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From Winston-Salem Journal - October 16, 2004 - Kim Harrison

Sensibly Snug

Although a house that is more energy-efficient than the standard house costs a bit more to build, it saves money in the long run.

And it's more comfortable to too. 

That's what the people who live in them and the people who build them say.

Eddie Peatross was living in a two-story, 2,500-square-foot house built about 1930 when he had a new one-story, 2,362square-foot house built using techniques designed to make it highly energy efficient.

“The savings have been incredible," Peatross said.

His combined electric and natural gas bills went from an average of about $250 a month to an average of less than $100 a month. It cost him several thousand dollars more to build the house, Peatross said, but he feels as if he is already seeing a significant return on that investment.

“We say it's an added cost but, in the long run, you save a lot of money, and it's going to add to the comfort of your home for many years to come,” said Steve Kelley the president of Reliable Builders Inc. of Winston-Salem, which built Peatross' house and 11 other energy-efficient homes in the area.

Peatross said that his house has an even temperature throughout and is quieter.

“I can definitely tell a difference,” Peatross said.

Don Hamrick, a local contractor, built and lives in an energy efficient home. Hamrick had built an addition on the house he had been living in. He said that, although he had done a good job, the house had characteristics that he wasn't pleased with, such as being draftier than he would have liked. When he decided to build a new home three years ago, he wanted to build a more solid home.

“I knew there had to be a better way to build a house," Hamrick said.

His research led him to Danny Gough of Energy Solutions, an energy-efficiency consulting company. The techniques Gough recommends include framing the house so that it can be insulated more thoroughly, adding extra insulation in the ceiling, insulating the garage and crawl space making sure that the duct work is tight, using energy efficient windows, using a heating-and-cooling system that is the right size for the job, and installing a fresh-air exchange system.

Following Gough's recommendations requires more work.

“It requires a great deal of attention to detail," Hamrick said.

And such a house costs about 3 percent to 5 percent more to build.

“You’re paying a little more up front," Hamrick said. "You either pay up front or pay more each month.”

For Hamrick, the result was a house that is appreciably cheaper to heat and cool and, like Peatross', is quieter and more comfortable. It doesn't have those noticeable changes in temperature from one pan of the house to another that are common to many houses.

The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes houses that reach a certain level of energy efficiency as "Energy Star" homes. One benefit of that designation is that buyers may receive special consideration when looking for a mortgage.

Fannie Mae - the country's largest source of financing for home mortgages - recently started offering the Energy Efficient Mortgage in the Winston-Salem area. This mortgage allows lenders to factor in the amount of money saved on energy costs for an energy-efficient home when calculating a borrower's income.

For instance, if a certified energy rater determines that the homeowner will save $700 a year in energy costs, that $700 can be added to the borrower's annual income when determining his eligibility for a loan. That means that some people who would not have qualified for a loan will qualify and that others will be able to borrow more than they could have otherwise.

Since 2001, Habitat for Humanity in Forsyth County has been building all of its homes so that they receive Energy Star ratings. By the end of 2004, it will have built 56 Energy Star homes in the county.

David Baker, Habitat's construction superintendent, said it makes sense when building homes for people with limited incomes.

“Making a house that is affordable to maintain and operate is a significant benefit to a homeowner,” Baker said.

He also thinks it makes the house more durable. It is more trouble to build such a house, he said, because more care has to be taken with such things as installing insulation.

“They used to be able to do three Habitat houses in a day," he said. "Now it takes every bit of a day.”

Changes that Habitat builders have made in construction include going from studs that are 16 inches apart to studs that are 24 inches apart, using thicker wallboard, insulating the floor, using more energy-efficient windows, making tile ducts air tight and using “gobs of caulk."

Habitat also includes a fresh-air intake system. The result - not incidentally - is a house that Baker thinks is healthier.

Some of the techniques for making a home more energy-efficient - such as not venting the crawl space - run counter to conventional wisdom. Kelley said that he was skeptical about some of them at first.

“There was a lot of thought over the years that you should build a house only so tight," he said.

But, as he learned more from Gough, at seminars put on by Duke Power Co. and elsewhere, he began to see the benefits, which include not only energy savings but also reducing the incidence of such problems as moisture and mildew.

Gough said that some people build the energy-efficient homes because some member of the family has a health problem such as asthma that can be alleviated by higher-quality air.

Kelley said, "This is a far superior product.”

But it can be hard for such people as real-estate agents, bank officials and appraisers to see that value, he said, in part because, once the house is done, the improvements are largely invisible. Dwight Jester is a real-estate appraiser who does see the value of building houses that are more energy-efficient.

As it is, Jester said, measures taken to make a house more energy efficient pay for themselves over time and it's going to make even more sense in the future as energy prices continue to climb, he said.

“The problem is it's a hard concept to grab because you're saving money over a period of time,” Jester said.

The Fannie Mae program may hasten that recognition. Participating local lenders include Countrywide Home Loans and Wachovia Mortgage.  Fannie Mae will then purchase the eligible mortgages.

Homeowners and builders can take many different paths to a more energy-efficient house.

Gerald Piela had his home built with concrete walls that are, in places, six inches thick and installed a geothermal heating and cooling system, which uses deep wells to take advantage of groundwater as a heat source in winter. He also put 40 inches of insulation in the ceiling.

His family's house is 6,200 square feet. Yet, in the two years they have been living there, they have never had a power bill higher than $160.

For him, energy conservation was the prime motivator.

“I don't like to waste things,” he said.

But his family is also is reaping fringe benefits.

“It’s quieter than a typical house,” he said. "Sometimes we have to look outside the house to see if it's raining. You don't hear it.”

To receive an Energy Star certification, a house has to be evaluated and tested according to the Home Energy Ratings System, something that Gough, as a certified energy rater, is qualified to do. He takes into account such factors as the efficiency of the water heater, the amount of insulation and air leakage in the duct work.

It's- not uncommon for ductwork in a standard home to leak 20 percent of the air going through it, Gough said. Leaky ductwork, the house itself being leaky and an inefficient water heater tend to be the biggest culprits in a standard house not being as energy efficient as it could be, Gough said.

A home built to the standard building code will generally receive a Home Energy Ratings System score of between 76 and 82. To receive the Five Star Energy Star rating, a house has to receive a score of at least 86. Each point translates to about 5 percent in energy savings. So an Energy Star home with a rating of 86 would have a 30 percent savings compared to a regular house with a rating of 80.

Hamrick recently built a 2,500-square-foot house to sell that received a score of 91.4. Gough estimated that healing and cooling will cost about $370 a year, an average of about $31 a month. Hamrick figured that no one would believe $31 a month, so he raised the figure to $49 when offering a guarantee on heating-and-cooling costs. (He put in separate meters for the heating-and-cooling system so that those costs can be calculated separately from lights, etc.)

Even so, he said, people have a hard time believing it. “The majority of the people who see the $49 sign think it's a gimmick," he said.

But it's not.

"I live in one, so I know it works,” he said.

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