Green Homeowners

Do homebuyers understand and appreciate the value of green building? Although homeowners are increasingly sophisticated regarding sustainable building practices, new technologies, new systems, combinations and materials are constantly being introduced, says Ron Jones, president of Green Builder Media.

Tim O’Brien of Wisconsin-based Tim O’Brien Homes, affirms Jones’ sentiment about the need for homeowner education. “We saw early on that much of green building technology can be a bit above the level of understanding of the average homeowner, and easily overwhelming,” says O’Brien. “We’ve combated this by pulling buyers into the planning process very early, so that they understand everything that’s involved—that it’s not just about energy efficiency, but also water conservation and indoor air quality, too.

“While we do enjoy a more sophisticated and better-educated client, it’s still incumbent on us—the builder—to be the source of information,” opines Jones, who notes that it is the responsibility of builders to keep abreast of industry and technological developments in order to be a resource for homebuyers.

Don Ferrier of Texas-based Ferrier Custom Homes points out that ‘green buyers’ of all ages are typically much savvier than typical homeowners, but often have different sustainable building motivations. “We’ve seen baby-boomers more interested in the financial payoff through energy savings associated with green building, while younger buyers, typically in their 30s and 40s, believe sustainability is the right thing to do for their families, future generations and the earth.”

“When our clients first come to us, they’re still working to understand how sustainability benefits them,” continues O’Brien. “Overall, we’ve found that these benefits are something you have to experience yourself to truly appreciate. Homeowners who have lived in their homes for 3-5 years are more likely to value the benefits: durability, quality construction, high-energy efficiency and better indoor air quality… The message builders have can then resonate with buyers.”

Stay tuned to our blog for more on information, tips and advice for homebuilders on green building practices.

For this blog installment, we asked our Builder Sales Manager, James Facer to share his best advice for builders on how to recommend and sell tankless water heaters in projects. Thanks to James for this excellent advice!  Enjoy!

 A steadily rising trend on the residential construction scene for more than a decade, tankless water heating is now a legitimate, well-established option for most builders. They no longer wonder how that little box hanging on the wall actually works, or whether it can keep up with a homeowner’s hot-water needs. Today, builders want to know how tankless can work for them, helping them sell their homes in a market that is eager for products that cut energy costs and deliver a payback.

This shifting perspective inevitably impacts the kinds of questions I get from builders on tankless. Most relate to the utility, economic viability and marketability of the product — as well as how to promote these advantages to a buyer.

For me, the easiest way to recall the key benefits of tankless technology in the home is to think of a little word you and your people likely use everyday in your business — S-P-E-C.

• Space savings: Substituting a wall-hung tankless water heater for a conventional tank model frees up approximately nine additional square feet. Multiply that by the cost per square foot of the homes you are building, and you’ve put a hard-dollar value on going tankless. That space and dollar savings could translate, for example, into something of genuine worth to the buyer, such as an additional closet, a larger family room, etc.
• Positioning: Tankless water heater represents a paradigm shift in homebuilding in so many ways. One is to get builders to “think outside the mechanical room,” by way of maximizing the overall value of tankless for the homeowner. Because of their medicine-cabinet size, tankless water heaters fit neatly into many different places: crawl spaces, utility closets, attics, garages, and so forth. By getting involved with the builder at the design stage of a project, a manufacturer like Noritz can help him position the water heater in a more centralized location. That, in turn, should reduce the length of vent runs and eliminate chases and soffits — once again, freeing up space for better and more marketable uses.
• Energy Factor: Builders are looking more closely than ever at tankless. Why? Because they know — and their buyers increasingly know — domestic hot water represents the second largest usage of energy in American households, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Condensing, gas-fired models have an Energy Factor of .93 or .94, while a mid-efficiency unit has a .84 EF. That typically translates into an annual operating cost of around $200. Compare that with $350 in annual costs for a standard tank water heater with an EF of .62. Today's buyer wants lower energy bills, and tankless can go a long way toward meeting that demand, but without sacrificing comfort or convenience. Which brings us to the final letter…
• Comfort and Convenience:  Tankless technology inevitably brings significant life style improvements. Say, for example, you have relatives staying at your home over a long weekend. If your hot water comes from a tank-type water heater, you may need to schedule your bathing times to be sure there’s enough hot water for everyone.

