Energy Efficient Home Opens in Rochester

"It was a challenge but that's where our expertise lies," says Brian Ludwig, the Vice-President of Pace Energy

He helped bring this house from 1900 to 2030, bringing it up to date with the highest energy standards possible.

"Instead of trying to build the home to the current Energy Star standards of today, we looked into the future. There are a lot of proposals out there for a new building standard in 2030 and a lot of proposed measures for 2030 we used here in the home."

It's a way for them to show customers what they can do. "People tend to say,what can I do to my home? They say I don't want to build a whole new home don't have the money to. What can I do to my house, how do I know?," Ludwig says.

One thing they've done is beef up the insulation. "This is where we did something different. That's 4 inches of insulation," points out Ludwig.

They added more to the outside walls. They also insulated the attic ceiling instead of just the floors like most homes.

Bill Colby, an energy auditor for Pace Energy says, "what we've done here, a typical attic area basically brought this into conditioned space could be living space so instead of insulation beng in floor put it up onto the roof."

Even just making some of the changes they've made here could save you between 20% and 50% on your energy bills. A number of displays show customers what's possible.

This living wall is something many customers might not have thought of. "To have this living wall inside the home, will help contribute to the air quality inside. Which is more healthy for everybody," says Ludwig.

The Energy house is located at 246 west Ridge Road. It is open Monday- Thursday from 9-6. Friday from 9-5 and Saturday from 10-2.

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