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ASCAL Energy, LLC
Home Performance Professionals
Energy Tip of the month!
Home Performance with EnergyStar Program,
sponsored by KCP&L and MGE Missouri Gas and Energy.

Link to Home Performance with EnergyStar Video.

Link to Home Performance with EnergyStar Application.

STEP 1 ... Choose a Certified Auditor
STEP 2 ... Request a Home Performance audit
STEP 3 ... Select one of the qualifying improvements you wish to implement
STEP 4 ... Install improvement
STEP 5 ... Receive post-installation analysis to verify improvements have been made
STEP 6 ... Complete and return the Rebate Application
STEP 7 ... Receive the appropriate amount in bill credits from both MGE and KCP&L

Value added services offered by ASCAL Energy, LLC as an approved HPWES Contractor include Home Performance Consultation, Home Energy Audits, Weatherization Remediation, Post Retrofit Verification and Home Energy Rating System Rating qualifying the homeowner for either a Energy Improvement Mortgage (EIM) for existing homes or the Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) for new homes.


Click here to sign-up for a Home Energy Audit Today.

Home Energy Audits
A home energy audit is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient. An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time. During the audit, you can pinpoint where your house is losing energy. Audits also determine the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems. An audit may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity. You can perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit.

Professional Home Energy Audits
Professional energy audits generally go into great detail. The energy auditor should do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills.
Many professional energy audits will include a blower door test. Most will also include a thermographic scan  There's also another type of test—the PFT air infiltration measurement technique but it is rarely offered.

Preparing for an Energy Audit
Before the energy auditor visits your house, make a list of any existing problems such as condensation and uncomfortable or drafty rooms. Have copies or a summary of the home's yearly energy bills. (Your utility can get these for you.) Auditors use this information to establish what to look for during the audit. The auditor first examines the outside of the home to determine the size of the house and its features (i.e., wall area, number and size of windows). The auditor then will analyze the residents' behavior:
Is anyone home during working hours?
What is the average thermostat setting for summer and winter?
How many people live here?
Is every room in use?
Your answers may help uncover some simple ways to reduce your household's energy consumption. Walk through your home with the auditors as they work, and ask questions. They may use equipment to detect sources of energy loss, such as blower doors, infrared cameras, furnace efficiency meters, and surface thermometers.

Energy Efficient Mortgages

An Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) for new homes and an Energy Improvement Mortgages (EIMs) for existing homes are financing mechanisms that give credit for a home’s energy efficiency in the mortgage calculation. Borrowers can qualify for a larger loan amount and a better, more energy-efficient home.

These loans do not have special interest rates. EEMs and EIMs are sponsored by federally insured mortgage programs (FHA and VA) and the conventional secondary mortgage market (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Lenders can offer conventional EEMs, FHA EEMs, or VA EEMs. In the Kansas City area Pulaski Bank is an approved lender with EEM and EIM experience.

Both EEMs and EIMs typically require a home energy rating to provide the lender with the estimated monthly energy savings and the value of the energy efficiency measures - known as the Energy Savings Value. This rating verifies for the lender that the home is energy-efficient.

EIMs are used to purchase existing homes that will have energy efficiency improvements made to them and the associated costs are included in the existing home in the mortgage without increasing the down payment. Also, the money saved in utility bills to help finance energy improvements.

Conventional Energy Efficient Mortgages
Conventional EEMs can be offered by lenders who sell their loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They increase the purchasing power of buying an energy efficient home by allowing the lender to increase the borrower’s income by a dollar amount equal to the estimated energy savings. The Fannie Mae loan also adjusts the value of the home to reflect the value of the energy efficiency measures.

FHA Energy Efficient Mortgages
FHA EEMs allow lenders to add 100 % of the additional cost of cost-effective energy efficiency improvements to an already approved mortgage loan (as long as the additional costs do not exceed $4,000 or 5 %of the value of the home, up to a maximum of $8,000, whichever is greater).

No additional down payment is required, and the FHA loan limits won’t interfere with the process of obtaining the EEM. FHA EEMs are available for site-built as well as for manufactured homes. Applications for an FHA EEM may be submitted to the local HUD Field Office through an FHA-approved lending institution. HUD has a searchable list of approved lenders
http://www.hud.gov/ll/code/llplcrit.html

VA Energy Efficient Mortgages
The Veteran’s Administration (VA) EEM is available to qualified military personnel, reservists and veterans for energy improvements when purchasing an existing home. The VA EEM caps energy improvements at $3,000-$6,000. Borrowers should ask their lender about a VA EEM at the beginning of the lending process.

More information about VA EEMs can be obtained from the Web site for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.homeloans.va.gov/rlcweb.htm or by calling (800) 827-1000. Chapter 7 of VA Pamphlet 26-7 (Revised) http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/bldrs_lenders_raters/VA_Pamphlet_26-7Revised.pdf (1.5MB) contains lender guidance on the VA EEM.

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