When our founder, Dave Everson, was first asked to build energy-efficient homes back in 2012 by the City of Phoenix, he was skeptical. That skepticism quickly turned into a fascination with what innovation could be achieved in the area of energy efficiency. Since, Mandalay Homes has won an award every year for our pursuit of excellence in building energy-efficient homes, making us one of the most awarded homebuilders in the nation.

2022 has certainly been no different, and the year’s not over yet. This year, we’ve won two awards to add to our ever-growing collection, and we’re proud to have achieved and been recognized for every one of them. Of course, while being recognized for these achievements is always exciting, it’s seeing our homeowners happy in their energy-efficient homes and knowing we’re doing our part to protect our planet that makes us feel good about what we do every day.

We’re not alone in our pursuit of building advanced energy-efficient homes. In fact, over 20% of America’s sustainably-built homes can be found in Arizona’s quad cities (Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey/Humboldt), over 1,000 of which are Mandalay homes. So, why is energy efficiency so important?

Why does energy efficiency matter?

The US is a country that experiences a wide range of temperatures and fluctuating temperatures throughout the year. Unlike largely temperate Europe, where air conditioning is rare, you simply cannot live in many areas of the US in the summer and winter without effective heating and cooling.

Energy efficiency matters because without an energy-efficient house, you are letting all the heat or cool air your HVAC system generates seep out and allowing the hot or cold air outside in. Here’s why energy efficiency is so important to homeowners and the environment:

For Homeowners

It saves you money: The primary reason most homeowners recognize the importance of energy efficiency is how it’s reflected in their energy bills. Your thermostat is designed to help keep your home at a constant temperature, so if your home is energy efficient and air-tight, your HVAC system won’t have to work very hard to keep the temperature consistent, and thus will use less energy.

You’re more comfortable: We all know the feeling of walking by a draughty doorway or window and feeling the temperature change. Those temperature fluctuations throughout the home aren’t comfortable and can leave you needing a sweater in one room while you’re sweating in another.

Houses are quieter: All the additional insulation in an energy-efficient home helps keep the weather outside out, but it also helps soundproof your home. All our customers report finding their energy-efficient homes far quieter than the older homes they’ve moved from.

For the Environment

Houses use less energy: Of course, we all love a smaller energy bill, but don’t forget that the environment pays when we use a lot of energy, too. 40% of energy consumption in the US is residential consumption, and until we have reliable renewable energy options, that means a lot of our energy is coming from nonrenewable sources. These sources are not sustainable long-term and produce harmful emissions.

Consumes fewer materials: While we can’t speak for every energy-efficient homebuilder out there, we can tell you that we’re dedicated to ensuring our builds use only necessary materials and we aim to reduce construction waste to a minimum.

How We Prioritize Energy Efficiency

This year, we won the 2022 DOE Housing Innovation Award, which we’ve been fortunate enough to win every year since 2013, as well as their special award for Advanced Building Concepts. We also won the 2022 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence, which we’ve won every year since 2019.

Why do we get so many awards? Because we provide all of the benefits described above to our clients and more. We use innovative technology to ensure all our homes offer homes that are on the cutting edge of energy efficiency.

We use slab edge insulation to ensure heat doesn’t escape through the foundation, we use large energy-efficient windows that let in plenty of natural light but keep the heat out, and non-toxic spray insulation to ensure each home is air-tight.

Our energy-efficient homes are also healthy homes, helping to keep dust and pollen out without allowing the air inside the home to become stale. Our fresh air exchange and filtration system (ERV) runs constantly ensuring your home has air so fresh it’s like you have the door open, but with none of the dust, bugs, or heat exchange.

Other Businesses Helping Make Arizona Energy-Efficient

We’re not the only builder in Arizona working to make the state’s homes more energy efficient. We want to recognize three other homebuilders who are working hard to give Arizona residents high-quality energy-efficient homes and are, like us, being recognized at industry award shows:

Capstone Homes builds ENERGY STAR-certified homes in northern Arizona and shares many of the same accolades as us.

Woodside Homes builds sustainable homes in Prescott Valley and in Phoenix and was a recipient of the 2022 DOE Housing Innovation Award.

Gardner Custom Homes is an award-winning energy-efficient custom home builder in Prescott.

We, along with Capstone Homes, Woodside Homes, and Gardner Custom Homes have proven that energy-efficient homes can be built at scale. While we lead the way, we hope that other homebuilders all over the country (and ultimately, the world) will follow.