You see the labels for Energy Star certification everywhere.
Dishwashers, computers, stoves and a full array of appliances that use energy.
It only makes sense that the largest purchase you make that uses energy be
Energy Star rated as well. That largest purchase is your home. Homes use the
bulk of your energy needs. Oil or gas to heat, electricity for lights and
appliances all make up your monthly energy costs. Building a Connecticut modular
home that meets and exceeds the requirements of Energy Star certification is a
wise move given that energy costs are climbing everyday.
Connecticut Modular Homes are more science than one would
expect. Given our four season weather, our coastal high wind regulations and our
desire for a high quality home with the best of features it becomes a bit of a
task to find the right product and builder for the job. As the cost of energy
rises home science comes into play to minimize the heating bills for our
clients. One very effective way to do that is with superior insulation that is
properly installed. Our standard wall offering has an R21 rating. That, coupled
with an R40 ceiling insulation package, makes for a well insulated home. As this
is our standard package the cost is minimal. In the industry a lot of
Connecticut modular home builders start with an R13 rated wall. This forces an
expensive up grade to the acceptable R19 to realize the minimal energy
efficiency you would want in a new home. Using the R21 wall and R40 ceiling as
our standard requires no up grade to realize the cost saving of building an
energy efficient home. Energy is only going to get more expensive so for those
customers that are building a modular home in Connecticut we do offer an R32
wall package. This is the ultimate in home insulation but does start to cost
more.
Why should you want a Connecticut modular home built with
superior insulation? Basically you will be paying for it either way. If you go
with a lesser product the cost of heating and cooling your home will increase at
the same pace as energy prices. There will be no stopping that. Having the
maximum amount of insulation will enable you to watch the energy prices continue
to rise without the need to turn down the thermostat. On the resale end it is
always the most energy efficient homes that command the best price. So no matter
what a highly insulated home turns out to be your best value and hedge against
rising energy costs.
Electricity is a big cost for Connecticut consumers. Our standard light package
is all energy star certified. Making this our standard enables us to control the
cost of this superior light package. We see other suppliers offer this as an
option if the customer insists on it but as all options go the price is almost
out of reach. Any time you make something standard the price of that feature
goes down substantially. There is no need to pay the one purchase premiums, no
need to stock an incandescent light package and an Energy Star package, no need
for additional training, etc. Yes, making the Energy Star electrical package
standard is a good move for us and for our customers and we highly recommend the
industry make this feature standard as well.
High Performance homes are the new
requirement to meets today's rising energy costs. High Performance homes
built to modular standards return control of those costs to our clients
Thermal imaging is a good method to use before doing
any energy update work on your home. New modular homes have many of
those features built right in from day one. In existing homes though it
is good to see where your home energy dollars are being lost before
spending money to seal or repair those areas. Basically you need to know
where the problems are before you can properly address them.
Windows are another big part of building an energy star home. Fortunately there
are many window suppliers serving the modular home industry that have quickly
moved to supply the right product for the times. Superior glazing, argon filled,
long life hardware all make today's windows a smart buy for any new home or
remodeling project.
We use oversize windows to maximize the
amount of light in a home and properly place windows for maximum solar
gain.
What is a modular home?
Modular, mobile, prefab, system built, panelized are all part
of the system built industry. Degrees of quality, features and value are
dependent on the manufacture of the home and the builder putting it together.
Here in the Northeast and especially in Connecticut we favor the modular method
of building. All building today includes products built in a factory from
windows and doors to cabinets and appliances all arrive to the job site from a
factory supplier. It only made sense to extend that factory efficiency to the
entire home providing a customized, well featured home with the quality standard
clients expect here in Connecticut.
One of the fastest growth areas in
construction today are the single story luxury home. This is driven by
those customers with large 4000 sq. ft. homes that simply wish to
downsize but still keep all of the features they enjoyed in a large
colonial or cape style home.
Home built in the 50's, 60's, and right up recent
years were not built to withstand today's energy costs which is fueling
the wave of people that are planning ahead for continued rising energy
costs and the fixed income that comes in retirement years. Those same
people do not want to decrease value or features but actually want to
increase both which makes modular construction an excellent choice for
the 55+ homeowners.
Installation
Using the superior materials that we do to create our luxury
homes would not mean anything without some very skilled men and women
installing them correctly. Proper fit is everything in new home construction and
that is where modular construction excels well beyond any other form of
construction method. Factory controlled conditions have long proven to be the
best vehicle for getting consistent quality and a superior product. This has
become the signature for modular homes for over a quarter of a century. When
building a house to Energy Star standards this is an exceptional value added
feature. If you look at most features of a home today the "modular" method of
production is being used in all homes. Even the builder getting lumber delivered
to a site to build a new home will at some point buy windows made in a factory,
buy doors made in a factory and certainly buy kitchen cabinets made in a
factory. Why? Any good builder can make windows, doors and cabinets. They use
these "modular" components because they can build you a better house. Someone
that only builds windows can certainly do it better a builder trying to
fabricate a high performance window in his shop. Same with cabinets and doors.
Proper modular construction techniques are a critical
path item for an energy star certified home but proper planning is also
important. Fitting the home design onto your building lot and taking
advantage of solar gain opportunities and natural or created wind breaks
make each home not only energy efficient but comfortable and valuable as
well.
Building a new home will be
a rewarding experience with proper planning and design.
In the modular factory setting look closely to see how each
work station and task is inter related. As everything is done under one roof
each craftsperson is backed up by the other work stations. They work as a team
as that is the only way to get the superior results that they do. The guy
building walls in the kitchen must build them straight and true. If he does not
the next work station will not be able to install the cabinets properly. This is
why stick building takes so long in some cases. The group framing the walls is
six weeks ahead of the group installing the cabinets. If a wall is badly done
the builder needs to fix it for the cabinet people to properly do their job.
