Miri Mansaray (via The Missouri Independent)
Builders say today's average homebuyer expects to build a home with high-efficiency insulation and appliances. (Vaughn Wheat/The Beacon) Twenty years ago, only the most environmentally conscious homebuyers cared much about the value of solar panels, insulation, and heat pumps.
All of these factors matter today in a market where energy bills are becoming an increasingly important part of homebuyers' calculations.
Green home technologies are becoming more common and expected (and in some cases even mandated by local building codes).
And while technological improvements have strengthened the earth-friendly standards pioneered decades ago, the most impressive ways to save energy and use more environmentally friendly materials tend to appeal to buyers with deeper pockets.
The cheapest way to make a home more environmentally friendly is to make it smaller, but other details matter too.
Better insulation and appliances are becoming the standard, while features like traditional heat pumps and electric hot water heaters are becoming more popular among first-time home buyers on a budget, while solar panels and more expensive geothermal heat pumps are becoming more popular in the luxury market.
“This trend toward efficiency and electrification is a big step forward,” said Andrew Rumback, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “It's accelerated over the last five years as more people have become interested in reducing their use of fossil fuels and energy.”
The move towards greener housing is being driven in part by local and federal governments encouraging it with a variety of subsidies.
For example, Evergy offers rebates to electricity customers for the purchase of heat pumps and home electric vehicle chargers.
And the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (which imposes more rules on climate change) provides a tax credit to cover up to 30% of the cost of eligible clean energy home improvements, such as solar panels and solar hot water heaters, installed through 2032.
What's the hot topic of green tech in Kansas City?
Luxury homes may feature premium natural materials, but the real driver of green building today is the demand for designs that ensure lasting energy savings.
“A very natural aesthetic is in right now,” Rumbach says, “but that's not the main thing that's driving the market. A lot of the basics — heating, cooling, roofing — are what's driving the market.”
Homebuilders say as technology improves and energy codes tighten, buyers of all types are expecting weatherized homes with better-insulated walls, improved heating and cooling systems and better seals around windows and doors.
“Homeowners are becoming more aware of how extreme the weather can be in this area,” says Luke Owen, owner of Owen Homes, whose construction company builds homes that are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certified. “We have to consider all the different weather phenomena that a home will experience and try to build an exterior that can withstand that.”
Rumbach said the popularity of energy-efficient furnaces has grown exponentially. About 20 years ago, most furnaces were about 80% efficient, meaning 80% of the energy came back as heat. But today's models generally achieve 90% to 99% efficiency, he said.
Environmental experts also say the appliances are becoming standard in new homes as buyers look to move away from fossil fuels such as natural gas.
Rumbach said electric water heaters are becoming more popular, with more people buying tankless, on-demand water heaters thanks to federal subsidies.
Bill Griffith, a member of Kansas City's Climate Protection Steering Committee, said he's noticed a shift from electric stoves to induction stoves, which save electricity by using electromagnetic fields to heat pots and pans directly, rather than the entire cooking surface.
But the most notable change he's noticed is the popularity of heat pumps, which heat and cool the air more efficiently by bringing heat in during the winter and expelling it back out during the summer.
Griffith said seven years ago, his heat pump struggled to heat his home when temperatures dropped to 35 degrees. But technology has improved a lot. In March 2022, he replaced his gas furnace and air conditioner with an electric furnace and heat pump. He said he was pleasantly surprised that the heat pump heated his home without needing backup from the furnace, except for two frigid days in December.
“It was still functioning on the second day, even at temperatures of minus 5 degrees Celsius, before we switched over to the backup,” he said.
Griffith said heat pumps are only slightly more expensive than air conditioners and also save energy. He paid $6,500 for his heat pump, while an air conditioner costs $5,700. He said current homebuyers can save even more on the upfront cost with a $2,000 federal tax credit for heat pumps.
“Most of my savings come from reducing my monthly utility bills,” he said.
Heat pumps have soared in popularity and are a common replacement for air conditioners at Owen Homes, with heat pumps surpassing gas furnaces in total units sold in the U.S. last year.
But some of the advances in green building are beyond the budget of first-time homebuyers: Owen Homes is building homes in the $1 million to $3 million range with more expensive tinted glass and tightly sealed windows.
“Our window packages are typically in the $40,000 to $60,000 range,” he said. “A typical entry-level home is probably a $7,000 to $10,000 package.”
Other technologies such as roof-mounted solar panels and geothermal heat pumps are also becoming more popular in the luxury housing market.
Geothermal heat pump systems use pipes laid underground to harness the constant temperature, making heating and cooling more efficient.
Additionally, Kansas City's current energy codes require certain new homes to have their roofs prepared and designed for the installation of solar panels.
Owen said everyone wants to build a green home until they know the upfront costs and how long it will take to pay for itself in energy savings. First-time home buyers may need to consider smaller homes, he said.
“It's about understanding the trade-off between home size and amenities,” he says. “You can either have a larger home with fewer upgrades or a smaller home with more upgrades.”
Are green homes expensive?
The Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City estimates that following the city's current building code could add up to $31,000 to the price of a 2,400-square-foot, two-story home. But the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that the 2021 International Energy Code, on which the city's code is based, would typically add about $7,200 to the price of a single-family home.
Travis Brungardt, co-owner of Catalyst Construction, said one of the biggest challenges to achieving affordability is a shortage of skilled laborers who know how to install the new, advanced systems. Lack of expertise makes installation and maintenance time-consuming and expensive.
“For a tradesman, the choice between installing a system they've installed 25 times before or slowing down to learn a new system is a simple calculation,” he said. “They'll take the easy job and make more money.”
Homeowners also have to learn how to use new technology—for example, how to tweak humidity and ventilation settings on energy-recovery ventilators that replace stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air—or risk overworking the systems during extreme weather, Owen says.
“We're pumping fresh air into the house, but the temperature outside can be 100 degrees or minus 10,” he said.
Green technology can also be expensive to repair: Repairing a geothermal heat pump system may require digging underground to access the pipe network, which is labor-intensive and expensive.
“It's a fairly technical piece of equipment,” Owen says, “and we've had some homeowners who've seen very significant benefits from it, including reduced energy bills, but some have had issues with the electronics system. It all depends on which brand you choose and where it's made.”
Brungardt said Catalyst Construction built the 5,000-square-foot green home two years ago, and its residents have never paid more than $34 a month for electricity.
“I paid $260 for air conditioning last month, and the house I live in is half that size,” he said.
Catalyst Construction builds homes ranging from $700,000 to $2 million, and Brungardt said any level of efficiency is worth the investment.
“Some things you can't put a price on, like indoor air quality and human health,” he said.
This article originally appeared in Beacon: Kansas City and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Keywords economy, energy + environment, affordable housing, climate change, housing
