THE SAVE ACT COULD SAVE HOMES
~ The SAVE Act Could
Impact the Largest Resource and Energy Consumption Sector
in the U.S. ~
January 2012
(Scottsdale, AZ) — The SAVE
(Sensible Accounting to Value Energy) Act is a bipartisan
bill introduced by Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) and
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) that will direct federal mortgage
agencies to create a new mortgage underwriting and realty
appraisal process that reflect homeowner energy costs.
The purpose of the bill is
to ensure energy-efficient features in homes will be
properly valued in appraisals, giving borrowers increased
capacity to finance the incremental costs of those features.
The bill is considered a win for homeowners, the economy
and the environment, because it will lead to more complete
and accurate mortgage underwriting, encourage investments
in home energy improvements, create more homebuilding
and construction jobs, and ease the burden on the family
budget.
Currently, the average home
will consume over $100,000 in energy cost during a 30-year
mortgage. Better appliances and construction techniques
can reduce that cost by over 50 percent. Additionally,
according to a recent McKinsey Energy Efficiency Report,
adopting better building practices could also reduce
utility operating expenses by $1.2 trillion. At the
national scale, the SAVE Act represents 83,000 new construction
jobs and trillions in reduced resource losses to our
economy, which could be redirected into economic stimulus.
The SAVE Act is supported
by a broad-based coalition including the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, the Council of the North American Insulation
Manufacturers Association (CNAIMA), the Alliance to
Save Energy, the U.S. Appraisal Institute and homebuilders
like Arizona-based Meritage Homes, one of the top 10
homebuilders in the country.
Meritage Homes is known for
its “net-zero” production home – a home that produces
as much energy as it consumes, meaning the primary utility
costs come only from appliances and technology components
such as TVs and computers. C.R. Herro, Meritage’s vice
president of Environmental Affairs, is driving this
movement by establishing new energy-efficient benchmarks
for production homebuilders.
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