BENEFITS OF HOME ENERGY RATINGS AND AUDITS
SAVES YOU MONEY ON YOUR UTILITY BILLS
CAN QUALIFY YOU FOR ENERGY MORTGAGES
CAN QUALIFY NEW HOMES FOR ENERGY STAR RATINGS
QUALIFY BUILDERS FOR ENERGY TAX CREDITS
HELPS THE ENVIRONMENT AND DEPENDENCE ON NON RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES
INCREASES THE RESALE VALUE OF YOUR HOME

Gordon Inspections, LLC              719-845-0222

PROFESSIONAL, Quality home and building inspection service

NEW — Home energy ratings / AUDITS

HOME ENERGY RATINGS AND AUDITS

 

Home Energy Ratings

Home energy ratings provide a standard measurement of a home’s energy efficiency. Ratings are used for both and new and existing homes. In new homes rating often verify energy performance for the ENERGY STAR homes program, energy efficient mortgages, and energy code compliance. Homeowners who want to upgrade the home’s energy efficiency can use the energy rating to evaluate and pinpoint specific, cost-effective improvements. For existing homes, homeowners can receive a report listing cost-effective options for improving the home’s energy rating. An energy rating allows a homebuyer to easily compare the energy performance of the homes being considered.

There are two types of ratings:

Projected ratings – Ratings performed prior to the construction of a home or prior to the installation of energy improvements to an existing home.

Confirmed ratings – Ratings completed using data gathered from an on-site inspection, which could include performance testing of the home.

Confirmed ratings involve an on-site inspection of a home by a residential energy efficiency professional, a home energy rater. Home energy raters are trained and certified by a RESNET accredited home energy rater training provider.

The home energy rater reviews the home to identify its energy characteristics, such as insulation levels, window efficiency, wall-to-window ratios, the heating and cooling system efficiency, the solar orientation of the home, and the water heating system. Performance testing, such as a blower door test for air leakage and duct leakage, is usually part of the rating.

 

The data gathered by the home energy rater is entered into a RESNET accredited computer program and translated into rating score. The home receives a score between 1 and 100, depending on its relative efficiency. An estimate of the home’s energy costs is also provided in the report. The home’s energy rating is then equated to a Star rating ranging from one star for a very inefficient home to five stars for a highly efficient home.

 

Unlike an energy audit or a weatherization assessment, a home energy rating is a recognized tool in the mortgage industry. Home energy ratings can be used in a variety of ways in the housing industry. The star and the rating score provide an easily understandable means to compare more efficient homes by their relative energy efficiency, since a rating quantifies the energy performance of a home.

To contact us:

Phone: 719-845-0222

Cell Phone: 719-859-4900

Fax: 719-845-0026

E-mail: billagordon@msn.com

Home Energy Mortgages

An energy mortgage is a mortgage that credits a home’s energy efficiency in the home loan. For an energy efficient home, for example, it could mean giving the home buyer the ability to buy a higher quality home because of the lower monthly costs of heating and cooling the home. For homes in which the energy efficiency can be improved, this concept allows the money saved in monthly utility bills to finance energy improvements.

 

There are two types of energy mortgages:

 

Energy Improvement Mortgage - Finances the energy upgrades of an existing home in the mortgage loan using monthly energy savings

Energy Efficient Mortgage - Uses the energy savings from a new energy efficient home to increase the home buying power of consumers and capitalizes the energy savings in the appraisal.

 

Various loans can qualify for Energy Mortgages, including FHA and VA loans.

Home Energy Audits

 

A home energy audit is used to identify areas of improvement with regard to home energy usage. Different levels of service are available depending on your needs or budget.

BASIC ENERGY AUDIT - A visual observation of the house to identify possible ways to save energy. No actual measurements of the house are performed.

COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY AUDIT - Adds blower door testing and duct blaster testing to the Basic Energy Audit. This helps identify where you may have pathways of air infiltration and leaks. This is designed to provide you with the maximum amount of information for the money for your home and what you can do to improve it. We recommend  that you accompany your Home Energy Auditor through the home in order to fully understand the issues and solutions. You will receive a comprehensive report on your home outlining what we found and a plan to make your home more energy efficient.

BLOWER DOOR TESTING - Identify exactly where those drafts are coming from and if sealing was successful.

DUCT BLASTER TESTING– Identify how leaky the heating ducts are and where to seal them.

Gordon Inspections, LLC              719-845-0222

PROFESSIONAL, Quality home and building inspection service

ABOUT HUERFANO / LAS ANIMAS HOUSING RESOURCES

 

Huerfano/Las Animas Housing Resources, Inc. is a certified Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) .  A CHDO is a private, non-profit organization with a 501(c)(3) federal tax exemption providing decent, affordable housing to low to moderate income households.  A CHDO may build new homeowner properties or rental properties, it may acquire and rehabilitate existing properties as homeowner properties or rental properties.  Properties can be single-family or multi-family homes or facilities such as homeless shelters or assisted living facilities.   A CHDO can also provide services to citizens to make affordable housing more attainable.  Currently we offer down payment assistance to low/moderate income residents of the two counties.  We are also considering financial literacy, credit repair, and homebuyer education in the bi-county region.

 

In 2005 the CHDO had a Housing Needs assessment performed in Huerfano and Las Animas counties.  This assessment has been a great resource for us in identifying projects to pursue.

