O’Connor Builders
In business for over 30 years, O’Connor Builders is committed to excellence. Beginning as a framing company, O’Connor Builders successfully evolved into a custom home builder, building homes ranging from $150,000 to $1.5 million with dimensions of 1000 – 5000 square feet.
In this month’s feature, we asked Andy O’Connor, Project Manager at O’Connor Builders to share some insight on building HERS® homes for their customers.
Q: What is special about a HERS® Rated home?
A: Andy: HERS rated homes are inspected through the building process by trained professionals to ensure efficiency is met every step of the way. With a fast-paced job site, items that affect energy efficiency are often looked over. Our raters, Energy Diagnostics, report back in a timely manner any issues that need to be resolved.
Q: Why should consumers ask for the HERS® Index Score on homes they shop for?
A: Andy: First and foremost, energy isn’t cheap and will continue to cost more so why not invest in a home that is constructed with the future in mind? The ratings really do give a good perspective of the energy usage you will be using prior to purchasing.
Q: Why does O’Connor Builders choose to have its homes HERS® Rated?
A: Andy: We choose to have our homes rated so that every person we build for has that peace of mind their home was set up to use less energy than a majority of what’s available on the market.
Q: Why consumers should expect energy-efficient homes?
A: Andy: With the ever-rising cost of homeownership, most buyers want to know that the energy bills won’t be outrageous. The purchase price is just one thing to consider when looking for a home. I’ve seen gas and electricity bills just as much as the mortgage payment on older less efficient homes.
Q: How many homes does O’Connor Builders build with HERS® per year?
A: Andy: Our company constructs approximately 10 custom-built homes a year. No two homes are the same.
Q: How do you market HERS® Rated homes?
A: Andy: We market our HERS rated homes on our Facebook page as well as oconnorbuildersinc.com We are also in the process of posting all our previous builds on YouTube!
Q: How do your customers feel about HERS® Rated homes?
A: Andy: Every time we finish a home, we hand/email the homeowner the HERS rating and they really appreciate knowing the information! Going the extra mile to save our customers in the future is worth the extra time and money it takes to be energy efficient!
