The infinity system is an automatic zoned system. There is so much more to it that you describe. But from the user standpoint, I'll give some examples. Each zone has a stat. The master stat can change temps for the different zones. Each zone can turn on the system. A basic manual damper system might only direct air when the system is on but couldn't turn the zone on from anywhere. The best example is with basements in shoulder seasons. We don't run the heat here in late March but the basement is cold still. In a simple system, the basement dampers might be all open but it can't call for heat so it stays cold. Now in January, it can direct all the heat it wants (to a limit) down to the basement so it is fine. The Infinity system measures the pressures in the air handler and cuts down the motor if they get too high. So if a small zone is calling for heat, it runs the motor at a lower speed. This eliminates the need for dump or bypass zones. Inifinity stats are small computers that are shockingly more sophisticated than the stats you see in 95% of homes. Not simply programmable but a lot more. They have LCD screens and menus. They tell you when the filters need to be changed. They have digital humidity readouts. They can set heat pump/furnace cutoffs. etc etc The zone dampers on an infinity system relay back their position to the controller. So it isn't a simple relay and a command to open a damper. It is a nearly foolproof system. No one can give you an Inifinity system for $1200 unless they don't know what they are doing and lose a chunk of money. I paid about $3000 per floor.

My advice is drop the "ROI" requirement. It is essentially useless. Historically, anything with a payback period greater than 9 years has a negative financial impact. Currently, anything with a pay back period greater than 4 years has a negative financial impact, but I wouldn't use the 4 years to make a financial decision, additionally, mortgage money is essentially free right now. The unfortunate problem with any "efficiency" is that rarely do they make financial sense. Even spray foam insulation has a bad ROI. I am not saying, don't do these things. I am saying take a different look at these things. Do away with the whole "ROI" requirement and just look at the price for items that are going to make you more comfortable. If the price seems too high for the enjoyment and benefit you are going to get from it then scrap it. Now some finance stuff that is probably too much like being back in school and way above what you asked so you might want to just stop here. ROI = (gain from an investment - cost of investment)/cost of investment. This will always return a percentage. The percentage is then compared against other investments. What you have been talking about is not an ROI but a payback period. Which is not a big deal but understand that companies don't use payback period to make financial decisions because it doesn't consider the time value of money. Put simply a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in 10 years. The reasoning is that you could put the dollar in the bank and grow it. The tool most often used by sophisticated companies to make investment decisions is Net Present Value. You can jump on Youtube and look it up if you want but an easier way to think about it is just to use a Present Value of an Annuity Calculator, the one here at Investopedia is easy to use. In the top box (interest per time period) enter 5 if you are very conservative and 9.84 if you are fairly aggressive, or anything in between (5% is historical T-bond and is essentially risk free and 9.84% is Stock market since the crash.) In the second box enter the amount of time you plan on having these savings, and in the third enter the amount you expect to save annually. If that amount is more than you are paying today it is a good investment. If it is less then it is not a good investment. This is still a rough calculation to get a good calculation you will have to use a Net Present Value calculator. Sorry it is so long, I hope it helps.

The price to install regular(non-USB) is $50 each. So ask your builder what he'd charge to install USB ones. If it's just the increase in material cost between regular and USB, then you might as well have him install them. Or ask if you can supply the receptacles and if it would still be $50? You probably wouldn't want the USB receptacles everywhere. Just a few convenient places that you'd plug your phones etc into. No need to waste money on the inaccessible outlet behind your couch. :) (what to do with existing outlets)? Throw them in the garbage (or on a shelf in your utility room). They cost a couple of bucks each. They aren't worth worrying about. The fifty dollar price tag isn't for the receptacle. It's for the labor, wire, box, and receptacle. Mainly the labor. Adding outlets by yourself after everything is done can be a lot of work. Replacing a receptacle is relatively easy.

My husband and I ran into a similar problem when we had our big addition/remodel. What my husband did was contacted both the bank and the appraisal company and showed them our building plans and asked that they base the appraisal on the prospective build out. The bank worked with us. The residential lending officers actually visited our home on three separate occasions to ensure that we were in fact upgrading the home to the level we proposed we would, understandably they needed to ensure their money was going where it should be. So about midway through the project they increased our construction loan by 25,000, and 3/4 into the project they gave us the final 40,000 they agreed to lend us. This was still about 25,000 shy of our desired amount. In addition to our discussion with the bank, we sat with the contractor and asked where we could cut some corners. He offered us the opportunity to do some “homework” throughout the project which included cleaning up the work site at the end of the day ourselves and preparing the area for the following day, drilling holes in the framing to save a ton of time that we would normally pay the electricians 125 per hour to do, and the biggest savings was painting the house ourselves. You may not have the time or desire to do this much hands on but I gotta day not only did we save enough to complete the project, but we came in under budget enough to furnish a few of the rooms. Best of Luck!