Imery Group
Luis and his team have one fundamental goal in mind — and that is to build a creative, visually stunning home that provides plenty of comfortable living for years and years. That’s why he stands by his work by offering 3 extended warranties that cover energy efficiency, your comfort and a quality building guarantee.
In this month’s feature we ask Luis Imery, Founder and Owner of Imery Group, to share his/her thoughts on HERS® Rated homes.
Q: What is special about a HERS® Rated home?
A: For Imery Group, a HERS® rating helps us set the baseline for any of our custom homes. When speaking with clients we often reference the HERS® Index and associated with the MPG’s of a car. This helps the prospect relate to something more tangible. Other than providing the yard stick for how to measure energy efficiency, we emphasize how important it is that a certified home requires a third party – HERS® rater, to conduct a site visit during construction and at the final phase. This means an additional layer of quality assurance beyond our internal processes. The end result, our client is getting a home that not only looks beautiful but has strong bones, and 3rd party verified.
Q: Why should consumers ask for the HERS® Index score on homes they are shopping for?
A: Thanks to the efforts of RESNET, and the industry partners it helps consumer compare homes on equal basis. Without it consumers would have a difficult time figuring out if they are comparing apples to apples. Most likely they are not, and they can only go with what they see with their eyes.
Q: Why does Imery Group have their homes HERS® rated?
A: Similar to the first question, but I would ask why would any builder NOT have a home HERS® rated. A HERS® rated home brings validity to our quality brand. We are not only saying we deliver healthy, durable, efficient, and comfortable homes with one of a kind warranty, but they are verified.
Q: Why consumers should expect energy efficient homes?
A: After 10 years I am happy to see that the industry turned in several markets where consumers do ask about HERS® score. Unfortunately, our local market has not fully understood the benefits of HERS® rated home. However, Imery Group is position as a leader in the SouthEast, more specifically in GA, where energy efficiency is not an upgrade, it’s our standard. For does client that come to us for the looks, it’s rewarding to see how their minds change through the design and construction process as we unveil the importance of the benefits of a high performance home. They suddenly become are best advocates…
Q: How many homes does Imery Group build with HERS® per year?
A: 100% of our homes are HERS® rated, and also meet EarthCraft House sustainable certification. In most recent years we have been a “specialty” builders with low volume of homes, averaging 4 per year. However, we are in the process of adapting our model to build 88 HERS® rated homes in the next 3-5 years on an Eco-Village.
Q: How does Imery Group market HERS® rated homes?
A: When we first started we had the HERS® rated message front and center on our marketing and outreach efforts. We found out that folks in our Region did not quite understand the meaning of it, and associated HERS® / Energy Efficiency / Sustainability as “expensive” and/or unreachable goal. It was until five years in business where we revamp our marketing message and focus solely on the benefits of a HERS® rated home coupled with the regions leading green program, EarthCraft. We rebranded as a quality builder that will deliver healthy, durable, efficient, and comfortable home on a systematic basis. We left the technical stuff such as explaining a HERS® index once they were engaged as client. I am glad to report that the strategy worked very wall and our retention rate increased dramatically.
Q: How do your customers feel about HERS® rated homes?
A: Once we start peeling the onion of what a high performance home is, and the ways we measure that through a HERS® rating and 3rd party green building certification, they become big fans of the process.