Or never mind overnight guests: Maybe you don’t really have enough hot water to accommodate your own family’s needs. Do you refrain from using your soaking tub, because no one can shower for an hour afterward while the water heater recovers? Does your bath have dual showerheads that provide only nine or ten minutes of truly hot water before the shower turns lukewarm?

A properly sized tankless system eliminates the worry over whether there’s enough hot water for all the members of your household all the time. Tankless is an automatic technology with no storage and no shortage of hot water. Continuous hot water will be there — on demand — whenever you need it, for however long you need it.

Homebuilders today face challenges competing in the marketplace. One opportunity that some may be quick to brush off is green building, which has actually become easier to do and is more profitable in the long run for both homebuilders’ businesses and the homeowner. The first question that most builders have when approached with this topic is, “But, where do I start?”

On Wednesday, February 5, 2014, Don Ferrier of Ferrier Custom Homes, Tim O’Brien of Tim O’Brien Homes and Ron Jones of Green Builder media gathered at the Noritz Booth for a panel discussion at the 2014 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, to answer this question, as well as other questions about green building, being a green builder, and what builders curious about green building can do to apply the concepts to their own practice.

Q: In your personal experience, where does the sustainability process start when building a new home?

Don Ferrier: Sustainability starts with planning. You have to be sure that you have a good team and that the entire team, including all of your subs and vendors, involved with the project are committed to what you’re doing. If you tell your electrician or your plumber that they made a penetration in your wall envelope and you want it sealed because you don’t want moisture intruding or air escaping, they’re going to look at you like you’re crazy, because they’ve never heard of that before. Sustainability is something that’s slightly different—enough different that it takes a lot of education in-house as well as everywhere else. But of course, you start with the site and determining how to best handle it, and then you walk through what the owners want to accomplish and you try to merge those two the best they can.

Tim: I think another piece is making sure that everybody understands the components of sustainability. You know, it’s not just one area. Like in our market, we’re in a cold climate, and people think that green is energy efficiency. There’s more to it than just energy efficiency. And like Don said, bringing everybody on board to make sure they understand why you’re doing the things that you’re doing is very important and it’s just as important to get education in the field to the trade contractors as well as to your internal staff.

Ron: These guys are great builders and they have expressed a number of things that I distill down into one word, and that’s intent. Sustainability starts with your intention. You have to have a commitment to outperform what’s acceptable. You want to excel in this business, and the way you do it is by setting a higher standard for yourself and the people you’re working with. The product selections, the systems and the outcome will follow.

Don: Another thing that always comes up at the beginning of the planning process in dealing with a client, is something which we’ve heard for many years: a passive home requires an active homeowner, and that if you want a home that is very high performance, the homeowner may have to open some windows and doors. Often builders can use this as a selling point though, because in my experience, most of them are already willing and used to doing that. I deal with clients based in hot climates, and in the spring and fall it’s 80 degrees inside and 60 degrees outside as it’s cooling off in the evening. I always ask clients, “Will you open the windows to flush it out, or will you turn the air on?” Typically about 90 percent—unless they have allergy problems—say they would open the windows. We’re always trying to think of ways we can get the predominantly south/southeast winds flowing through the home to flush it out, things like that.

Overall, you’re looking at the efficiency as a scale. You’ll typically pay more for those items up front, but they’ll always pay for themselves and the energy they save. For that matter, we do energy modeling on every home we build so that the homeowner can see that and it helps them make decisions. Our clients come in and they’ve got 50 things they know they want in their house and I’ll ask them what kind of budget they’re looking at, and from there, I let them know how many of those things on their list can fit into their budget, and that’s when we facilitate them through their decision process.

Stay tuned for more topics that were discussed by this group of experts at the Builders’ Show for advice and tips on green building.

Talk, tweet and win spending money for VEGAS!

Drop by anytime between 10:00am to 12:00pm Tuesday, February 4 & Wednesday, February 5 in Booth #C8322!

There are so many reasons for builders to specify Noritz tankless water heaters in their projects. From continuous hot water and product longevity to energy and space savings, we aim to be a greener, more cost effective solution to consumers and builders alike.

