Benefit Of Building Green Is Gold

Today’s building standards push homes to be greener than ever before. Ahead of the pack in terms of energy efficiency is a two-story home on Three Mile Harbor Road that touts a four-minute walk to East Hampton Village and extremely low utility bills.

The manse has ranked in the top 20 for the most efficient homes in the state, garnering a gold-level certification for National Green Building Standard from the National Association of Home Builders.

The 3,000-square-foot home was built by Michael Forst of Forst Construction. His wife, Amy Forst, a real estate agent for Town & Country, is seeking to sell the three-bedroom, three-bath residence for $1.75 million.

The house was Mr. Forst’s sandbox to build the most efficient home possible—and it’s where the duo raised their two children for seven years.

Mr. Forst said he has broken efficiency down to a science.

“We built way beyond code,” he said. “The code has changed more than once since we built it, and we are still greater than code. Code has sort of come full circle and pushing to build a much more efficient house now. A lot of guys in their practices are just getting started building this way. We are way ahead of them.”

The industry standard for a home’s energy efficiency is measured by the Home Energy Rating System, or HERS, index. The higher the number, the less efficient the home. The East Hampton Village home landed a score of 19; the typical municipality’s building requirement is around 53.

Mr. Forst said it starts with selecting the right parcel that can handle an efficient design. For instance, the solar panels on the roof cannot be covered by a tree canopy and must have maximum exposure.

“Part of the certification is positioning the solar panels for aesthetic purposes,” he said. “When you drive up the long driveway, you don’t even notice that the house has solar.”

On the roof, there is a 16,000-kilowatt solar system, which lowers the electric bill. Mr. Forst said the house produces almost as much electricity as it uses, putting the home close to net-zero through a credit provided by PSEG Long Island.

Ms. Forst said solar also helps lower property taxes by 15 percent. “To be right outside the village and having all the benefits, paying $6,600 in property taxes makes a difference,” she said. “Not paying PSEG huge bills is also a big focal point.”

More than half of the hot water in the house is also produced by solar, including heating the wrap-around pool, which lowers the gas bill, too. At the end of the year, for a full-time family of four, the estimated annual energy cost for the home is $2,296. Heating and appliances make up the lion’s share of the bills, but the amount is halved by the home’s solar panels.

“We have been building with a whole-house science approach,” he said.

Complete with a family room downstairs that leads out to a screened porch, hot tub, outdoor shower and pool with a waterfall, the estate includes three en suite bedrooms, a kitchen stocked with top appliances and custom cabinets with marble and granite tops throughout, central vacuum, radiant heat, central air, security with smart home technologies, wood burning stove and wood floors.

“The siding on the house is called HardiePlank, which is termite- and mold-resistant, and fire rated,” Ms. Forst said. “All of the windows in the house are glass. The windows and doors are impact rated, so if a storm is threatening our area, the homeowner doesn’t have to run outside and panel up.”

All toilets are eco-friendly, saving 2,000 gallons of water per year without loss of performance. The walls and ceilings are insulated with spray foam, including the attic, exceeding state energy standards.

The home also uses a substantial amount of reclaimed materials and composite trim materials that bode well for certification. Products that are preserved with formaldehyde and paints that emit toxic fumes were avoided.

Even the businesses where the Forsts bought their “mindful” materials matters to the National Association of Home Builders—the suppliers must be proven to follow sustainability practices.

“The home is built tight, and built right,” Mr. Forst said. “Building a house is really different from when my father and my grandfather were building. Code has really pushed us in the right direction. There are a lot of methodologies to this type of construction, and science has really caught up.”