Energy Star Rated New Homes: the Genuine Green Choice

Today’s new home construction projects, such as new home developments on Long Island, now offer the “green” choice: Energy Star rated new houses. Energy Star new construction houses are houses that meet certain stringent government criteria regarding energy efficiency.

To be considered an Energy Star efficient new house, these new homes must meet these criteria set by the government at www.energystar.gov:

1. Efficient Insulation 2. High-Performance Energy Efficient Windows 3. Tight Construction 4. Efficient Cooling and Heating Equipment 5. Energy Efficient Appliances 6. Third-Party Validation

What precisely is an Energy Star rating and how is it the green choice?

We’ll talk about green power. Unfortunately, the term is thrown around so often that people claim many products are “green” just because they produce less damage to the ecosystem than other products. When we discuss about green, we’re discussing a significant impact of contaminants or a significant conservation of energy.

With new homes, the main green impact is energy savings. Electricity and heat can be conserved in a number of ways, reducing the demand on fossil fuels. Electricity, which is clean when used, still needs to be produced. Generally, it is produced by burning coal or other fossil fuels with tremendous negative effects on the environment. By cutting the electric demand, you effectively reduce the amount of toxic fuel that needs to be consumed. By doing certain things in your house, you can massively reduce the electric demand.

First, you want to take advantage of high quality insulation in new homes. Make use of enough insulation to sufficiently protect your home from the weather. Ideally, you should insulate your basement, walls, floor and attic to help keep an even inside temperature. The more consistent the inside temperature, the less often your heat will kick on, using energy to stabilize the temperature.

Next, think about your windows. With new construction, you can use higher efficiency windows that reduce drafts, insulate outside cold air and help block UV light (which can fade fabrics, paint and carpets, requiring you to replace them sooner).

Tight construction is key. Small gaps can create significant drafts that allow heat to get out in the winter and air conditioning to escape in the summer. When this happens, your heating and cooling systems need to work overtime to compensate. Plugging these holes will greatly reduce your energy expenses. With new homes, solid construction, especially around external pipes and duct work, you will have a major impact.

Finally, as you choose a builder, for example www.EmmyHomes.com on Long Island, be sure the new houses have a verification of their Energy Star rating. This helps protect you to make sure that you are getting the energy benefits that you should get from your new construction.

Craig Axelrod is one of the partners with Emmy Homes. Emmy is one of LI’s most trusted home developers. Emmy’s Commack development features new construction in Commack. Visit EmmyHomes.com for more information.