Owning an ICI home not only provides better air quality and a healthier living environment for you and your family, but it also increases your comfort level as your monthly energy costs are dramatically lowered.
Every home that we build features what we call the EQ Factor – a home that is both Energy-wise and Quality-built.
Each one of our new homes is inspected twice during construction by Skyetec, a third party energy rating service who verifies that the home meets RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network) standards. Once construction is complete, findings are sent to the Florida Solar Energy Center, a RESNET Accredited Rating Provider, who officially certifies a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index Score to the home.
Certificate and Label HERS Index
The HERS Index is the industry standard by which a home’s energy efficiency is measured. It’s also the nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home’s energy performance.
It can tell you so much about the home you live in, like how efficiently it’s operating and where you can make modifications for greater energy savings.
The as-built HERS Index Score may vary from the as-designed rating shown on the base plan depending on changes you made to the relevant home plan, including changes in interior and exterior options, appliances or features, or on the location, orientation and manner in which your home is built.
Calculating the HERS Index
A certified Home Energy Rater assesses the energy efficiency of a home, assigning it a relative performance score. The lower the number, the more energy efficient the home. A home with a HERS Index Score of 130 is 30% less energy efficient than a standard new home.
The typical new home HERS Index Score for the reference home (the particular home the rater uses to compare the new home) is 100. However, more stringent changes to the Florida Building Code, has coded new homes averaging around a score of 82 on the HERS index scale. The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that a typical resale home scores 130 on the HERS Index while a standard new home is awarded a rating of 100.
A home with a HERS Index Score of 70 is 30% more energy efficient than a standard new home while a home with a HERS Index Score of 130 is 30% less energy efficient than a standard new home.
Fun Fact: The average HERS Index Score for a new ICI home is 64.
The Lucca is 46% more energy efficient than a standard new home and 76% more efficient that the average resale home, which already puts it in a better bracket than a standard new home.
Calculating Your Estimated Monthly Utility Bill
The estimated monthly electric and gas energy bill cost is simultaneously generated from RESNET-approved software using assumptions about annual energy use solely from the heating and cooling systems, appliances and lighting that are included as standard with the relevant home plan, and average local energy utility rates available at the time the estimate is calculated. Gas utilities may not be available in some communities and energy utility costs in those communities will reflect only electrical utilities.
Even as the home is modeled in the software as designed and built per the relevant home plan, actual energy utility costs will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to personal utility usage preferences, the rates, fees and charges of local energy utility provides, daily activities, home maintenance practices, household size, use and/or condition of appliances, lighting and internal climate control systems, and the surrounding climate and weather conditions.
Limitations and Exclusions
Keep in mind that the HERS Index Score is a measurement of a home’s energy efficiency per RESNET standards, but it is not a warranty or guarantee of energy utility costs or savings. Neither SkyeTec nor ICI Homes guarantees that any specific level of electric and gas energy utility cost or savings will be achieved or maintained.
However, a low HERS Index Score can offer several advantages to the homebuyer. When the time has come to sell their home, ICI EQ Factor homebuyers have benefitted from a higher asking price because of the energy efficiency of their home. Talk about a win-win!
