The Whys and Wherefores of Becoming More Energy Efficient

My two recent trips to check out Meritage Homes’ Lake Todd Estates and M/I Homes’ Brooks Landing communities in the Orlando market have gotten me thinking a lot about green building. And by green building, I really just mean energy efficiency. So, I probably should just call this type of building what it really is: high performance. At any rate, both of these builders have committed to building all of their homes to Energy Star certification standards. A home that meets these standards are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC). However, often these homes exceed the minimum standards, making them 20% to 30% (or more, in some cases) more efficient than the typical home built to that vintage of code. I’m fascinated by the process—the debate, the strategic analysis, the wholesale organizational changes—that goes along with making a commitment of that scale and magnitude. I realize that some in the industry might consider Energy Star less than cutting edge, as it doesn’t require whiz-bang technology like geothermal heating or photovoltaics, but I can appreciate the difficulty of executing on a single set of standards across multiple divisions and markets.

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