Whether you're building or buying, consider an ENERGY STAR® home!
Value, comfort and a better environment come standard
with every ENERGY STAR® qualified home.
Buying a home with an ENERGY STAR® label can result in the following benefits:
Lower Ownership Cost
Compared with standard homes, ENERGY STAR® qualified homes 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 efficient mortgage can also lead to savings.
Added Confidence
Home buying is complex enough without having to know all the details of energy-efficient construction. Instead, look for the 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.
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
To date, more than 5,000 home builders have partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency to construct more than 840,000 ENERGY STAR qualified homes. By the end of the decade, more than 2 million homes are expected to earn the ENERGY STAR label. The trend is clear. By choosing an ENERGY STAR home, 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.
What You Can Do:
Contact the independent Home Energy Rater in Chaffee County at: Headwaters Energy.com or by calling 719-395-9255.
What is an ENERGY STAR New Home?
To earn the ENERGY STAR label, a home must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes. The home’s actual energy performance must be certified by an independent Home Energy Rater who is responsible for conducting onsite testing and inspections of installed measures such as insulation, high performance windows, building envelope, duct systems, and efficient heating and cooling equipment.
The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) offers the Colorado ENERGY STAR New Homes Program.
As a critical part of the state’s New Energy Economy, GEO is working closely with more than 50 local governments, community organizations, utilities, homebuilder associations, homebuilders and Home Energy Rating partners to support the statewide construction and testing of new energy efficient single family homes built to ENERGY STAR standards. The program aims to increase consumer awareness of energy efficiency options in residential new construction, and actively support all participating Colorado ENERGY STAR homebuilders. All certified new homes will receive the ENERGY STAR label to allow for simple identification by Colorado home buyers.
www.colorado.gov/energy www.coloradoenergystarhomes.com
