If you build to the current International Building Code which currently includes the 2012 IECC (energy conservation code) then you should be achieving a very cost-effective level of energy efficiency. It is currently being "enforced" in some states and even if your state has not enacted it, or local inspectors dont enforce it, you should do your best to meet it's minimum performance requirements.

you need to invest in efficiency.
hire someone like me to work with you
and keep costs within your budget.

spray foam is great in my hot humid climate
when installed in roof rafters to make an
unvented semi conditioned attic. because we
do super inefficient things like put our equip
& ducts in hot attics.

air sealing is inexpensive, caulk is cheap.
ICAT over IC rated recessed lights aren't much
more per case. Mastics for sealing ducts is cheap
and last much longer than foil & duct tapes.

sizing the hvac system for the house, including
air changes per hour & true insulation values
will result in a properly sized system.
manual j is well worth the cost.

as hvac systems are our biggest energy users,
investing in mid range SEER ratings (hspf for heating
side of heat pumps, AFUE for gas furnaces & avoiding
electric strip...the most expensive way to heat)
is a low cost, but long term savings.

I have a radiant barrier, its ok...but not a great saver.
but I did seal all holes in ceiling for a near perfect
air barrier & put my ductwork & equipment inside
my living space.

what is your location?
check with Resnet for an energy rater in
your area. get your own blueprint for efficiency..
based on your budget.

best of luck.

Are there any energy efficient options that you did that didn't cost so much?

Site and design the house to take advantage of passive heating and cooling. That should be able to be accomplished without costing much.

We hired an environmental consultant to do some modeling for us. He figured out that doing extra insulation in the roof wouldn't save us much in heating costs, and would be expensive. Insulating the exterior of the basement walls, and under the slab, would save us huge, and cost less.

He was rather expensive to start with, but his advice more than made up for his fee.

We also put in smaller windows on the north side, which saves energy, and actually costs less than what most people would put in.

Change the way you are thinking about energy efficiency. For example, if you are adding solar panels where the up front costs will be amortized over, say, 30 year life of your mortgage, costing $50 more in mortgage costs, but they will save you $80 per month in electricity costs, then on a cash flow basis, you are saving $30 a month from the get go. (Numbers made up for illustration purposes.)

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Fri, Sep 12, 14 at 23:43

Obviously the gray water prices you are looking at are absurd and represent the green premium. Rainwater collection maybe a bit cheaper for what you get.

What is cost effective for you is not necessarily what is for me and it depends on your rates and climate.

Solar planning is almost always cost effective. Ie - windows facing south and avoiding West windows in a cooling climate. This generally costs nothing. I didn't do any of this - lack of foresight. I have planted trees in appropriate places and they are starting to help this year.

I live in NC. We did radiant barrier, dual fuel heating, Seer 16 a/c, extra air sealing (basic stuff - foam around windows) and solar hot water. Later added Solar PV.

My budget was $10k initially for "green" on a $600k build - 5000 sqft. I think we did less than that because the solar hot water was $6k but returned almost $4k in rebates/tax. I'm sure I counted it as more than $1k but that was the true cost compared to conventional hot water.

Solar PV was $30k, but $6k net after rebates/incentives.

I pay about $700 a year in energy costs. Electricity runs about $50 a month and I used $100 in NG last year which was pretty cold.

My average neighborhood house (which is smaller and on average 1.5 years older) uses about $3000 a year. We get reports for the utility companies. So my $15k paid back pretty quickly and I know it wasn't really $15k

Climate matters a lot - ours is moderate and energy is cheap. Foam is crazy around here. My roofline would have been $8k. Probably save me $100 a year. Geothermal was pretty crazy and couldn't be justified despite 65% in rebates (state and federal). A different lot and it would have.

doing extra insulation in the roof wouldn't save us much in heating costs, and would be expensive. Insulating the exterior of the basement walls, and under the slab, would save us huge, and cost less.

Bosh! Unless you're at R-80 in the roof already (or you're in the Okanagan Valley) very effective. Barring structural limitations, extra roof insulation is inexpensive. Basement walls--great, though inside or outside doesn't matter. Under a basement floor, generally pointless from the view of saving energy unless you're heating the floor. That's because the ambient temperature at that depth may be only 15 degrees F. lower than the indoor temperature.

