May 23, 2002

Home Builder Shows Energy Techniques

Astoria Homes presented demonstrations on conserving energy as part of Energy Star Month.

The program educated new homebuyers on energy issues within the home.

Astoria Homes, a leading Las Vegas-based homebuilder with communities throughout the Las Vegas valley, held demonstrations May 16th for future and current homebuyers to educate them on what to look for when buying new homes in terms of conserving energy.

The demonstrations, which took place as part of Energy Star Month, began at 10 a.m. at the Astoria Homes community of Silverado Place in the Silverado Ranch area. Mayor Oscar Goodman and Gov. Kenny Guinn proclaimed May as Energy Star Month to support homebuilders, like Astoria Homes, in their efforts to conserve energy and help lower expenses for homeowners.

"As power bills continue to skyrocket, homebuyers can take steps and ask their homebuilders questions to make sure their homes are energy efficient," said Astoria Home Director of Marketing Sia Howe.

As part of the demonstrations, ComfortWise representatives conducted "Blower Door Tests," in which smoke was released into a model home to detect any leakage throughout the home. Also, Milgard representatives demonstrated the quality and features of their windows that help keep energy within the home.

Astoria Homes is one of the leading Las Vegas homebuilders utilizing the Energy Star program, which calls for specific energy features to make homes 30 percent more energy efficient than the current Model Energy Code. ComfortWise specifies a mechanically engineered room-by-room heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, tight ducts, spectrally selective glass and includes diagnostics, inspections and documentation. Typically homes leak 20 to 30 percent, which means valuable cooling (or heating) could be going straight to the attic, wasting energy and increasing energy bills. Energy Star homes cannot leak more than 6 percent.

Among the Astoria communities utilizing Energy Star are: Canyon Trails and Auburn Hills at Rhodes Ranch; Stonegate Encore and Silverado Place in Silverado Ranch; Ironwood in Centennial Hills; and Villa Villagio in Seven Hills.