When I kept hearing the term Energy Star, I called my friends Frank Cirillo and Robert Goettlicher at Providence Homes to understand what all the fuss was about. I was amazed at what I found out! There’s a lot more to an Energy Star home than you may think. What I found most interesting is along with many energy saving features in each home, the homes must be independently tested to verify that it qualifies to hold the title of an Energy Star home.

It all starts with the home being designed properly – including window placement, heating and cooling duct design, planning for the air handler to be placed in conditioned space, and even truss design to allow for proper insulation all contribute to energy efficiency.

Check out the video above where Frank demonstrates the truss design. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about until he went and got a normal truss and compared it to the truss that goes in a more energy efficient home. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Of course, high performance low- E windows, insulated doors, programmable thermostats, energy efficient appliances, and water heaters all add to the energy savings.

Providence Homes guarantees that all Energy Star homes will score 77 or lower on the E scale which measures energy performance; however, they have recently been averaging 69. This matters to you because a home achieving 69 will use only 69 percent as much energy as a typical new home which is 100 on the scale.

I love living and working in our St. Augustine golf course community and this year I am particularly excited to make more time to enjoy all the exciting things we have coming up in the Village.

1. The World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater is reopening in 3D at the end of January.
2. The Nancy Lopez exhibit is opening at the Hall of Fame in mid January.
3. My first Relay for Life event is on April 9th & 10th in World Golf Village – Join our team and walk with us!
4. Isles of the World is being completely revitalized.
5. Playing golf at the King & Bear and Slammer & Squire with my husband and my dad.
6. Recognizing our great teachers from Wards Creek Elementary and Mill Creek Elementary through Davidson Realty’s new “Character Counts” teacher appreciation program.
7. Celebrating our successes in 2010 with staff and agents at our Awards Banquet.
8. Getting to know the new General Manager at the Renaissance Hotel, Jeffrey Oliasami, better.
9. Welcoming a couple of new tenants into Davidson Realty’s beautiful Executive Suites.
10. Our first real estate class at the Davidson building conducted by Florida Real Estate Institute starts January 31st.

Here’s hoping that 2011 brings more fun, more time with family, and more new construction! All the predictions point to a continued slow real estate recovery. I hope everyone has a great year!