Check out this super-efficient home on the BRING Home and Garden Tour
Want to save energy, reduce your carbon footprint, lower your utility bills and improve the comfort of your home? We can help!
Today, home owners and builders have multiple options for designing and building high-performance homes or renovating existing homes. From energy efficient windows, to insulation, air sealing, heating and cooling systems, lighting and appliances—making the right choices will greatly reduce your energy use.
EWEB supports builders and home owners with rebates and loans for energy efficiency upgrades. We offer additional rebates for new homes that meet certain efficiency standards, such as the Energy Trust of Oregon's Energy Performance Score (EPS).
EPS-rated homes are built above the current statewide energy codes. The score is similar to a miles-per-gallon metric—it allows you to compare the energy use of different homes, along with the estimated utility costs, and carbon impact.
You can see an example of an EPS-rated high-performance home on the 2017 BRING Home and Garden Tour, Sunday, Sept. 17, at Site 9. We partnered with the builder to help the homeowners achieve their dream of a modern, durable, super-efficient home. With high-performance insulation, air sealing, efficient mechanical systems, plus a solar photovoltaic system, this home earned an EPS of 10 on scale of zero to 200+, where zero is the most efficient. It's estimated this home will cost less than $120 per year to operate. You can view two additional high-performance homes with Energy Performance Scores at Sites 1 and 6 on the tour.
Check out this video to learn more about this home and how you can save energy, reduce your carbon footprint, and lower the utility bills for your new construction or home renovation project by applying a few simple principles of high-performance homes.
Electric or gas?
If you're building new or remodeling your home, you may be weighing fuel heating options. Because buildings in EWEB's service territory are powered by 90 percent renewable electricity, efficient electric heating and cooling systems are a good option for lowering your carbon footprint. For example, a ductless heat pump will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 95 percent when compared to a typical natural gas-powered heating system.
Look for us on the BRING Home and Garden Tour (Site 9), where EWEB experts will be on-hand from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to talk about different energy saving technologies and the carbon benefits of high-efficiency electric systems.
