Energy Design Optimizes Utility and Mortgage Bills

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Case Study: Demonstrate the benefits of energy related capital investments

Baby boomers interested in sustainability and approaching retirement were building a new home. They had a fixed budget for the construction that was to occur in northeastern MA. The clients were concerned about long-term energy costs, but they also had a mortgage ceiling they couldn’t exceed. The architect used Ekotrope’s HomeSEED™ to determine the best set of energy components that could reduce mortgage and utility bills to below the client’s goals.

Original Design 

The architects had developed a design that met the capped annual mortgage that the client was seeking but it just met the minimum energy code requirements.

Ekotrope Analysis 

Produced close to a thousand possible designs to find better options for meeting the short-term financial goals while reducing long-term risks of energy cost escalations. More specifically, Ekotrope looked for “Sweet Spots” where any additional investment in energy efficient solutions would be offset immediately by the energy savings.

Results

Ekotrope suggested a design that offers a significant energy saving over the original (equivalent to planting 1,000 maple trees). This design significantly reduced the risks of energy price escalation while meeting the budget constraints. The expected energy savings exceeded the increased mortgage costs, offering an annual saving of over $550. This excludes the tax benefits of shifting reoccurring energy expenses into mortgage expense/interest.