“…I vaguely knew where problems lie in my 30-year-old, two-story house…. My annual cost of heating and electricity had leapt nearly $900 last year to about $3,500. But I wasn’t sure of the cause or proper remedy. So I called in the pros.” (WSJ Article: Energy Tuning Your Home, by Gwendolyn Bounds).

• According to the National Appraisal Institute (Appraisal Journal – Oct. 1999), your home’s value increases $20 for every $1 reduction in annual utility bills. So, a $1000 reduction in annual utility costs (or $83/month) would realize a $20,000 appreciation.
• The standards of the Florida Energy Efficiency Code for Building Construction represent the worst buildings allowed by law to be built in the State of Florida.
• The majority of Florida homes are built to the State’s bare minimum energy-efficiency standards. A 1995 field research study conducted by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), and published as a Report to the Florida Public Service Commission by Florida Power and Light Company, showed the average efficiency of new Florida homes to be right at Florida’s minimum Code requirement. This same study also showed that Code compliance is not uniformly enforced, with many of the 423 field-study homes failing to conform to the standards submitted by the builder to the Code official for permitting purposes.
• The Florida Energy Code has not changed substantively since 1985. Therefore, homes built today can draw from about 25 years of technology improvements and must exceed the Florida Energy Code requirements in order to optimize cost effectiveness.
• The price of a home considers only what you must pay to purchase the home (the mortgage costs). Homeowners, however, must consider the total cost of ownership, which includes both the “price” as well as what must be paid to live in the home (the operating costs). Most people don’t realize that, on average, a typical Florida home owner will pay more than $100,000 to provide the energy for an average-sized, code-compliant Florida home over the life of the mortgage.
• The only reasonable means to accurately determine the relative energy efficiency and the total costs for a home is through an Energy Audit & Energy Rating -- remember, Florida’s Energy Code is a pass/fail minimum standard. 
• Quality is not free, but a small investment in an energy audit, an energy rating and energy improvements can save you thousands of dollars in costs for your home. This can also maximize the impact of a renewable energy system while reducing environmental degradation.
  

Help us to accomplish the mission and Achieve Energy Independence. Contact us for a customized quote for your Energy Solution today.