Much depends on climate.

***
Electricity runs about $50 a month

Our bill for August alone was C$705.76 (US$654.92) for 5,057.62 kWh. Ugh.

almost every energy efficient upgrade we've looked at doesn't pay. It's mostly feel-good stuff. If you actually sit down and run the numbers, the vast majority of them do not pay. People talk about "pay back" but they don't consider opportunity cost - if you took the same amount of money and invested it elsewhere you not only have to pay back the principle but you have to save MORE than you would have made investing the same money somewhere else.

I started out planning a LOT of energy efficient upgrades in our current new home project - in my last home we had spray foam, the high end HVAC, lots of stuff. But this time we've been more hard nosed about the actual financials, and most of them just don't save money.

Greywater systems are probably at the very bottom of the barrel - 10 grand in investment to save some water??? Are you serious? That will never pay back. It's a great idea, I wish it would, but you're paying money to feel good.

pprioroh - investments get taxed, saving money does not. No risk investments pay very little. I remember a conversation with someone who was considering a similar PV system to mine. It saved about 12% of the cost per year. He ran numbers and decided it didn't make financial sense. Opportunity cost and all. Because 12% risk free, tax free investment opportunities are everywhere? There is the effect of compounding balanced with energy inflation so the decision is not always straight forward.

Solar planning and air sealing always are cost effective. The others depend greatly on energy costs and climate. I'm guessing you live in a low energy cost area.

Higher Seer a/cs tend to be better built and have better warranties. Keeping units in conditioned space improves longevity. Better insulation improves comfort by keeping air temps more uniform. Improved air sealing helps with humidity control and comfort both in winter and summer. Staged a/cs (ie higher end) improve humidity control, last longer, are quieter etc. Benefits are not always dollars and cents.

Energy costs will rise. They may rise much faster than inflation (most people expect they will).

In my area, it is common to spend $1000 a year on water for irrigation. That $10k may not be a horrible investment. If it also saved 50% of the sewer bill, it might be a $1500 a year savings.

And yes, my water/sewer bill exceeds my energy bill.

david_cary - I'm curious, how do you figure out your energy costs? How do you know how much of your electric bill is for energy rather than other electrical devices?

I was going to address pprioroh's post but Brian Knight
beat me to it.

the software I've used for the past 15 years shows
length of payback based on utility costs & upgrade
costs. so my list isn't at all random, its accurate based
on La climate & energy costs. as long as the numbers
entered are accurate it calculates % of savings for
each upgrade and $ savings per month/year.

a common mistake people make is to compare the whole
cost of the upgrade, when it is the difference between what
just meets code & what the proposed upgrade cost actually
is. paying $1500 more for a heat pump instead of a/c elec strip
will pay for itself in my climate in 2-3 years.
the cases of caulk...in the first year. ditto for mastic seal
of ducts. while it wouldn't pay for me to change windows...
if I were building new & cost between low e argon filled windows
over double clear glass is $30...the upgrade cost would pay
for itself in less than 5 years. a lot depends on where you start
& where you are located.

something as simple as piping hvac condensate into a
flower bed...cheap. an easy diy needing just pvc, glue
& a shovel. I don't have to water my river birch & the
surrounding flower bed at all. just had to plan it that way.

and in new construction...its all about planning.
things like marble countertops & triple crown moldings
can always be added. and btw...if sheetrock crew
thinks no moldings are being used...they tape & float
everything so its pretty air tight...thats an affordable
and inexpensive thing to do.

point is...there are all levels of efficiency.
just decide where to start...like with an energy rating.

I'd be screaming if my bill was 1/4 as high as Worthy's.
he would hear me up there in Canada!
of course he may have a heated pool, and a 5000 sq ft
house & shop he heats/cools.
I was upset at my $68 utility bill for august...and $12 was
for the security light & misc. and sadly....no pool!

sure would be nice to hear back from OP with location
and thoughts of where this thread has gone!

