Chad's Carpentry Remodeling Kitchens Bathrooms Basements Madison Wisconsin

If you live in the typical American home, you are literally throwing money (and heat) out the window. Heating costs are going “through the roof.” This is in part because most houses are built like a sieve. You might decide to improve your energy-efficiency to feel good about the environment, but you would be missing the point. Energy-efficiency saves money, period. When petroleum was cheap, we could ignore our wasteful habits, but not anymore. Failing to build or remodel to high standards of efficiency is simply irresponsible, and yet, most builders, remodelers, and homeowners are making this unwise choice.

Let’s consider the math: The typical $250,000 new home could be constructed to meet ENERGY STAR® standards and, to cut heating costs in half, by investing an additional $10,000. This extra cost adds $50/month to the typical loan and saves an average of $100/month in heating and cooling costs. (Energy Smart Homes, Winter 2008, p. 116, The Taunton Press.) This saves the owner about $50/month, which, over the life of a 30 year loan, adds up to $18,000! In exchange for this savings, your home is more comfortable, and produces less greenhouse gas emissions.

Wal-Mart understands the math. To improve their image, and more importantly to improve their profit margins, Wal-Mart has embraced an ambitious energy-efficiency protocol for its stores that will net the company additional savings in the Billions of dollars! "Now, with oil, gas, and electricity prices soaring, companies are beginning to realize that saving energy can translate into dramatically lower costs. That means higher profits and happier shareholders–not to mention a cleaner planet," writes Leila Abboud and John Biers. "So, companies are beginning to pour more money into making old equipment energy-efficient or upgrading to cleaner models. And they're starting to streamline their operations to cut down on waste." (Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2007.) Wal-Mart will be adding lots of skylights and utilizing bio-diesel fuel in their massive trucking fleet. I don’t shop at Wal-Mart for a variety of other reasons, (Believe me, I could go on and on about the “high costs of low prices!”) but I do applaud this giant step towards embracing more sustainable practices.

For the typical homeowner, a $10,000 investment not only leads to reduced utility costs, but additional incentives such as rebates and tax breaks will make the return-on-investment for these improvements even more attractive. Focus on Energy offers generous rewards right now in Wisconsin and the State and the Federal government will add additional tax credits to help provide incentives for a decision that is already a no-brainer. So what are you waiting for?

What exactly does a $10,000 energy efficiency investment include? • Upgraded insulation and air sealing to your home, • Upgraded heating and cooling systems • Improved ventilation systems - providing ample fresh air with an HRV or ERV unit; • Expanded natural lighting (such as Solatubes); • Upgraded windows and glazing; and • Added design features to reduce thermal gain in the summer months.

A larger investment (an additional $10,000 to $20,000) would allow for solar hot-water or photo-voltaic systems. These systems; however, compared to current energy costs, are not likely to cash-flow as quickly. If you’re building a home, all of these improvements are easily justified by their pay-back. If you’re remodeling, the extra investment makes the most sense when certain items, such as a new furnace or new windows, need to be replaced anyway.

Typical additional costs of these improvements or upgrades to a new home or existing home renovation project, compared to the cost of doing things in a typical (careless and inefficient) manner:

Insulation upgrades and air-sealing: Using dense-pack cellulose $0 – $1000 Upgrading to R50 in the attic $300 – $800 Adding 2” R10 styrofoam exterior $1000 – $3000 Air-sealing detailing $500 – $2000 High-efficiency furnace (94% or better, compared to 80%) $500 – $1500 Installing ERV or HRV unit (Designed to provide pre-conditioned fresh air.) $2000 – $4000 Install energy-efficient air conditioning unit (16-SEER compared to 13 SEER standard) $1000 – $1500 Install low-SONE bath fans (3) (with sealed and insulated ductwork) $300 – $600 Installing high-efficiency windows(10) $1000 – $2000

So, if the marketplace is rational, how do we explain why houses are built so poorly? In fact, less than 5% of new homes in Wisconsin meet the ENERGY STAR Homes standards. (Homes tested to assure compliance and performance.) Blame the builders, blame ourselves (consumers and voters). We should demand better. Building codes are the bare minimum, and most builders barely comply with those standards. Given the obvious economic and environmental payback of higher standards, shouldn’t we demand that all homes be tested to meet ENERGY STAR standards? The higher cost of construction would certainly be offset by reduced energy costs and consumption.

Your small investment, amortized over the life of your mortgage, will start to pay you cash even without the added incentives.

Since 2006, Philip Ashby has offered architectural design services to the clients of Chad’s Carpentry. His company, Ashby Architecture, LLC, specializes in residential projects such as interior remodels, additions and custom design houses.

With 15 years of design experience, Philip continues to enjoy the design and construction process, especially the collaboration between homeowner, builder and architect. The result of this collaborative process is creating a healthy and aesthetic environment that is tailored to the homeowner’s vision.

Philip’s design philosophy states that every design problem has an elegant solution worth pursuing. Each project has its own circumstances and he designs accordingly; but the result is always creating a sense of place that is familiar, safe, and beautiful.

For more information about Philip and his services please visit www.ashbyarchitecture.com.