Getting ready to start construction of a new 3000 sf home just west of Philadelphia in the spring and just finalizing construction loan. I had heard about these mortgages years ago but not so much in recent years. Home will be extremely energy efficient using Superior Wall Xi systemfor foundation, Emercor insulated rim joist, Nascor III EPS wall panels, Jeld-wen windows and radiant heat. I just recently came across a mortgage company in Michigan that exclusively promotes these mortgages. Anyone else ever use this type of mortgage and who did you deal with?
Thanks,
John
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Somewhat off topic here but you may be elgible for some kind of tax credit under the DOE Energy Star program.
Poking around the Energy Star website is a good place to start.I think that one time they had links/references to mortage companies that had programs. They where based on the rates by an energy rater, I think both based on the plans and final construction verification (blower door, etc).At that time it was bascially for lower energy usage houses and did not require and unusal energy sources (ie, solar).But also check the state department of energy websites and the utility companies for any programs. But I suspect that most of them are for replacment/upgrading and not new construction..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I've never heard of an "Energy Efficient" mortgage, but wouldn't be surprised if they appear (or re-appear). Anything that is (or can be painted) "green" is taking off like a rocket.
I've been doing quite a bit of informal (i.e. unpaid) consulting about "green" things and it gets more fascinating all the time. Having licenses as a PE and GC gives me a perspective from both sides of the discussion.
One thing I tell everyone is that they need to do the research for financial incentitives. There are tax credits, rebates, etc that can make a big difference in the economics. They also need to stay current on them because they're changing all the time. I recently heard that PG&E was cutting their rebates and that the city of San Francisco was starting a program.
I'm uncredentialed, do some paid consulting. Both for GCs and HOs.
My last experience with a new house that didn't quite need a heating/cooling system (but got one to facillitate a mortgage) was that the appraiser completely ignored the energy features. We weren't surprised, struck me as reasonable.
Wasn't a problem as the appraisal came in 50% over construction cost. That did surprise me and the client.
Having a memory of past energy rebates/government programs, I hate to see it started again. Ending those incentives resulted in lots of problems for what might have been solid industries. Major setback for the whole field. Not to mention HOs who lost all those with maintenance expertise.
Mike Smith has mentioned that he'd never build solar again after the problems with selling his place. Turns out buyers are still worried about maintenance. Certainly that would be true in my market, which had a large number of defunct (unmaintained) active solar systems that were a large expense to the HOs.
Strikes me as better for any new idea/product to stand on its own feet. Get sold by its merits alone. Not have incentive programs to make some features artificially inexpensive.
Certainly that was the way my client approached his house. As did I. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Tom -
Those are some of the problems I see (or at least think I see).
Every solar-based system (heat collection or photovolatic) I've looked into involves a fair amount of pieces, parts, fluids, etc that aren't going to just sit there unattended and do their thing for 25-30 years. How many homeowners ever change their freaking furnace filters - let alone do anything else? - lol
The photovoltaic systems bother me most. People get all glassy-eyed about spinning their meter backward selling power to the electric company. Some of them seem to believe that they will start getting a regular check rather than sending in a payment.
I wonder what will happen when some HO has a problem with his PV system and decides that he can fix it himself - or has a BIL who once managed to install a porch light without killing himself. Might be kinda ugly, I think.
I also wonder what will happen if an overhead power line goes down and several PV systems are putting power into it. Now, the electric company can trip a remote breaker and kill the line. Will they be able to shut off those PV systems?
I'm all for a lot of this green business, and wish that we had done some of it years ago. Unfortunately, it's becoming a fad and I suspect that it's going to get a black eye before it has a chance to become "mainstream".
P.S. - How did you get into a paid consulting gig? So far, I haven't made any green advising people about going green, but I sure wouldn't object to it. - lol
Edited 12/15/2007 4:22 pm by Dave45
"I also wonder what will happen if an overhead power line goes down and several PV systems are putting power into it. Now, the electric company can trip a remote breaker and kill the line. Will they be able to shut off those PV systems?"Common PV systems don't have batteries and depend on the power line to sync to before they will generate any AC. Just for that reason.Otherwise you need a much more expensive system. Even more expensive that an off gride systems.CAP had an article on this in FHB, I believe about a basic installation. And he also discussed that in forum at the time..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
...........depend on the power line to sync to........
That's why I'm wondering, Bill. If there are several grid-tied systems backfeeding into the one of the feeder lines, and the power company dumps it's breaker, wouldn't the grid-tied PV systems still see a "live" grid - and keep feeding it?
Well unless there was a larger percentage of the homes on that feeder where activately generating significant amounts of solar power in excess of what that house is using then they would quickly trip out on overloads.Other than that I am not sure how the details work.But I would suspect that sudden shift of the phase angle would also be detected..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Yeah, I'm sure that the power company must have some kind of plan, but I haven't heard it yet. When I ran the question by an EE buddy, he thought for a minute then said he had no idea. - lol
How did you get into a paid consulting gig? So far, I haven't made any green advising people about going green, but I sure wouldn't object to it.
Fell into it, Dave. Bear in mind that I don't have broad expertise. I put my money where you often only see a mouth. Didn't have much idea of what I was doing, but it worked pretty well. Then I started studying why. Word got out.
Prefer referral. I don't want calls from anybody who didn't already know a bit about me. Pretty sure I could get considerably more work if I tried, but I'd have to work a lot harder.
GC and HO interest is distinctly different in my experience. Surprised me that I got attention from both. I managed something the head inspector had thought impossible, with my concrete house.
Internet interest is somewhat different. That page on my house generates a steady trickle. I turn down a few building requests/year, without finding out how serious they might be. Helping with design I find interesting. House tours, not that there's much to see, not unusual. Always shocks me when someone boldly announces they intend to hire me to build them a house.
My policy is to offer lots of free advice (like on this forum), usually about things to study. Anybody wanting much of my time gets a bill. Never an issue when I explain it like that. Occasionally I've been delighted that someone wanted to pay me to learn something they could then use.
My guess: you need to decide what you want to sell. Which is one of the reasons I prefer no credentials. Particularly with the current "green" frenzy.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Whoa... (read those profiles)
San Jose PE? How about thinshell design? Know a guy there, very eager. I sent him to Ketchum, and the thinshell part of that family (Milo) is no longer around.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!