Isla Homes
The goal of Isla Homes is to provide unique, sustainable homes with incredible quality.
In this month’s feature, we asked Josh Wynne of Isla Homes, to share some insight on building HERS® homes for their customers.
Q: What is special about a HERS Rated home?
A: Josh: HERS rated are special because they are designed, tested, and treated to measurable standard. Much like a standard fuel rating on a car, the HERS rating system gives a real glimpse into a home’s efficiency.
Q: Why should consumers ask for the HERS Index Score on homes they are shopping for?
A: Josh: Talk is cheap. If your home doesn’t carry a HERS rating, you have no way of knowing if systems and strategies applied in construction were actually effective at reducing energy usage.
Q: Why does Isla Homes choose to have their homes HERS Rated?
A: Josh: All of our homes are HERS rated. It not only helps our team to refine best practices through real performance feedback, it gives our customers third party verified feedback on our efforts.
Q: Why consumers should expect energy-efficient homes?
A: Josh: Energy costs are only ever going to rise. Investing in an energy efficient home is money in the bank.
Q: How many homes does Isla Homes build with HERS per year?
A: Josh: We are a small, custom home company. We build 2-3 homes annually, and they are all HERS rated.
Q: How do you market HERS Rated homes?
A: Josh: The HERS system has become relatively common knowledge among home buyers. Every home we unveil includes information on the HERS score and other third party ratings.
Q: How do your customers feel about HERS Rated homes?
A: Josh: It is fun for the customers because it gives them a standard to measure against their usage. If their energy bill is higher than the rated usage, they know they need to work on some lifestyle habits to get the most out of their home.
Q: What rating company do you work with and can you talk about how working them helps to achieve your goals of building energy efficient homes?
A: Josh: I’m fortunate to have two fantastic raters in my area. I have worked with Calcs-Plus in Venice, FL for a few decades now. When I am also doing a LEED or NGBS rated home, I will work with Two Trails, in Bradenton, FL. They have each been instrumental in helping me to push the boundaries of efficiency in my work.
