More and more consumers are pushing to know about the energy efficiency of the homes that they are considering to purchase.. To help push this momentum, Columbia Gas of Ohio and AEP Ohio have launched an energy savings program that provides energy efficiency guidelines for new home construction, the EfficiencyCrafted program. The EfficiencyCrafted program has over 55 homebuilders across Ohio building homes that surpass local building codes and meet a higher standard of energy performance. Builders that participate in the EfficiencyCrafted program are required to use a combination of proven technologies, advanced building practices and performance testing to drive down the HERS® scores of their finished homes. Columbia Gas of Ohio and AEP Ohio reports that average home participating in the EfficiencyCrafted program has a HERS® Index Score of 60. “Consumers are pushing to know more about the technical components of their home as they relate to energy efficiency,” said Pablo Vegas, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. “Most people have heard of ENERGY STAR appliances, but now are also interested in how their new home can be ENERGY STAR Certified.” AEP Ohio and Columbia Gas are expanding on what was once a new homes program that mainly supplied energy efficiency training to builders to include helping consumers understand the mechanical features of a new home as they apply to energy efficiency. The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score is the industry standard by which a home’s energy efficiency is measured. It is also the nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance. A certified Home Energy Rater assesses the energy efficiency of a home, assigning it a relative performance score. The lower the HERS® score, the more energy efficient the home. The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that a typical existing home scores 130 on the HERS® Index while a standard new home might be awarded a score of 100. A home with a HERS® score of 70 is 30 percent more energy efficient than a standard new home. “Terms like a HERS® score are becoming more mainstream,” Jack Partridge, president of Columbia Gas of Ohio, explains. “Over the years, a shift has occurred in the consumer mindset, and more and more new home buyers understand they can reduce their homes’ energy bills while maintaining comfort. Through the EfficiencyCrafted brand, Columbia Gas of Ohio and AEP Ohio will help our customers locate new homebuilders who typically build homes with a HERS® score under 70—and often 55 or lower.” Columbia Gas of Ohio provides natural gas to approximately 1.4 million customers in 61 of Ohio’s 88 counties. With headquarters in Columbus, it is one of the seven energy distribution companies of NiSource Inc. and is the largest natural gas utility in the state. AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers in Ohio. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. For more information on the EfficiencyCrafted program visit efficiencycraftedhomes.com/#about