Variation in costs and local climate obviously has a huge effect on this. We spec'ed a PV system and it was about 50K to save maybe $1500-2000/year. Do the math, it never pays itself back. And we have an irrigation system and spend at most $150/month for a few months a year during the hot summers and again although I looked at rainwater catch it never would pay back.

I agree with the low hanging fruit (sealing the envelope, insulating correctly) but a lot of this stuff unfortunately just doesn't pay such as super efficient zero energy homes.

Other parts of the country with much higher utilities of course will calculate differently, so i was just relating my experience.

Another radical idea is to build a smaller house. Our old house in FL had everything wrong. No insulation, single pane windows, and A/C ducts in the attic. After thinking about it, we realized that we only really used about half of the house- and it was 1600 sq ft. No, we didn't build our new house 800 sq ft, but we did cut back on the size some, and put some of that money into energy efficient construction. We have a lot of unconditioned space that can be used when needed- a 1200 sq ft fully insulated basement.

There are other advantages to building an energy efficient home besides lower power bills. Our new ICF home is extremely temperature stable, with less than a one degree variation throughout the house. There are no cold spots or hot spots. We used a very small and efficient mini-split heat pump- 30 SEER. A single 12K (one ton) unit has kept the house very comfortable this summer, and was much, much cheaper than a ducted system.

I'm sure if I did the math (and I'm not going to), it would have made more sense to just slap together a 2X4 house with code minimums, which is what most builders around here are doing. For us, it wasn't just about the money, although we are building on a desperately small budget compared to most people on here. We now have a very strong, quiet, and comfortable home. The smaller size makes it easier to clean and maintain, and the property taxes and insurance are cheaper as well. We had to forgo the $200 a square foot granite, the Sub-Zero fridge, and the Wolf range, but at least we can afford to live here.

pprioroh, Can you really say that super-efficient zero energy homes do not pay? Carter Scott, a builder in Mass is reportedly building net-zero houses for 250K. Most important details are very affordable. You just have to do them right.

$50k for a PV system seems extremely high. By the time we were done with state subsidies and federal tax credits we were at $12k for a 5kw system. Since we have geothermal heating/cooling, our primary fuel is electricity so it pays to have the PV panels to offset fuel costs. (We have LP for our generator, tankless hot water heaters, and our gas fireplace.) We are in the NE, zone 5 and our total energy costs ...lighting, heating, cooling, hot water, everything...are averaging $80/month. That is just about what our electric bill was per month at the old house which only did lighting and a/c. We had oil bills on top of that for heat, and we kept the house cooler, the house was smaller and we burned more wood to offset the cost. So for us, going green has paid back nicely.

MushCreek hit it on the head with many points. Upgrades do add money. Its what is more important. I see posts of huge houses saying the upgrades would be massive. Yes, they probably are for 6000 sqft. Then again, a $60k kitchen cabinet does not get a blink of an eye when $5k for double attic insulation gets picked apart as pay back or not. Obviously these are generalizing, but it has to be a goal of your project. If your goal is to be as comfortable as possible, have low monthly bills, and brand names or fancy interiors are not as high on the list, high efficient homes can certainly be had.

My 3700sqft ICF home in zone 6 is an Energy Star 3.0+, Hers of 34, and I have an average cost of $80/month in gas, power and water total. It is solar design, triple pane windows, air seal tested at 1.01 ach. Spray foam sealed attic, r65 blown in, insulated below the basement slab with R10. Standard 2 ton modulating Lennox furnace and 17 SEER AC. it is efficient, but no need for a geo system. If the shell is built tight and high R, then when your heating/cooling load is low enough, it doesn't matter as much what mechanicals you put in, and this can be a big savings. I am sayings all of this to say it cost $220,000 to build the home. And yes, it has a large kitchen with white granite counters and hardwood (strand bamboo) floors throughout.
If it is designed right (solar), right materials and methods are used, and money is spent in the right areas, efficient doesn't need to equal expensive.

Full spray foam home and geothermal are far from most efficient and cost effective ways to get low energy bills. Many methods are out there to get a more efficient home of less upfront than that combination.

HERS 34 & 1.01 ach...impressive.

your foam in on attic floor with blown over it?
I gotta ask....what size hvac system?
what system for air changes & location?

