Last week I received a letter from the administrators of the Energy Star program. The letter reads in part as follows:
Ted Mason Signature Homes, Inc.
Thank you for your continued partnership with ENERGY STAR. By building ENERGY STAR qualified homes, your company is doing its part to help protect the environment while offering consumers new homes that are more comfortable and save money on utility bills.
Our records indicate that your company built a total of thirty three (33) ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes in 2010.
This is equivalent to:
- Eliminating the emissions from 16.17 vehicles
- Saving 97,812 lbs of coal
- Planting 26.73 acres of trees
- Saving homeowners $14,751 on their utility bills
We thank you for the important contribution that your organization has made to energy-efficient construction and environmental protection.
Nice letter, especially since it quantifies the impact of our decision to be a 100% Energy Star builder.
In the same vein, at the 2011 Parade of Homes awards banquet, we received the award for Energy Efficient Design and Construction. This year we moved toward creating a home that is completely energy self-sufficient, sometimes known as “net-zero” in the industry. Our Parade Home this year featured a solar energy component, in addition to being Energy Star certified. In brief, the system has three components: low-profile photo-voltaic panels on the roof, a DC to AC converter, and an Idaho Power meter that provides for the sale of electricity back to the grid. Exciting stuff! 
