Kinnelon's First ENERGY STAR Home Being Built

The first ENERGY STAR rated home in is currently under construction at 18 South Glen Road and could pave the way for more energy efficient development in Kinnelon and surrounding boroughs according to Kinnelon Construction Official Dan Hagberg.

The home is being built by Chestnut Hill Partners, which includes Kinnelon Planning Board Member Mehul Gadhavi. It features five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, a three-car garage, touchscreen thermostats and hardwood floors throughout the first and second levels.

Building an ENERGY STAR rated home is unlike building an average home, Gadhavi said.

"It's a little more work in the planning stage," he said.

An ENERGY STAR rated home has to meet certain criteria to be designated as such. The five main elements, as noted on ENERGY STAR's website, are: it must have effective insulation; have high-performance windows; have tight construction and ducts; have efficient heating and cooling equipment; have ENERGY STAR qualified lighting and appliances and be confirmed to have met all the criteria by a third-party verifier.

Gadhavi said the home he is building in Kinnelon meets all this criteria and more. He has used a Zip System exterior, which he said eliminates air infiltration, and upgraded insulation throughout the home, including in the attic and in the garage ceiling. Gadhavi is particularly proud of the garage ceiling insulation as what he expects would be the children's bedroom of the home is directly above the garage, typically the coldest room of the home. Gadhavi said he used spray foam to better insulate the ceiling.

"You would have noticed the difference had we not done that," he said.

The home is equipped with only LED lightbulbs which are projected to last up to 35,000 hours, Gadhavi said.

"Each lightbulb costs $1.14 a year to operate," he added.

Also in the home, Gadhavi has used an ultra high-efficiency HVAC unit which he expects will yield a 96 percent efficiency rating when combined with the sealed duct system in the home. Maintaining the best insulation is a priority for an ENERGY STAR home.

"We seal in between all the wood studs so there's no air infiltration in the home," he said.

Even the windows are specially designed to keep cool air out. High-performance Anderson windows made with low-E glass were used to not only insulate but also protect furniture and carpeting inside the home from fading with sunshine.

While using all these materials costs the builder more to create the home, Gadhavi said, operating the home is beneficial for the owner in the long run. Gadhavi projected that the person who lives in the home will save an average of 35 percent off their utility bills from what they would have spent on utilities in a home of that size made with other materials.

"There are real, tangible financial benefits to moving into an ENERGY STAR home because their operating costs are less," he said.

Gadhavi said he wanted to build the first ENERGY STAR rated home in Kinnelon because he feels energy efficient development is the way of the future. Hagberg agreed that building energy efficient buildings is becoming more popular.

"As far as new home construction, a lot of big companies are already doing it," he said.

Hagberg said contractors who are already building ENERGY STAR buildings are "forward-thinking" and that he is impressed by the South Glen home. Hagberg said he would not be surprised to see similar development crop up soon in surrounding towns.

"I think it is something to be considered as new houses get built," he said.