ZERO ENERGY-READY HOMES

"The Home Of The Future ... Today"

 

Healthy home environments, low environmental impact, and great energy efficiency have been important to us as a design/build firm of quality residential and commercial structures, serving clients and organizations for several decades. With the ever rising costs of energy, construction materials and labor costs, supplies of goods, health concerns and other factors, our commitment has also magnified. With that focus is an ongoing awareness and dedication to offer every client our Zero Energy-Ready Home design recommendations approach.

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As per an article titled "The Home Of The Future ... Today", and published by the US Department Of Energy, "leading experts know that every Zero Energy Ready Home includes seven must-have systems that help ensure a superior homeowner experience." These seven systems are summarized below.

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1. Optimized Thermal Protection

2. Whole-House Water Protection

3. High-Performance Heating and Cooling

4. High-Efficiency Components

5. Comprehensive Indoor Air Quality

6. Solar-Ready Construction

7. Enhanced Quality Assurance

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Home buyers face the following concerns with every home purchase, regardless if it is a new home or not. Factors of concern include:

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• High Energy Bills

• Moisture Problems

• Uneven Room-By-Room Comfort

• Outdated Technologies

• Respiratory Health Issues

• Construction Quality Defects

• Poor Return On Investment

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Cost? While it is true that properly preparing a home for Zero Energy-Ready standards adds a certain percentage of initial cost to the home, the Lower True Cost and ongoing savings for decades to come, along with the health and comfort benefits that the home will yield makes Zero Energy Ready provisions the very obvious choice. The video below, and the transcript information below the video well address the Zero Energy-Ready Home format.

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Video above credits to Department Of Energy.

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Text Version: The Home of the Future... Today.

The text version below also credits to the US Department Of Energy.

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The home of the future. Today.

Buying a home is often the largest purchase of a lifetime with so much riding on getting it right.

However, it’s almost impossible to know everything about the complex design and technical options involved in home construction. That’s why it’s not surprising home buying can be such an overwhelming experience with numerous pitfalls to consider such as:

High energy bills.
Moisture problems.
Uneven room-by-room comfort.
Outdated technologies.
Respiratory health issues.
Construction quality defects; and
Poor return-on-investment.

Wouldn’t it be great to know what leading housing experts would look for in a new home that performs to their expectations?

Well, now you do. When home performance professionals are polled, they overwhelmingly choose homes that meet or exceed Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home specifications.

That’s because leading experts know that every Zero Energy Ready Home includes seven must-have systems that help ensure a superior homeowner experience.

Let’s look at each of these seven systems:

Leading experts know optimized thermal protection with roofs, walls, foundations and windows that meet and exceed next-generation codes to help ensure your home is future ready.

Leading experts know whole-house water protection inside and outside addresses one of homeowners’ biggest maintenance concerns, helping to ensure from the start your home is moisture ready.

Leading experts know a high-performance heating and cooling system includes more efficient equipment and professional instillation that allows your entire home to be enjoyed year-round so it’s comfort ready.

Leading experts know a complete package of high-efficiency components include water heating, appliances, lighting, and fans that save energy and work better and help ensure your home is tech ready.

Leading experts know a comprehensive indoor air quality system protects your family from dangerous contaminants to help ensure your home is health ready.

Leading experts know that solar ready construction with simple details that minimize the cost and disruption installing  solar in the future  make your home zero ready.

Leading experts know that enhanced quality assurance with independent inspections, testing, and national program certifications helps ensure your home is performance ready.

So what do these seven must-have systems cost? Leading experts know this question can only be answered by looking beyond the sales price to the true cost of home ownership.

Including both the monthly mortgage and energy bills.

For example, a Zero Energy Ready Home compared to a minimum code home may have a higher sales price that leads to a small increase in the monthly mortgage bill. However, it will also have much lower monthly utility bills with savings that can easily outweigh the added mortgage cost for a lower, true cost. Bottom line, the Zero Energy Ready Home can cost much less to own every month, while also delivering superior performance.

In other words, leading experts know it’s a great investment to look for the Zero Energy Ready Home label from the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s that easy to buy smart.

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