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| from ecobuildingjobs.com |
Don Ferrier, owner of Ferrier Custom Homes, an award-winning, green-friendly DFW-based home builder, gave a powerpoint presentation titled "Money Spent, Money Saved."After telling us about his clientele and their needs, he proceeded to show how building a more sustainable home can actually lead to cost savings.
About 65 percent of Ferrier's customers are baby boomers. Generally, baby boomers want to save money, and many want safety features like FEMA-certified safe rooms. Ferrier Custom Homes also caters to a large number of people in the 29-40 age range. Customers in this age range generally want a home with as many "green" features as they can afford. Ferrier even caters to survivalists who want self-efficiency.
Ultimately, most customers have to balance their heart and their wallet; nevertheless, sustainable features can lead to cost savings for virtually any customer, commercial or residential. For example, Energy Transfer was able to recoup $32,000 in sustainable upgrades to one of its buildings in 3.5 years. These upgrades included using more sustainable materials, a 16 SEER air conditioning unit, minimized west windows, and air tight windows.
Another customer spent over $20,000 on green features for a zero-energy casita with a 17 SEER air conditioner, a windmill, an upgraded roof, and upgraded windows. Initially, Ferrier estimated that it would take over 40 years to recoup the cost for these upgrades; however, the home owner expects to be able to recoup his investment much sooner than that.
Green features are not just for new builds; they can also be part of a remodel. Ferrier Homes won a sustainability award for remodeling a former drug house with a stormproof roof, which helped to lower homeowner's insurance premiums, weather sealing, an upgraded air conditioner, and other energy efficiency upgrades.
You can check out Ferrier Custom Homes at http://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/home/
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