A 3 Bedroom Ecobuilt™ Energy Efficient Home Heated for $146 and Cooled for $173

In 1987 Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation audited the Energy Efficient Home Team’s™ Ecobuilt™ high energy efficient ranch home design. This 3 bed-room two bath home design according to Owens-Corning’s audit results would heat and air condition for approximately $317 a year with heat settings at 70 degrees and air conditioning at 75 degrees. The estimated gas heating cost was $146 and the electric cost for cooling was $173.

At the time Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) had agreed to install free gas lines to all 7 new Ecobuilt™ homes being built by the Energy Efficient Home Team™. Most likely PGW having done their cost calculations anticipated a payback on their investment within a few years and underestimated the energy conservation afforded through the building’s design. Shortly after the Ecobuilt™ ranch home had been sold and occupied for a full heating season PGW showed up with digging equipment. They even managed to kill a newly planted tree as they searched for possible evidence that the supply lines to the house had been tampered with. Surely, a building of this size would consume much more energy than it had.

FYI- In 1987 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accepted front end ratios of 30% when qualifying Ecobuilt™ energy efficient home buyers.

Copyright © 2006, by Dennis Maq & Siti M Crook The Energy Efficient Home Team™