We’ve written a lot about energy efficiency in your home, and we’ve developed ways to achieve positive energy savings in your Katahdin Cedar Log Home. Now the government is applying the same idea for vehicle ratings in miles-per-gallon stickers to homes. Called the EnergySmart Home Scale (sm) or E-Scale. It shows you what kind of “mileage” you can expect from your home. It answers some of the most common questions homebuyers ask:

  • Will this home help me save money on energy bills?
  • How many “miles per gallon” does this home get?
  • How does it compare to a typical new home?
  •  How close is it to the “ultimate” – a Net-Zero Energy Home?

The E-Scale uses the well-established HERS scale which rates a home using the REScheck software developed by the Department of Energy. You may recall that in the Energy Codes Update article last month we reviewed the HERS scores of a Katahdin employee’s home, which was rated at a low 57 score (Lower is better in the 0-100 system). Now that information is consolidated into an easy to understand display, which shows estimated monthly utilities, average performance of existing homes and where the subject home lies on the HERS scale.  It’s interesting to note that the builder’s challenge threshold for HERS ratings by the government is only 70, well-surpassed by the 57 score noted in the article referenced above.