From the way that the house is placed on its lot to the light bulbs used in the custom lighting package, home buyers have become very sensitive to the use of energy efficient home building techniques, and many local St. Tammany Parish builders have stepped up to the challenge.  The footprint of a house on a lot determines how the sunlight will affect all rooms of the home which not only helps with heating and cooling but also maximizes the offering of natural lighting which can reduce the consumption of electricity used to light your home.  Therefore, builders now carefully review floorplans for lot placement when they are trying to offer the most energy efficient structure possible.

Home buyers also express interest in many different green building techniques which included spray foam insulation to “envelope” the house, sealing out air and moisture but still allowing the house to “breath” to expel any humidity which could get trapped in the walls.  They also preferred now triple pane, low E windows – some even with a glaze – to block out light in rooms that would tend to heat up.  In townhomes and condos, buyers considered planting rooftop gardens to encourage the absorption of moisture for plants and reducing the amount of heat that a traditional shingle roof would absorb in the hot southern months.

Regarding electrical fixtures inside the homes, new home buyers, especially Millenials who are now entering the home buying market because of improving employment and economic conditions, prefer all of their appliances to be Energy Star rated appliances.  It is now pretty much standard for builders to install electronic, programmable thermostats to control the heating and cooling of homes to match the homeowner’s life schedule.

New home buyers who are able to completely customize their home buying experience may also be dedicated to a complete green building experience from the ground up.  Structural foundational parts of a totally green home could include ground source heat pumps, solar energy for both electricity as well as hot water heaters, displacement ventilation, and water conservation through the use of underground irrigation tanks or insulated rain barrels for outdoor watering needs.

In many markets new home buyers increase demand for energy efficiency features, and new home builders are stepping up to the challenge of offering buyers the benefit of green building techniques.  They are providing a way to reduce utility bills and offer a more quality-built new home, sealed from the elements that could last much longer than new homes built even 20 years ago.

Ron Lee Homes is currently building new homes for sale at Bedico Creek Preserve, and Ron Lee has held the National Association of Home Builders’ designation of Certified Green Professional since 2009.  For More Information on homes for sale, Contact Us at 985-845-4200 or E-mail Info@LiveBedico.com.

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In order to have a proper perspective of how much energy saving measures will have in your new or existing home, you have to know the paramenters of energy saving capability as well as have the right expectation for the process going into it.  If you live in a much older home, built in an older neighborhood during a time when real estate was not as “coded” as it is today, you can expect to see a more dramatic increase in savings after spending more money up front to make changes.  This is because building codes are truly on the cutting edge of emerging green techniques which are constantly promoting more structurally sealed homes with low-energy, efficient technologies installed in them.  The savings really do add up, though, through a combination of several energy saving techniques.  Home buyers and homeowners can be assured that energy efficiency saves in small measures that over a year’s time give a return on investment.

Start Simple

Because the process of building is an imperfect process (no matter how detail-oriented your builder is) performed by mutliple contractors who “touch the job” once and then leave, you would be amazed as to how much small spaces and leaks allow air and moisture into your home.  To begin the energy efficiency process, you will want to seal your home as much as possible by caulking and sealing the spaces around your plumbing pipes, electrical systems, light fixtures, and windows as well as the unused portions of your home which can include your attic or crawl space below.  By closing up these areas to air and moisture, you can reduce the amount of air it takes to heat and cool your home.

Work on Major Systems When Possible

HVAC systems are notorious for being big energy suckers, so if you have the money to invest in a completely new system which would include an overhead air conditioning and furnace system (the most energy efficient way to heat and cool your home), you should do so.  If you don’t have the finances for such an expense, having a contractor come out for a service call to inspect your ductwork for blockages or leaks will make sure that your ducts area as efficient as possible.  Clean ductwork allows better airflow which heats and cools a space more quickly.

Small Changes Make a Big Difference

While you are inspecting and focusing in on your HVAC system, you will also want to immediately replace your thermostat if you do not already have an electronic thermostat.  Electronic thermostats can run from $28 – $120 depending on how quality or complicated you would like them to be.  This is a small investment which makes a HUGE difference in your heating and cooling bill.  Buy purchasing a programmable thermostat, you are able to control your home’s temperature when you are home, away at work, or sleeping to keep your heater or air conditioner from “running all day.”