This year at the International Builder’s Show we’re getting social, giving away daily prizes and want to hear how you can build Noritz into your projects!

Here’s how to enter:

• Follow us on Twitter at @NoritzAmerica.
• Head over to our booth (C8322) where we’ve set up a cool photo station.
• Chat with our friendly reps about the pros of using a Noritz tankless water heater in your building projects.
• On our chalkboards, let us know how YOU can build US into your project.
• Take your own photo in our booth with your phone (we love Noritz selfies) or let us do it for you.
• Tweet us your picture using the #NoritzBuilds hashtag on Twitter and you’re automatically entered to win a daily prizes!

Get social and let Noritz give you spending money for your VEGAS experience. Help us tear up Twitterverse with #NoritzBuilds!  See you in Vegas!

We're bringing in the experts.

Panel Discussion: 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5 Booth #C8322

Green isn’t just a color: it’s a movement. As the world strives to find more eco-friendly approaches to building, we aim to be one of the key sources of greener solutions.

We’re heading to the International Builders Show in Las Vegas February 4 through 6 and we’re bringing in an expert panel to discuss green and sustainable building.

Who better to talk about their experience than experts in the field? We want builders to talk to builders and together, make a difference. Meet our panel:

Ron Jones: Co-Founder and President of Green Builder® Media, is recognized as one of the fathers of the green building movement. https://www.greenbuildermag.com/blogs/ron-jones#.UqYjVKWTR4U

Don Ferrier: President of Ferrier Custom Homes, and the third generation of the Ferrier family in the quality construction business. https://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/about/history/

Tim O’Brien: Founder of Tim O’Brien Homes, with 14 years in the building and construction industry. https://www.timobrienhomes.com/our_story.html

Please join us as we tackle topics and questions that are essential to builders striving for sustainability in each and every project. Enjoy these expert opinions and light refreshments!

How your tankless water heater fits into the big picture

A home is one of the most important purchases we make in our lifetime. But until recently, there hasn’t been a way to determine the long-term cost of living in a new home or, moreover, calculating the potential energy savings offered by different homes.

Fortunately, the HERS Index now allows easy comparison for home buyers, and affirmation for builders. Often likened to the “Miles Per Gallon” equivalent for homes, RESNET’s Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating is a third-party measure of how efficient a home is operating and where modifications can be made to achieve greater energy savings. The lower the HERS score, the more energy efficient the home is.

According to Don Ferrier of Fort Worth, TX-based Ferrier Custom Homes, LP, the HERS score makes energy efficiency a much more level playing field, but it is not the perfect indicator.

“In my experience, I’ve had homes where I’ve gotten a HERS score of 56 and others a 52, using the same building techniques,” he says. “Sometimes the higher score can save more money, but the cost outcome might also be the result of the homeowner; such as how long you run the instant hot water heater, how long you keep the lights on, and where you set your thermostat relative to the season. A home builder can’t control these choices."

Doing the homework on energy efficiency

But Ferrier says that for the high majority of the time, homebuyers that come to him have already done their homework on energy efficiency.

“My clients have already made a choice,” he says, “so it’s likely that these important subtleties in their home activities are already part of an everyday routine. So, an extremely energy efficient home, combined with a motivated homeowner translates to a very low energy bill.”

At the end of the day, the HERS index helps builders’ gain buyer’s trust and simplifies the ability to compare energy efficient performance.

Stay tuned to our blog for more on information, tips and advice for home builders on green building practices.

You (and your wallet) may be pleasantly surprised.

Your water heater may not be an appliance that you keep top of mind. In fact, you may not think about it at all - until it fails. When the time comes it's important to weigh your options on whether a tankless water heater is right for you. Although initial costs can be higher at times than a regular tank water heater, thinking "long term" will have you realizing the savings when it comes to tankless.

Find more answers by clicking on the infographic here:

Noritz is committed to sustainability and green building practices, so we stay on top of trends to best serve our builder customers with their tankless water heater needs. Like a lot of you, we’re working to keep abreast of the changing language of green building.

Understanding Shorthand

How do we talk about what we do? Do we adopt industry jargon? Do we use shorthand terms that mean a lot to us, but often confuse the very people we must communicate with, the home-buying consumer? The unfortunate answer – probably.

