When you pull a club from your golf bag and endeavor to “put it in the hole,” as galleries of onlookers often shout to the golfers, your goal is to ultimately bring home your round in the fewest number of strokes possible.

As a measurement of a home’s energy efficiency, Home Energy Ratings (HERS) work in much the same way. They can be used for either existing homes or new homes. Since we at R.E.A. Homes deal exclusively with new home building, a home energy rating of a new home allows buyers to compare the energy efficiency of homes they are considering buying.

Here’s the golf-score part: Ratings provide a relative energy use index called the HERS Index, with a HERS Index of 100 representing the energy use of the standard American home. An index of 0 (zero) indicates that the building uses no net purchased energy. The lower the value, the better. For instance, if a house scores a 48 rating, it means that it is approximately 52 percent more energy efficient than a home built to the 2009 international energy code.

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Energy assessments also take into account different climatic conditions in different parts of the country and are benchmarked according to average household energy consumption particular to a given climatic region.

The most cost-effective steps toward a reduction in a home’s energy consumption usually occur during the design process. Heating and cooling loads are lowered by using high-efficiency equipment, added insulation, high-efficiency windows, natural ventilation, and other techniques, and again, these features vary depending on climate zones where the construction occurs.

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Here are just a few advantages homeowners investing in energy-efficient housing enjoy:

  • Less effected by future energy price increases
  • Increased comfort due to more consistent interior temperatures
  • Reduced total cost of ownership due to improved energy efficiency
  • Reduced total net monthly cost of living
  • Higher resale value as potential owners demand more energy-efficient homes than the available supply

Next time, we’ll take a look at the HERS rating of one of our new homes in Frontenac.

Innovative, super-efficient energy homes are just part of the building science, technology, and operations available to R.E.A. Homes—the only “100% ENERGY STAR committed” custom builder in St. Louis that’s creating luxury homes with superior energy efficiency.