10/12/2009 8:05:00 AM Pearson Park developers bet on Energy Star All homes in the northeast Springfield subdivision will be federally certified
Realtor Tom Barr, co-owner of Re/Max House of Brokers, and partner Brian Willaby, owner of Richland Homes, are developing Pearson Park, Springfield's first subdivision of strictly Energy Star-certified homes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Star homes are 30 percent more efficient than standard homes, on average.
Tom Barr and Brian Willaby are gambling on more area residents turning an eye toward energy efficient homes, especially if Congress passes federal cap-and-trade legislation that's expected to hike Missouri's electric rates.
Realtor Barr, who co-owns Re/Max House of Brokers, and Willaby, a home builder who owns Springfield-based Richland Homes, are developing Pearson Park in northeast Springfield - a subdivision consisting entirely of Energy Star-rated homes.
Energy Star is a joint program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy that recommends appliances and building practices designed to make households and businesses more energy efficient. The program seeks to conserve energy, reduce greenhouse gases and save consumers money on their utility bills - savings that Barr and Willaby are betting will be Pearson Park's biggest selling point.
"A lot of people are looking at utilities and what the total cost of homeownership is," Barr said. "Our main emphasis is saving you money on your heating and air conditioning bills every month."
The subdivision's timing coincides with a roaring climate change debate centered on federal legislation that would cap carbon dioxide emissions and establish a system for trading and buying emissions allowances. The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed House Resolution 2454 - also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act - in late June. The bill, which critics say would steeply increase electric rates in coal-dependent states such as Missouri, is now awaiting a Senate committee hearing.
Barr said the decision to market Pearson Park as Springfield's first - and only - Energy Star subdivision was set into motion when one of Willaby's custom homes recently passed an Energy Star certification test with ease.
"This is our typical construction and, lo and behold, it passed the Energy Star rating," Barr said. "So we've been doing the things that were saving people 20 (percent) to 25 percent every year on their heating and cooling bills, but we weren't taking advantage of that marketing."
According to the EPA, Energy Star homes are at least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code, and they include additional energy-saving features that typically make them up to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes.
Homes in Pearson Park, which will start at $189,900 and range from 1,700 square feet to 2,000 square feet, will fall into one of two categories: those that offer a 25 percent to 30 percent savings on average utility bills and those that promise an enticing 50 percent to 60 percent savings. Barr said the more efficient homes cost about $3 more per square foot to build than their less-efficient counterparts.
Barr and Willaby worked with one of their suppliers, Meek's - The Builder's Choice, to design the higher-efficiency homes, which feature 2-foot-by-6-foot walls filled with extra-thick insulation, encapsulated crawlspaces devoid of vents, 2-ton heat pumps and reflective roof decking to keep attics cooler. Barr said triple-glazed, low-emittance windows are standard on all of the homes in the subdivision, located off of Division Street 2.5 miles east of U.S. Highway 65.
"There's a lot of different ways to meet the Energy Star standards, and one way is you can just throw money at it," he added. "The second way is you can pick and choose. ... We worked with Meek's on this to figure out (how) we can make the house the most energy efficient for the least amount of dollars."
Willaby is currently building Pearson Park's first three speculative homes; two will meet the lower Energy Star standard, and the third is a high-efficiency home. Barr said about 170 people turned out for the subdivision's grand opening late last month.
Home builder Scott Kisling, who owns Springfield-based Up-Tyte Construction Inc., has been an Energy Star builder-partner since 2006. Kisling, whose custom homes meet Energy Star standards because they incorporate insulated concrete forms, said energy efficiency has gained popularity in the past six months.
"Before that, everybody's just been interested in the bottom line and what they can put in their house to make it look nice," he said. "It's just people waking up and understanding what's going on. People here are so slow to change."
Compared to other states, the number of certified Energy Star homes in Missouri is relatively low, according to www.energystar.gov. The market penetration of Energy Star homes in the Show-Me State - and nine others, including Arkansas and Louisiana - is less than 3 percent. Springfield is home to 12 of Energy Star's 6,500 builder partners and 151 of Energy Star's 1 million certified homes, according to the program site.
EPA doesn't track the number of subdivisions comprised exclusively of certified Energy Star homes, but they appear to be on the rise, said Jonathan Passe, communications coordinator for Energy Star's residential programs.
"We have increased interest on the part of developers for building 100 percent Energy Star communities," he said. "And there are several examples of very large master-planned communities. We're talking about thousands of home build-outs that are actually going to be all Energy Star. ... We're seeing them pop up all over the place."
Passe pointed to Daybreak, Utah, outside Salt Lake City, and Harmony, Fla., southeast of Orlando, as examples. Nationally, the market penetration of Energy Star homes is expected to hit 20 percent of all housing starts this year, he said.
"Consumers are actually starting to ask for this," Passe said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009
Article comment by:
cahokia
This is the kind of small business creativity and innovation that Missouri needs to see more of. Changes in our energy use will happen one way or another, whether through government incentives or, if we don't take action soon, through higher coal prices further down the road. Investing in energy efficient construction as well as clean energy sources will prepare Missourians for the future, and help put this state at the forefront of an expanding clean energy market. Senator McCaskill should work to pass the clean energy bill in the Senate, to reward Missourians like the developers at Pearson Park and keep up the energy innovation in this state.
