Energy Star Qualified Homes
When Seawright Homes began the Harvest Hill design series in The Orchard at New Market, these became the first new homes in Frederick County where every such home would meet or exceed Energy Star Standards. Now our homes meet the standard of being a high performance ENERGY STAR home.
Each home in Harvest Hill at The Orchard has been designed and is tested and certified to meet or exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s increasingly strict ENERGY STAR standards. The result is a home significantly more energy efficient than any older existing home or any home built to current building code standards (2009 IECC). In owning an ENERGY STAR-certified home, you will enjoy a home that costs less to operate and maintain, is more comfortable and is better for our environment. Such results are achieved through tightly sealed ductwork engineered to be located only in conditioned space and tested for air leakage, high levels of effective insulation and air sealing, high-efficiency heating equipment, high performance windows and blower door testing to measure whether air infiltration limits for the whole house as a system have been satisfied. As a result, you can expect these homes to be more comfortable by reason of fewer drafts and more consistent temperature levels.
As important, part of what it means to be an ENERGY STAR home is that lower utility bills are built into every tested and certified home. And, what it means to be a high performance ENERGY STAR home is that your home will be at least 30% more energy efficient than a home built to standards of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (2009 IECC) and readily could be 50% or more energy efficient than the typical U.S. home having an average age of 34.6 years.
Apart from your ENERGY STAR home saving money for you 24/7, you can take satisfaction in knowing that your high performance home reduces the demand for fossil fuels and that by doing so you are doing your part to lessen air pollution, lessen the contribution of fossil fuels on climate change and increase our nation’s security by deceasing our dependence on foreign oil.
