Sustenance

Reducing, reusing, and recycling can all seem like tasks not worth the sometimes painstaking effort, except they contribute to an ongoing sense of accomplishment.  The savings may seem "small" but together add up. This is sustenance, and the efforts towards sustainability do lift us up.

On this project cost savings in disposal and material costs came from practicing the Three Rs, and they also had the benefit of helping the project stay organized. 

We are presently tuning systems and collecting data on utility bills. With the EnergyStar rating these townhouses consume roughly half the energy of a typical home. So far utility bills have been noticeably reduced. A more detailed reporting will follow when more history is available.

We've Met The Challenge !

In the summer of 2009, effortlessdesign, inc. signed up for the DOE Builder's Challenge Program where we committed to build homes with an Energy Smart Home Scale of 70 or lower. This a truly a challenge, because we make the effort to do things right. We are enthusiastic about finding air leaks and having our equipment work properly. The following graphic from the DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website shows the scale of home performance.  From our building specification and initial blower door testing we will have a performance lower than 70, and our performance is also expected to be lower than the project depicted in the graphic. The eco New Bedford townhouses are roughly 60% better than the existing housing stock, and 40% better than the current energy code. If you lived here, you would reduce your carbon foot-print.