Who doesn’t like to get awards? We at Dan Guinn Homes are excited to announce that we recently received 2 awards from Earth Craft of Virginia for the construction of our house. We were caught off guard by the award, but we love surprises and what a lovely surprise this was!
Sustainable Leadership Awards
At the recent 2016 Sustainable Leadership Awards ceremony held in Richmond, Dan Guinn Homes most recent project in Harcum Virginia was recognized as being in the top 10 of the High Performance Home Projects in Virginia for 2015. This is very exciting news indeed! In fact, the house in Harcum came away with a final RESNET Home Energy Rating(HERS) of 38. Home Energy Ratings are like golf scores in that the smaller the number, the better the score. An average code built house reaches a score of about 100 while a net zero house (a house that produces as much energy as it uses) scores a 0.
Not only were we in the top 10, but our house came in at number 6! The best part about this is that we were competing with other houses that already had solar panels installed. While our house is solar ready, meaning it is positioned perfectly, has a rear porch roof at the right angle for solar panels and is pre-wired for panels, we were able to score a 38 without the panels! This means that the house performs amazingly well all by itself. We look forward to amending the rating in the future after the panels are installed and get that number down into the teens or lower.
What’s that Mean?
A 38 for the HERS score states that this house performs 62% more efficiently than an average code built house. That means the house is more comfortable in both warm and cold times of the year while using only a tiny amount of electricity. This is great for the environment and great on my monthly budget since I am the one paying the electric bill.
We also received the Earth Craft Single Family Debut Award since this is our first house certified by Earth Craft. Dan Guinn Homes has been in the construction and renovation business for decades. Dan became certified as a RESNET Rater in 2008 and became a Technical Advisor for Earth Craft at that time. While we include Earth Craft principles in all the work that we do, the last several years we have spent our time on renovation projects and not whole house construction. So it was great to have our first whole house project be recognized as the lowest scoring house of all other first time certified homes by Earth Craft.
What About Your House?
We love navigating through the process of designing and building high performance houses. It’s great to have a wonderful organization like Earth Craft of Virginia recognize us for doing a good job, but what we love even more is doing the same great work for our clients. If you would love to live in one of Virginia’s top performing homes of the coming year, drop me an email or give me call. We better get started soon if we are going to make next year’s award ceremony with your house!
