Fortified Gold and Zero Energy Ready Home
Photos by Summer Ennis Interiors, LLC
South Alabama’s first Certified Zero Energy Ready Home wins national award.
The home won the 2022 Department of Energy Housing Innovation Award for Custom Home greater than 2500 sf.
This residence is the first known project to achieve Zero Energy Ready Certification and Fortified™ Gold, but homeowners didn’t start out looking for this honor. When they approached Watershed, they wanted to make sure their home was designed to be environmentally sound, but durability, and quality were also top of mind. The third party inspections required by Zero Energy Ready certification provided assurance that both the building envelope and the systems were built to the same high level of quality that they knew to expect from their contractor’s carpentry and finishes.
Energy conservation measures in their new home will save the homeowners almost $20,000 over the next 20 years and prevent 4.2 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere each year.
Project type: residential new construction
Location: Fairhope, AL
Key team: builder: Scott Norman; home energy rater: Keen Living
Certifications: Zero Energy Ready, Fortified™ Gold, Indoor AirPlus