I'd like to see ductwork in conditioned space
in design phase personally...putting ductwork
& equipment in attics...not a good thing. and the
IC recessed lights...the bane of my existence LOL!

Our PV system cost us $8k out of pocket to install, provided $904 worth of electricity in the last year, and I just cashed a check on our first year of SREC sales of $1600. I don't expect the SREC numbers to stay anywhere near that high, but thats an ROI that blows away any other investment I have made. It should continue to crank out that power for the next 20-30 years. You may or may not agree with the public policy aspect of the subsidies provided, but as a homeowner you can't beat it with a stick.

Last summer we ran up a $2200 bill for water, keeping a relatively small lawn alive (not something I would have done had I known!). If I had any intention of using that level of water a $10k investment to recycle would probably make a lot of sense. Not to me though; the lawn is on its own!

We insulated and sealed the heck out of our place. Keeping the old house at 45 degrees for the winter before we began remodeling cost $1600 in oil. After doubling the size of the house and turning the thermostat up to 68 our gas bill was under $800 for the winter, with a bunch of sealing yet to complete. The payback will be much longer, but we also get the benefit of a very comfortable space, without the drafts int he old house.

The beauty of insulation is that it should continue to provide that benefit for the next century plus, with no additional investment over that period. (Plenty of 2-300+ year old houses in the neighborhood, chances are good the house will survive). I expect my payback (taking opportunity cost into account) to be long, real returns of a few percent a year, with my heirs perhaps getting a better price for a quiet, well insulated house. I don't regret paying it forward in this way-- I appreciate the way our ancestors built with quality, and have a lot of satisfaction from creating a property that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

I'm calling BS izerarc - no way you built a 3700 sq ft home with those kind of upgrades (ICF, spray foam, triple pane windows, hardwood everywhere and granite kitchen) for only $220k. That is only $60/sq ft. I'm in the midwest and you can't even build a vinyl home with 2x4 walls and none of those things for that price.

It really depends on where the home was built. $220k in our area won't even buy you the lot of land to put the house on. And how much was sweat equity. I agree though that those numbers lzerarc posted are extremely low.

And our electricity rates are very high at 20 cents/kwh vs other areas of the country that are about half of that.

I'm sure that lzerarc acted as his own GC and and certainly designer/architect. That 3700 may be 1/2 basement which would also cut costs considerably.

3700 includes basement (not fully finished but conditioned, so I consider it in the energy calcs). I acted as my GC, the architect and built a great deal of it myself yes. However if I add all of the bids I received in addition to the subs I paid, it would still be about $280,000 total project. That is my point exactly. If its done right, and elaborate finishes are not selected and funds are placed on energy upgrades, homes like this do not always have to cost alot.

Energy rater- foam was sprayed in the attic only at the soffit vent locations (prevent wind washing), at all wall and plumbing penetrations to create an air seal. Blown insulation on top of all of that after the air seal.
HVAC is a 2 ton AC. heat load is calculated at about 22k BTU. Colling is 18k. Furnace is modulating. Never runs above single stage.

I'd personally try to use cellulose wherever possible. R value is great, cheap, and seems to be very "green" vs foam.

I would love to hear folks' thoughts about cellulose vs. spray foam. We had a hard time deciding but ended up with foam. Our contractor's arguments against the cellulose were: cellulose settles, concerns re possible wall bowing (advanced framing), cellulose absorbs a lot of liquid, so if you have a leak you might not know it for a long time . . . .

cellulose settles if installed incorrectly. Blown cellulose needs to be blown to a density proven to not settle.
Cellulose is more "green" then foams typically, and usually a good deal less cost, especially for an attic situation. A classic move for insulators is to claim you do not need as much foam to "do the same job"...(ie install less than code value R). This is a selling strategy since it does cost a lot but is simply not true. R value is r value, no matter what product is used and code does not distinguish between products.
Cellulose is not an air sealer however like foams are. You still need to air seal all areas of your home. Foam in your stud bays does not air seal all areas either.
Both are good products and if used together, can be a very effective way of insulating, air sealing, and staying on budget while achieving high r values.