Home building has its own shorthand: terms that describe the type of builder, the type of home, etc. A lot of new language emerged more than a decade ago, as home building – planners, architects, regulators, code officials, builders and allied professions – learned the terms of green building.
We talked about energy efficiency, indoor air quality, recycled content, solar panels, water conservation, and more. “Green building” was the umbrella that covered all the various ways to become a “green builder” and construct homes that lived lighter on the planet. Good stuff, to be sure, but…

Talking Consumer

The big mistake with this list of green descriptors? None helped home buyers understand the value inherent in green homes. The good news: With experience, language evolves and the terms come to reflect the genuine benefit to the ultimate consumer.

The changing language of green building finally has landed on a more meaningful descriptor: “high-performance homes.”

What builder doesn’t want to be known as the firm that brings to market high-performance homes? We believe that our tankless water heater products can give builders a progressive edge with high performance technology and space saving benefits.

And what home buyer could ever object? Who wouldn’t want a home that requires less energy to heat and cool, while conserving water and promoting natural ventilation and healthy indoor air quality? The list goes on and on when the language umbrella is big enough.

Words matter. Make sure you’re using the ones that matter to the only person who matters – your customer.

Winterize Your Hot Water Heater & More

With old man winter just around the corner, it’s important to take some precautions before the temperature significantly drops.

As ground temperatures get colder, older tank-style water heaters are challenged to raise incoming water temperatures to sufficiently satisfy demands for hot morning showers. In colder climates, the disparity between the incoming and desired water temperature—say from 45F degrees to 110F degrees—can cause significant stress on water heaters and will increase the likelihood of water heater failure. This is especially true for older, tank-style heaters with sediment build-up, which forces your heater work even harder to achieve the same level of heating (sediment lowers heat transfer efficiency).

Considering a Tankless Water Heater? Why Wait?

So before the colder weather sets in, it’s a perfect time to consider replacing an old tank-style water heater. Although most tank water heaters last 10-12 years, it's best to start shopping now for a new one if yours is more than 7 years old. Here’s an infographic designed to guide you through a water heater replacement and keeping those showers hot!

If you already use a tankless heater (and we’re happy you are), preparing ahead is still smart and may save you from damage not covered under warranty. This is important, especially if you are going to be away from your home for an extended period of time. Below are some tips to transition your tankless water heater for the colder season:

1. To reduce the likelihood of freezing in unoccupied spaces, completely drain the water from the plumbing system (shut off the water and open the taps). Noritz America offers specific technical advice for winterizing your Noritz tankless water heater. You can also check your manufacturer’s manual for step-by-step instructions.
• If you have a recirculation pump, increase its use, especially during the colder, evening hours. This keeps your tankless heater and water pipes in motion, lessening the likelihood of freeze issues.

Beyond the Water Heater: Block, Turn it down, and Bundle Up

The winter season also brings a great opportunity to think — or re-think — strategically about your energy consumption during the winter. TheDailyGreen.com offers a few tips to help reduce your bill during the colder months:

1. Block the Drafts: A draft snake, which can be bought or easily made from a rolled bath towel, is a great way to prevent drafts underneath doors.
2. Run Fans in Reverse: Many fans come with a handy switch that reverses the direction of the blades. Counterclockwise rotation produces cooling breezes while switching to clockwise makes it warmer. (We’re not kidding! Who knew?)
3. Install Storm Doors and Windows: By sealing drafts and reducing airflow, storm doors can increase energy efficacy while also offering greater flexibility for letting light and ventilation enter your home.
4. Turn down the Heat: Turning down the heat when you leave the building can help you save between 1 and 3% of your heating bill for every degree you lower the thermostat during the heating season.
5. Put on a Sweater: It may be common sense, but according to TheDailyGreen.com, a light long-sleeved sweater is worth about 2 degrees in added warmth while a heavy sweater can add about 4 degrees. So put away your shorts and grab your woolies!

Your home is perhaps your largest investment, and you want to make sure you protect that investment with the choices you make. If you’re deciding between a tank or tankless water heating system for your hot water needs, there are several factors that you need to be aware of.

How durable is each type of system?
What is the typical life cycle?
How long are the warranties on each water heater type?
What can happen at the end of a product life cycle that may damage your home?

Find the answers in our simple infographic.