A Denver-based homebuilder has launched a program that guarantees its buyers’ energy bills for the first two years they own one of the company’s homes.
Oakwood Homes has teamed up with energy-efficiency experts Lightly Treading to determine the typical yearly energy use of the homes it builds.
Once calculated, Oakwood will guarantee that the energy use will not exceed the predetermined annual amount. If it does, Oakwood will reimburse the homeowner the difference.
“We will test the house and have a score, and with that score we can calculate what energy uses a house will have for heating and cooling,” said Pat Hamill, president of the company. “We can give a very good estimate for what it should cost and put a guarantee on it.”
One of the reasons Oakwood says it is able to make the guarantee is that it manufactures most of the home in a plant in northwest Denver, where it builds floor, wall and roof systems that are assembled on the building site. Oakwood acquired the factory in 2008.
Oakwood uses computer-assisted design and building-information modeling to design houses and cut the lumber before hauling it to the home site for assembly. When the pieces are put together, the fit is so precise that the homes are virtually airtight, according to the company.
“We figure out every aspect of the frame of the house on the computer before we build it,” said Neil Pinkham, president of Precision Building Systems, sister company to Oakwood Homes.
Industry experts say such energy-use guarantees aren’t common, but they point to a wider trend within the homebuilding industry.
“This desire to reach and serve a consumer base that’s increasingly focused on efficiency is definitely a growing trend,” said Kevin Morrow, senior program manager for green building at the National Association of Home Builders.
He said one reason energy guarantees aren’t more common is because builders struggle to account for customers who use more energy than the norm.
“We caution builders not to make any promises, simply because of the fact that the energy performance a home realizes is very dependent on the user,” Morrow said, noting that a homebuyer could be a gadget fan with a plasma TV and a computer on in every room.
Oakwood says it accounts for such gadgets and lifestyle issues in its energy assessments, and its contract with homeowners allows the company to visit the home and do an energy audit to determine if the excess energy use is the result of faults with the home or abnormal use by the home owner.
The company says it will not be responsible for costs for abnormal use and that the customer must notify it of additional energy-draining items, such as hot tubs.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
