27 Oct 2011

Does a Green House = More Green?

dcreWilkieGuest contributor Jessica Wilkie is a Hill resident and Realtor with DCRealEstate.com. This post also appeared on her blog, Wilkie on the Hill.

DC is a progressive city, and as a general rule, “going green” pays off in our local real estate market. Even in a hard-hit economy, when people are spending less, the benefits of renewable energy solutions and well-insulated homes are appreciated for their long-term value.  Since home buyers have been trending towards longer-term home purchases for the past few years, it makes sense that they would invest in longer-term energy solutions, too.

You may have seen Energy House 3 while it was open on Capitol Hill. Located on 8th Street at East Capitol, SE, it is a residential energy retrofit of an existing townhome put on by ERM, an energy construction services company, along with several of their collaborative partners.  If you’re wondering whether to tackle energy efficiency or green projects in your home, Energy House 3 offered plenty of ideas.

I visited the house and received a tour from ERM’s president, Charley Juris. They performed a full energy evaluation on the two-unit home to determine where improvements could be made, and set to work. Among many ecologically and energy-efficient improvements, Charley and his team installed insulation in the floors and ceilings and sealed up windows and doors. They installed a Mini-Split high efficiency cooling and heating system, which consists of a neat, tucked-away wall-unit with comparatively small condensers on the roof. They are extremely quiet, and look smart and efficient.

Their collaborative partners decorated and designed the rooms and set up the technology systems. The whole house is smart-wired so the homeowner can track energy use and control the entry system by iPad. Overall, the design team did a fantastic job of making this home energy efficient without sacrificing its natural Capitol Hill charm.

Of course every home is different and may require different improvements for maximizing efficiency. Some homes already have ductwork — not required for a mini-split system — but depending on the house, it could be the most effective way to heat and/or cool. Some have no gas hookup, which may affect priorities when determining solutions.

No matter what the scenario, Charley says he likes to give people a five-year payback scenario (that is, improvements made will pay for themselves in five years with energy savings). He offers to do a free walk-through of your home, for curious minds, and works with a company that will do a more extensive evaluation (for quite a reasonable price). With the full evaluation you can prioritize and budget things you might want to do now, and things you might want to save for later.

As a Capitol Hill Realtor, people ask me, ‘if I make these types of improvements, will I get my investment back?’. It’s my belief that this type of work adds great value to property.

For comparison’s sake, here are a few scenarios: if you are going to sell your house tomorrow and have inventory to compete with, then this type of upgrade will help sell your home faster and likely for an even higher price. Although in the Capitol Hill market, where we have limited inventory, most homes sell pretty quickly on their own, so an energy upgrade may not be necessary.

If your heating and coolingsystem needs an upgrade and you plan on living in your home for a while before you move, you’ll benefit from energy savings — with a more comfortable environment and cheaper utility bills — for some time. And your property will hold a higher value as long as systems are maintained.  True, installation of a Mini-split system is more costly up front than a standard HVAC system. But your savings on energy will eventually catch up and may surpass the higher starting cost. This also becomes a selling point down the road when it’s time to sell.

I wouldn’t go out and replace a two-year old furnace, unless you are really, really excited about energy savings (and promise to sell your furnace on Craigslist instead of dumping it).  At the very least, spending $300-500 on an energy audit is money well spent if you’d like to make your home secure, tight and safe from the elements.

Though its no longer open to the public you can learn more on Energy House 3, its collaborators, and the house on 8th Street here. They’ve shown us it is possible to make great strides in modernizing the energy and ecological footprint of our historic homes.

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3 responses to “Does a Green House = More Green?”

  1. Anonymous says:

    I can’t believe I missed the tours! I’ve been dying to look inside this house since I moved to the hood four years ago! Oh well…

    Maybe it will get on that disastrous Renovators’ Tour. How embarrassing that almost half of those houses were done by a contractor who was arrested for illegal construction?!

  2. Anonymous says:

    I can’t believe I missed the tours! I’ve been dying to look inside this house since I moved to the hood four years ago! Oh well…

    Maybe it will get on that disastrous Renovators’ Tour. How embarrassing that almost half of those houses were done by a contractor who was arrested for illegal construction?!

  3. comesthesun says:

    I can’t believe I missed the tours! I’ve been dying to look inside this house since I moved to the hood four years ago! Oh well…

    Maybe it will get on that disastrous Renovators’ Tour. How embarrassing that almost half of those houses were done by a contractor who was arrested for illegal construction?!

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