This is totally avoided in a modular setting.
"WHAT HOMEOWNERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ENERGY STAR
QUALIFIED HOMES...
“I think people should be concerned about saving energy for their own monetary
benefit—saving money—and also for the environment.”
“I would absolutely recommend these homes to others that are looking to buy a
new home…not only does it save money but it also helps make everything
comfortable.”
“You’ll be able to tell the difference in the windows, in the heating, in the
air system, just in the overall comfort of the home. You’ll be able to tell the
difference from an ENERGY STAR home to another home. It’s a big difference. It’s
something you have to experience.”
WHAT HOMEOWNERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ENERGY STAR ENERGY STAR®
QUALIFIED MANUFACTURED HOMES EPA 430-F-06-003 April 2006 U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency "
For a copy of the Environmental Protection Agency's brochure
on Energy Star High Performance manufactured modular homes visit their site at:
1) Our standard insulation is the dense pack cellulose that has been
used for years in the colder climates of the mid west. Although our temperatures
are not like Billings Montana or Fargo ND our cost of energy makes up that
difference. Fiberglass
was great insulating product for years here in Connecticut's new home construction but just as our
energy costs have changed we need to change to better insulation materials.
If you look at the properties of fiberglass it has a number
of drawbacks when building a super insulated home. The first drawback is it does
not go around wire or fill voids. It is basically a mat that blankets a wall
cavity but cannot fill that entire wall cavity. The second big drawback is it
allows too much air to filter through. Take a look at a furnace filter from Home
Depot or Lowes. The filter is made of fiberglass as it allows air to easily pass
though it. The goal is to minimize the cold air and drafts in your home so it
makes little sense to use the same material to accomplish that goal that a
different application use to let air pass through without restriction.
2) Building a new home with advanced energy star construction, quality and
features is both science and how the numbers are crunched. Using home builders
that build to the highest energy star standards assures you of quality
throughout your home. The fact is most of the energy star features that make
your home affordable and comfortable are hidden in the structure, the walls and
the attic that you really cannot see. Any builder that takes that extra
insulation step or spends more time making a good tight joint to save you money
is a pretty good builder to work with when building your new home.
3) Be careful on the "number crunching" when evaluating added in energy star
features. In our case energy star is standard but in much of the modular
industry building an energy star home carries a hefty cost premium. Here is an
example of the numbers going off track. If you go to the governments web site
for energy star (
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=dishwash.pr_dishwashers ) for
dishwashers you will see that an new energy star dishwasher can save you $30.00
on your energy bill. A dishwasher takes up four square feet of space. That works
out to a $7.50 per sq.ft. savings for that appliance. Using those facts you
could make an argument that on a 2000 square foot house your energy savings
should be a whopping $15,000.00. The math is right if you fill that 2000 square
foot space with 500 dishwashers. The fact of the matter is no part of your home
will ever require the energy needs of that dishwasher so the savings will be
much less. Still substantial, but not the home run projected in the numbers. So
when taking a home with no energy star features included evaluate those
expensive options based on the true savings and not some sales hype designed to
add another entry to the options list.
EPA HOME ENERGY USAGE CHART
Heating, cooling and lighting make up
49% of the energy dollars people spend each month on their home. In
today's energy dollars that is a lot of money. Building a new home and
using energy star certified builders and modular construction keeps more
of this money with you and not the energy companies.
4) Energy star philosophy or practice. Right now Green Building, High
Performance Homes and Energy Star are the hot buzz words in the home building
industry looking for an edge to sell more homes. Your job when building your new
home is to separate the builders from the buzz and focus on the practice. We
often talk with people that are shopping for a new modular home and are told
they also have another builder that can upgrade them to an energy star home. We
always ask what that builders standard homes are like if energy star is not
their standard. That causes some frowns. Recently a local builder ran a giant ad
on green building and energy star. This was a modular builder so we thought we
had some competition. Reading through the ad everything they were promoting was
an upgrade or an expensive option. This is a great example of "philosophy" but
total lack of practice. In building a high quality home be it system built or
modular an "energy star or green philosophy" is not enough. These are skills
that need to go into every wall section, every framing member, an every item
that uses energy in a new home. Energy prices are out of control right now and
given the emerging economies around the world, the levels energy usage we are at
now do not appear to retreating but are actually advancing. Building to the
energy star standard is not only good for you as a homeowner but also good for
the country as we reduce our domestic energy consumption.
5) Looking to the future. Right now we are in a tight real estate market.
Competition for buyers is strong. Looking forward, what homes are going to have
the highest values and sell faster in the coming years. We are seeing it right
now. Those homes with the "Energy Star" plaque and certificate are getting
scooped up first. A wise investment a few short years ago is paying off big
right now. Looking at your home as an investment is the right thing to do. Good
business sense includes that energy star certificate in the safety deposit box
that can be part of your realtor's show and tell presentation getting you a fast
sale at top dollar.
Builders and developers that wish to put the Energy Star
modular building system to work for them can call or e-mail for factory pricing
and requirements to get set up and building homes you will be proud of today.
Capes
Colonials
Ranch Style
In-Law Apartments
Commercial
Condos
Townhouses
Duplexes
Specialty Buildings
Custom Design Services
Our luxury Energy Star Custom Homes are available throughout
Connecticut
These fine homes are also available in Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Call for a Preferred builder
near you.
Building a new home using modular technology or any of the
other system built products available today does not necessarily guarantee that
you will receive an energy star home. Many manufactures and builders advertise
"Energy Star" but may make the features to get the certification an option.
Select those manufactures and builders that only do Energy Star homes to get the
best value and a home you know will get certified to be an Energy Star High
Performance Home.
