Enterprises

East of Boulder, all 339 housing units to be built in McStain's Indian Peaks West development over the next three to four years will meet the ENERGY STAR level, according to McStain's Kristin Shewfelt. That represents between 30 percent and 40 percent of the company's volume. But Shewfelt stresses that the company is actually moving all their products in that direction.

"We took a close look at the E-Star ratings we've scored since 1995," said Shewfelt. "Those scores climbed steadily from around 80 at the start up to 84 and this year to 86 or better. We had a meeting and decided to go for 86 as standard. It just seemed logical to capitalize on the ENERGY STAR standard and to align ourselves with the most recognized energy standard nationwide. We expect this will give us great market differentiation."

Key energy features that helped move them to this higher performance level are low-e windows, cellulose insulation in 2-by-6 walls (2-by-4 in attached units), consistently tight construction, a better water heater, sealed ductwork and a 90 percent-plus efficiency furnace. Both the furnace and water heater are sealed-combustion units, which provides their buyers a significant health and safety benefit for an extra $1,000.

Shewfelt says McStain discovered they could use the performance testing information from the energy rating process as a quality control tool. For example, their rater found that some furnaces were operating out of spec, which hurt both energy performance and rating scores. The fix was quick, easy and didn't cost anything.

"I love our contractors, who've been with us for years," said Shewfelt. "They are the backbone of our industry. The ratings gave us a valuable communication tool for building better relationships with them, especially with our insulators and mechanical system installers, who have really embraced this effort. We've learned how to use the rating data to keep us all on our toes."

"Bottom line, we're in business to build homes," said Shewfelt. "We want to sell a high-quality product that offers the best long-term value choices. Energy efficiency is a valuable benefit over the long term, and it helps us build a better product."

Lifestyle Homes

Lifestyle Homes has been building entry level and move-up homes north of Denver for 12 years, according to president Dan Gongloff. They expect to build 190 units this year in six different communities, from Ault and Greeley down to Fort Lupton. Their home sizes range from 1,000 to 2,600 square feet, with most prices ranging from $120,000 to about $250,000.

According to the EPA's website, Lifestyle has built more ENERGY STAR homes (63) than any other builder in Colorado. From today forward, Lifestyle says 100 percent of their new products will meet the ENERGY STAR criteria, and 100 percent of those will be energy rated to assure compliance.

The secret to their stepping up to this higher energy performance level? Education and quality control with their trade contractors, all of whom have been with them for 12 years.

"We haven't changed materials that much over the years," said Gongloff. "It's education and installation technique. We saw our ratings gradually increase from the low 80s to 86 or better today. It really isn't costing us that much more to reach the higher energy rating level."

Lifestyle has upgraded their 2-by-4 walls to achieve an R-18, slightly upgraded their water heater and now insulates all foundation components. But the largest single improvement has been in building tightness. It took some attention to detail to consistently reduce airleakage at trouble spots like sill plates.

Lifestyle is now a reliable builder of tight homes. "For a long time, energy efficiency had been a personal dedication, and now it's company wide," explained Gongloff. "Buyer response to our commitment to build affordable and energy efficient homes has been good. Up until this year, it was important to some buyers and hit-or-miss with the others. But since last winter, it's been on the forefront of people's minds. Now we even have an ad that states, `Save a Bundle this Winter!' thanks to escalated energy costs. Our buyers are proud that they are making a good investment and are part of the solution."

Genesis Homes of Colorado

Genesis, part of Champion Home Builders, supplies homes manufactured in their Berthoud plant to the developer market statewide. All of their roughly 700 homes sold this year will qualify for the Built Green program. In early September, Genesis completed the process of performance testing their recent energy upgrades to assure they could meet the ENERGY STAR level. They planned to sign the ENERGY STAR agreement by early October.

Results from their energy ratings showed Genesis was consistently scoring between 83 and 85 on the E-Star rating scale. Energy features added to raise performance included more tightening of ductwork, addition sealing against house air leakage, plus a small water heater upgrade.

"We will make the ENERGY STAR standard on a few of our product lines and make it an option on most of the others," said Genesis' Rick Ormsby. "We expect that will cover about 25 percent of the homes we sell. On some models, it will only cost us an extra $300 to $500 to meet the new standard; on others, it could run as high as $3,000."

Glen Allesandri, Genesis' regional marketing director, expects that being able to offer a program few site-builders can provide today will give their company a significant advantage. In line with that rationale, one developer in Fort Collins is seriously interested in Genesis' ENERGY STAR product lines for their subdivision. Preliminary signs are promising.

Steve Andrews consults with builders for E-Star Colorado and writes on energy issues (sbandrews@att.net). E-Star (www.e-star.com), is a nonprofit home energy rating system that works with both new and existing homes statewide.

2008 Built Green Colorado

Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, 9033 E. Easter Place, Suite 200, Centennial, CO 80112
(303) 778-1400 fax: (303) 733-9440  info@builtgreen.org

Last Updated: 10/05/2007