Is the Home of the Future Being Built in Gettysburg?
The model home at the Links at Gettysburg | Photos: High Performance Homes
There is an interesting development happening out in Historic Gettysburg that has grabbed our attention. The Links at Gettyburg is rolling out a different kind of golf community that looks to bring super-efficient homes built at the cutting-edge of energy efficiency standards.
High Performance Homes (HPH) has built a model home on the European-style links course that recently received the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Homes certification. A press release states, “By exceeding the rigorous DOE Zero Energy Ready Home National Program Requirements, this home is effectively in the top 1 percent of homes in the nation for outstanding levels of energy savings, comfort, health and durability.” This is a big deal, as the building standards for Zero Net Energy Homes will eventually become the residential building standard for all new homes in the future. In fact, California recently launched a Zero Net Energy Action Plan that will look to “build a self-sustaining market for all new homes to be net-zero energy by 2020.”
A ribbon cutting for the model home is scheduled for Friday, June 12 and Samuel Rashkin, Chief Architect for the DOE Building Technologies Office will be in attendance to “raise awareness for the environmental and consumer benefits of homes built to these stringent standards.”
The Zero Energy Ready program means that the home is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes. As such, these homes in Gettysburg will be outfitted with Dow POWERHOUSE solar shingles, a geothermal heating and cooling system, LED and CFL lighting, highly efficient windows and doors, Nest theromstats, HPH’s proprietary home automation system and a whole lot more. Wide doorways and curbless showers in the master bath allow for owners to age in place over time in the home.
Probably the most eye-opening information from the model home isn’t necessarily the specs, but the numbers in terms of energy savings will make you tilt your head and say hmmm. Typical new construction homes receive a Home Energy Rating System Index Score (HERS) between 50 or 60. The model achieved a HERS score of 23. That might not mean a whole lot to you right now, but it might if you know that the lower the score, the more efficient the home and the more money you save on your energy bills.
High Performance Homes estimates that homeowners would save $3,895 in the first year of ownership compared to a conventionally built home. Moreoever, the builder put that number at $199,329 over the course of 25 years. But how does that compare to the cost of buying the home?
The Links has 300 lots for sale, and High Performance Homes has five high-end floor plans that range from a single-story, 1,830-square-feet ($419,990) option all the way up to the “Rochelle” option at 3,200-square-feet ($699,990)– the latter being the layout of the model home. Residential Energy Credits are available from the state and would lower the price of the home up to $20,000.
“I am incredibly proud of the merit of this home,” said High Performance Homes President, Kiere DeGrandchamp. “We are a small builder with a big vision. With three hundred lots available, we aim to build the largest concentration of single-family homes built to the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home National Program Requirements.”
The Links at Gettysburg - High Performance Homes
