Pardee reaffirms commitment to Energy Star, earth-friendly plans

Pardee Homes remains committed to doing its part to protect the environment, which is why the builder has pledged to construct only Energy Star-certified homes.

A typical Energy Star home prevents 4,500 pounds of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, according to Klif Andrews, vice president of community development. He said the 2,300 homes the company built last year kept about 10 million pounds of pollution out of the air.

"As part of our corporate commitment to the environment and to building earth-friendly homes, Pardee is proud of our leadership role with the Energy Star program," Andrews said.

In addition, Energy Star homes are at least 30 percent more energy efficient than standard homes.

"With rising energy costs that threaten to go even higher, we have pledged to give our buyers what they want -- to conserve power while improving their comfort -- at no additional cost to them," Andrews said.

The energy-efficiency package is included in the price of each of the builder's new homes. Among the features in the package are high-performance windows that let in light while reducing solar heat and ultraviolet rays that can damage furniture, carpet and woodwork.

"When you walk into a room with spectrally selective glass windows, you won't know the difference until you put your hand up against the window and realize that you don't feel the heat," Andrews said.

Energy Star requires random testing by an independent third party such as ConSol, an energy consultant that developed the ComfortWise program to help builders construct residences that are energy efficient.

"Because this program exceeds the requirements of Energy Star, we inspect every single home during construction, which is the most critical time to identify and correct problems," Rebecca Oscarson, regional sales manager for ConSol's ComfortWise/Energy Star program, said.

Pardee offers 13 new-home subdivisions valleywide.

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