Renaissance Homes has a long history of building energy efficiency into its award-winning homes. The company is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design winner, and an early adopter of EPSTM, Energy Trust’s home scoring tool that measures the energy performance of newly constructed homes.
Owner Randy Sebastian began his construction career by building infill homes in the Portland metro area. Within a decade, he was ready to pursue what would turn out to be a winning idea: a truly well-built home that could incorporate energy efficiency into its design and function. In the late 1990s, Renaissance Homes made a commitment to focus its business on home efficiency.
The adoption of LEED Certification principles and the launch of Energy Trust’s EPS offering in 2009 led Renaissance Homes to use the scoring tool as a way to further improve the quality of its homes. “EPS is basically telling you exactly how energy efficient a house is. This isn’t a guess, it’s scientific,” said Sebastian.
As a longtime builder of EPS-rated homes, Sebastian feels that Renaissance Homes is truly on the cutting edge. He can also see that clients are catching up quickly. “Now we have people asking about EPS. That’s huge.”
How can a builder pursue a more challenging path but come out on top as a leader in the industry? Sebastian would say that when you set higher standards, you can achieve more.
To learn more about EPS and other Energy Trust resources for builders of energy-efficient homes, visit www.energytrust.org/EPSforallies.