The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) honored nearly 200 Energy Star Home Builders and partners for their contributions to public health and the environment.
One of the key Energy Star Home Builders that won an ENERGY STAR Award for Sustained Excellence was KB Home, recognized for constructing more EPA Energy Star Homes than any other builder, with a total of more than 137,000 homes. KB Home also educated customers and real estate professionals through its Energy Performance Guide (EPG), a tool that projects estimated energy savings and utility bills for prospective home buyers.
Energy Star Home Builders and Plans
Benefits of Energy Star Home Builders
To earn the ENERGY STAR, a home must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes.
And with home-buyers increasingly interested in green building, energy efficiency is the place to start. That’s because the energy used in homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and risks of global warming. So, the less energy used, the less air pollution generated. And the easy way to make sure a new home is energy efficient is to look for the blue ENERGY STAR mark, the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency. Learn more about Energy Star Home Builders and how Green Begins with ENERGY STAR Blue.
ADDED CONFIDENCE
Home buying is complex enough without having to know all the details of energy-efficient construction. Instead, look for the government-backed ENERGY STAR label to easily identify homes that are truly energy efficient. Find the house of your dreams and enjoy peace of mind knowing that it also meets strict energy efficiency guidelines.
LOWER OWNERSHIP COST
Compared with standard homes, Energy Star Home Builders offer certified homes that use substantially less energy for heating, cooling, and water heating-delivering $200 to $400 in annual savings. Over the average 7 to 8 years you may live in your home, this adds up to thousands of dollars saved on utility bills. Additional savings on maintenance can also be substantial. Financing your home purchase using an ENERGY STAR Mortgage or an energy efficient mortgage can also lead to savings.
BETTER PERFORMANCE
Properly installed energy-efficient improvements deliver better protection against cold, heat, drafts, moisture, pollution, and noise. An energy-efficient home helps ensure consistent temperatures between and across rooms, improved indoor air quality, and greater durability.
SMART INVESTMENT
More than 8500 Energy Star Home Builders have partnered with EPA to construct more than 1 million ENERGY STAR certified homes. The trend is clear. By choosing a home with the ENERGY STAR label, you can be confident that it will have an increasingly valued feature when the time comes to sell.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Did you know that your home can be a greater source of pollution than your car? In fact, 16 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are generated from the energy used in houses nationwide.
Energy used in our homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and global warming. Simply put, the less energy we use in our homes, the less air pollution we generate.
For more information about EPA Energy Star homes green building programs, visit nahb.org. And to stay current on the high-performance residential building sector, follow NAHB’s Sustainability and Green Building team on Twitter.
Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating kitchen design plans, innovative smart home designs, custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, deck plans and much more.
CAD Pro allows ENERGY STAR Home Builders to share their ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional remodeling contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.
CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of Energy Star homes. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). as well as the (NALP) National Association of Landscape Professionals.