Change Your Ambiance and Save Energy

Another suggestion as a way to reduce the amount of energy used in your home is to replace all of your light bulbs with bulbs that are either CFLs or LED lights.  However, if you are affected by lighting and the ambiance it provides, you could end up spending a lot on the front end to get the desired lighting affect you would like with LED lighting – the closest lighting alternative to old fashioned light bulbs.  If you aren’t picky about lighting, the new CFL light bulbs are energy efficient and last longer than old fashioned bulbs and are becoming more affordable as well.

Adjust Your Temps During Warmer Months

The last energy savings idea to use is to reduce the water temperature on your hot water heater.  “Out of the box,” hot water heaters are programmed to approximately 140 degrees.  If you reduce this to 120 degrees, you can save on heating expenses.  Also, by insulating the pipes on your hot water heater and the pipes going into either the wall or the floor, you can maintain the heated water as well.  While this might be a good idea during warmer spring and summer months, you may want to increase the temperature again during colder weather months because the air temperature feels cooler when you shower or bathe.

By using these energy efficient techniques altogether, you can drastically reduce the amount of money you spend each month on your energy bills.  If you are only able to do a couple or few of the ideas at present, your savings will be less.  However, any money saved is money that can be used for other life necessities in a tough economy.

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It’s no secret that the housing market has been on a gradual but steady, never faltering upswing all throughout 2014.  When home prices started to rebound in 2013, and the market seemed to be heading up with no limits, alarms were sent out across the real estate industry to beware of the unsustainable housing bubble.  However, those fears were not realized, and housing prices began leveling off as supply and demand started to be more balanced.  To culminate such an incredible growth year for the new home industry, December, 2014’s new home sales numbers were something to celebrate for new home builders and new home buyers alike.  The pace of sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 11.6% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000 homes, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, which is the highest it has been since June, 2008.

This 6-year increase has been a long time coming, but most builders have had a rise in confidence throughout the entire year according to the National Association of Home Builders’ HMI score which is taken each month in partnership with Wells Fargo.  The HMI is short for the Housing Market Index, and it measures builder confidence throughout the United States by taking a survey each month to ask builders questions about the following three topics: current home sales conditions, future new home sales projections, and consumer participation or confidence.  These three scores are averaged out over 4 regions of the U.S. and any number above 50 indicates strong builder confidence.  As of December, 2014, builder confidence had been above 50 for 5 consecutive months straight, and in January, the average score nationwide was 57.

Builders are not the only people who are interested, excited, and confident about real estate and / or the economy in general.  Consumer confidence has been on the rise with the reduction of unemployment numbers, growing employment opportunities, long-term unemployed citizens coming back into the job market, overall economic growth each quarter according to GDP numbers, and the rise in retail sales.  Because of steady full-time employment instead of just part time employment, households are now not only paying their bills, but they are also able to save money once again. Another factor that helps with household wealth is the reduction of gas prices for now which have eased costs not only at the pump but also at grocery stores and other industries that have to increase prices due to the cost of gas.

With all of this good news and confidence “floating around” for both builders and consumers, the National Association of Home Builders is projecting a 26% increase in new home construction starts in the year 2015 which would be 804,000 new homes built this year.  For home buyers, there is an incredible investment opportunity to buy a new home for two reasons.  First interest rates are still at historic lows, and just last week, they once again dipped down to 3.75% for a 30-year mortgage and 3.25% for a 15-year mortgage.  As long as interest rates are so low, the cost to buy a home is minimal when it comes to interest.  The second reason is that the credit restrictions and application hoops and hurdles have eased slightly for all home buyers, making it easier to obtain a loan.  Also, the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have just reduced loan down payments to 3% – 3.5%.  Two days ago the FHA lowered the cost of their loans from 1.35% of the loan value to just .85% of the loan value.  If you are looking for a new home investment in St. Tammany Parish, you will want to contact Bedico Creek Preserve in Madisonville, Louisiana t 985-845-4200 or E-mail Info@LiveBedico.com.  We have 9 different Neighborhoods from which to choose with Homes for Sale and Lots for Sale.  You can also build a custom home on one of our lots.  Contact Us Today to get started on building your dream home!

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