 

Through a partnership with a local home inspector, Bill Gordon, we are offering an energy auditing/rating service for single-family homes.  Funds to initiate the program were provided by Energy Outreach Colorado.  We are also seeking funds to offer loans to low to moderate income families access to low-interest loans to have the energy efficiency measures identified in the audit installed in the home.

 

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Donna Haddow, Executive Director
Huerfano/Las Animas Housing Resources, Inc.
134 W. Main Street, Suite 12
Trinidad, CO 81082
719-846-7882
719-846-4550 fax
housingresources@yahoo.com

 

OR

Contact Gordon Inspections at billagordon@msn.com

Benefits of Home Energy Ratings to Consumers

· Determine the relative energy efficiency of a residence when purchasing a home. Many of the energy efficient features of a home are hidden once the dry wall goes up and it is difficult for a consumer to know the energy efficiency of a home. A home energy rating involving diagnostic testing, will give a home buyer a third party verification of the home’s energy efficiency.

· Make educated decisions when investing in cost-effective energy improvements to the home. Besides providing a rating of the home and projecting its energy costs, a home energy rating provides a home owner with a listing of cost-effective energy improvements for the home and the economic return on investment from making those improvements.

· Add the cost of making the energy improvements to the mortgage loan through an energy improvement mortgage. An energy improvement mortgage will finance the energy improvements recommended by an energy rating as being cost-effective into the mortgage loan at the time of the purchase or during refinancing. An energy improvement mortgage does not require any additional qualification and in most cases does not require any additional money down. Mortgage interest terms are much more attractive than credit card or consumer loans.

· Qualify for a higher quality, energy efficient home. An energy efficient mortgage increases the buying power of consumers through crediting the energy savings of a high performance energy efficient home documented through an energy rating into the mortgage loan. An energy efficient mortgage will not only qualify more families for a mortgage loan but will allow a home buyer to afford more features in a home than they would otherwise.

Benefits of Home Energy Ratings to Marketing Agents

· Have a larger pool of potential buyers who can afford more of a home. An energy efficient mortgage increases the buying power of consumers through crediting the energy savings of a high performance energy efficient home documented through an energy rating into the mortgage loan. An energy efficient mortgage will not only qualify more families for a mortgage loan but will allow a home buyer to afford more features in a home than they would have otherwise.

· Present information on the energy efficiency of a home in non-technical and easily understood terms. The energy rating presents information on the energy efficiency of a home in non-technical and easily understood terms (the star rating). This will allow a lender to know at a quick glance the relative energy efficiency of a home. The rating will tell if the home meets the minimum energy code (4 Stars) or meets the ENERGY STAR Homes standard (5 Stars).

· Market the energy efficient features of the homes they are selling. Presenting information on the energy efficiency of the home in non-technical terms allows marketing agents to market the energy efficiency of the home in terms that a consumer can readily understand.

· Mitigate the lower selling price of inefficient, existing homes through energy improvement mortgages. In most cases when a home needs repairs such as a new heating or air conditioning system either the seller has to make the improvements prior to closing or the seller has to reduce the price of the home. An energy improvement mortgage presents a real estate agent with a solution to the problem. The agent can market the energy improvement mortgage to the prospective buyer as a way to finance the energy improvements in the mortgage loan without additional loan qualification or, in most cases, without any additional money down.

Benefits of Ratings to Lenders

· Qualify more first time home buyers for mortgage loans. Having enough money for a down payment is a major barrier to home ownership for many families. The energy mortgage addresses this problem through crediting a home’s energy savings in the loan qualification process. The new Fannie Mae My Community Energy Efficient Mortgage product offers 100% Loan-to-Value and only $500 in closing costs. Analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency projects that an average of 6.8% more families would be able to qualify for a mortgage through an energy efficient mortgage.

· Reduce the cost of home ownership. The cost of heating and cooling a home is the highest cost of housing outside of the mortgage loan. The impact of energy costs presents a special burden to lower income families. Fannie Mae estimates that low income families spend an average of 19% of their annual income on energy bills. Energy efficiency reduces this burden thus freeing more money for housing.

· Participate in energy mortgage programs. Energy mortgages increases a consumer’s home buying power by crediting the monthly energy savings in the mortgage. All energy mortgage programs require a home energy rating to estimate the savings and verify the home’s energy efficiency. The Fannie Mae energy mortgage product is underwritten in the Desk Top Underwriting automated loan processing program. The rating report provides all of the information a lender needs to underwrite the loan.

· Determine the relative energy efficiency of the home being financed. The energy rating presents information on the energy efficiency of a home in non-technical and easily understood terms (the star rating). This will allow a lender to know at a quick glance the relative energy efficiency of a home. The rating will tell if the home meets the minimum energy code (4 Stars) or meets the ENERGY STAR Homes standard (5 Stars).

· Increase confidence in the home's marketability in case of default. Of vital concern to mortgage to the marketability of a home if the loan goes into default and the lender must foreclose the home. A lender should feel more confident financing a home that has been verified as energy efficient by a rating because it will be more marketable. In addition more families would be qualified to purchase the home through a energy mortgage.

· Receive Community Reinvestment Act credits. Congress requires that lenders target a certain percentage of their loans to meet the needs of low income and minority families (the Community Reinvestment Act - CRA). A lender must receive a se