ATLANTA, Feb. 9, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Educating builders, homeowners and realtors about energy efficiency, providing financial incentives, and helping market energy-efficient new homes and their builders are among the ways utilities have begun stepping into the new home construction industry. Other utilities provide third-party credibility through the inspection and certification of new energy-efficient homes, publicize energy-efficient mortgages to help more potential homeowners qualify for higher financing, or use a variety of other strategies. Details on utilities' efforts in this arena can be found in Chartwell's latest report, Utility Energy-Efficient New Home Construction Programs.
Advanced building techniques help energy-efficient new homes save homeowners about $400 annually on utility bills and operate at least 30% more efficiently than standard new homes. These "techniques" are not rocket science or elusive mysteries, but are, in fact, widely published and disbursed. The problem is that many home builders either haven't heard of them, don't realize how achievable they are, or have no incentive to include the extra features into their homes. That's why utility communications and marketing efforts are so important, according to the report.
On one hand, new home construction programs have helped utilities avoid building new power plants. On the other, some programs have fuel-use requirements, helping the utility promote energy efficiency and increase meter spin at the same time.
Utility Energy-Efficient New Home Construction Programs includes three in-depth case studies on successful new home construction programs and four chapters of analysis that details the features of energy efficient new homes, the Energy Star Homes program, financing options and energy efficient mortgages, and more. An entire chapter is dedicated to utilities' efforts in promoting energy efficient home construction, from providing incentives and aiding builders in their marketing efforts to advertising directly to consumers.
Utility Energy-Efficient New Home Construction Programs, which is available from Chartwell for $395, is part of The Chartwell Utility Marketing Research Series, which focuses on products, services, and customer relations issues such as marketing, promotions and public communications.
The Research Series is a 12-month membership that includes a data summary and report and accompanying database based on Chartwell's extensive annual utility survey; regular in-depth reports and case studies covering specific products/services or marketing-related issues; one-on-one consultation with Chartwell research staff on topics covered; profiles of vendors poised to help utilities in this arena; and more.
For information on membership in The Chartwell Utility Marketing Research Series or the individual report, Utility Energy-Efficient New Home Construction Programs, contact Bill Grist at (800) 432-5879, (404) 237-9099 or bgrist@chartwellinc.com; or visit www.chartwellinc.com or Chartwell's Energy Library at www.energylibrary.com.
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Chartwell Inc. seeks to provide a better understanding of technologies, issues and management practices in the utility and retail energy services industry through best practices case studies and quantitative research.