As the saying goes, records are meant to be broken.  And, we’ve been breaking records for energy efficiency right and left lately.

In 2022, our home at 522 Walnut Street was Energy Star certified, with a HERS score of 39.  What does this mean? HERS, or Home Energy Rating System, is a score which measures the relative energy efficiency of a home.  Like in golf, a lower score is better.  A HERS score of 39 means that a home will use just 39 percent of the energy of a home that is built ‘to code.’ For more information on what goes into calculating a HERS score, read this excellent article which was written by Southern Energy Management, who also happens to be our energy rater.

In April of 2023, we set a new record (to clarify, a new record for John Marshall Custom Homes) when the home we built at 714 James Alexander Way in Davidson achieved a HERS score of just 31.  To put this into perspective, the average HERS score for homes which are given HERS scores is 61, so this home will use about half the energy of homes that are already pretty energy efficient to begin with.

Now, some might say we are juicing (we’re not), but the record score of 31 did not last for long.  Just last week we learned that the home we just completed at 710 James Alexander Way in Davidson achieved a HERS rating of just 24!  This home will use just 24% of the energy of a home built ‘to code.’  Whereas a typical home might have an electric bill of around $200 per month, this homes bill will be less than $50 each month.  That’s a savings of $1,800 each year just on electric bills, or tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the home (probably more like over a hundred thousand dollars, as a well maintained home should easily last 100 years).

In addition to the savings on energy bills, a home with a low HERS rating will cost less to maintain over the long haul because it’s made with better materials, from windows to appliances to HVAC equipment and more.  And the upfront cost is only slightly more than a home built to code.

All of our new homes are Energy Star certified, and many have been LEED certified as well.  It’s the right thing to do, and as another saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.