Maurice Ramirez and Allison Sakara of Lake Wales, Florida bought a home that was constructed in 2005 with a HERS® Index of 100. They wanted to improve the energy performance in a multi-stage process. The first step was to bring the home to a HERS® Index Score of 80 in 2014. Not content to that level of energy efficiency the couple undertook a deep retrofit of the home that netted a HERS® Index Score of -63. The deep retrofit included the installation of a wind power system, solar PV and wall power storage. Note that in 2018, the average HERS® Index Score of homes rated in Florida was 59. The Florida couple is very pleased with their investment. Allison Sakara was quoted as saying, “It was costing me $500 a month in my electric bill, now I pay roughly $30 a month.” HERS® Rater Nathan Ritter of GreenBuilt Solutions rated the home. “Maurice and Allison are great examples of what is possible with a deep energy retrofit. They added bifacial PV to the porch, a wind turbine, LED lighting along with air sealing and equipment upgrades transforming their house into an efficient high performance home,” he added. Tampa television WTF’s ABC Action News featured the home in its June 28, 2019 broadcast. To download the news story go to Lake Wells Home HERS® Index Story. By achieving a HERS® Index Score of -63, the Ramirez/Sakara home is tied for the fifth-lowest HERS® Index Score captured in the RESNET National Building Registry. The top five lowest HERS® Index Scores in the U.S. are located in: Rogers, Arkansas HERS® -106 Hastings, MN HERS® -96 Red Hook, NY HERS® -95 San Antonio, TX HERS® -85 Waitsfield, VT HERS® -63 Lake Wales, FL HERS® -63 Port Charlotte HERS® -58
