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We all want to conserve energy. This saves your family money and has a significant positive impact on our environment. Regardless of your motivation, purchasing a newly built Energy Star qualified house helps ensure great energy efficiency.

What precisely is an Energy Star new house? Is all new construction “green” and good for the environment? How can I know whether the home that I’m purchaseing is truly energy efficient?

The federal government has set out standards as to what constitutes an Energy Star rated new home. This is critical because buzz words such as “green” have no clear definition. Is a new homebuilder claiming to be green simply because he used energy-efficient lighting? Is it really “green” just because the house has insulation? While are good things, it does not make your new house “green.”

To be sure that new construction you’re looking at is truly energy efficient, look for the official “Energy Star” certification that is only awarded to certain qualified houses.

Government guidelines at www.energystar.gov, list the criteria a home must meet to become Energy Star qualified:

First, the new home must make use of effective insulation that is both properly installed and inspected. Insulation should be used in the walls, floors and attics to ensure level temperatures throughout the new house. This can drastically lower energy use and provide greater comfort in your house as it maintains level temperatures.

Second, the structure should be built with tight construction and well fitted duct work. Small cracks and holes can cause cold air in and warm air to escape, greatly reducing the energy savings of your house. A gap the size of a quarter can be a problem.

Next, the new house should use efficient windows with protective coatings and improved window frames. The goal here is to prevent cold air from coming in in the winter and to keep the warm air out in the summer. A good UV coating on the windows also prevents fading of furniture, carpets and paint in your new house.

Fourth, only Energy Star appliances should be used in the house. These appliances use less electricity, oil and natural gas, and produce much less waste vs. their non-rated counterparts.

Next, Energy Star rated appliances should be used in the home, including compact fluorescent bulbs, fans, lighting fixtures, appliances, air conditioning, refrigeration, dishwashers and washing machines. The more energy efficient appliances you have, the lower your electric costs will be.

Finally, Energy Star home builders can go through a third-party verification process to verify that the houses built attain these standards. This is done to ensure that builders are reputable and are delivering on their energy-efficient promises.

Craig Axelrod is one of the partners from Emmy Homes. Emmy is which is one of Long Island’s most established home developers. Emmy’s Commack real estate features new construction in Commack. Visit EmmyHomes.com for more details.

Today’s new home construction projects, such as new home developments on Long Island, now offer the “green” choice: Energy Star rated new houses. Energy Star new construction houses are new houses that meet certain strict government criteria for energy efficiency.

To be considered an Energy Star efficient new house, these new homes must meet these guidelines set by the government at www.energystar.gov:

1. Efficient Insulation 2. High-Performance Windows 3. Air Tight Construction 4. Efficient Heating and Cooling Equipment 5. Energy Efficient Appliances 6. Third-Party Validation

What precisely is an Energy Star rating and how is it the green choice?

We’ll talk about green choices. Unfortunately, this concept is thrown around so often that people claim many products are “green” just because they cause less harm to the environment than another product. When we talk about green, we’re talking a major reduction of contaminants or a positive conservation of energy.

With homes, the main green impact is energy savings. Electricity and heat can be conserved in many ways, reducing the requirements for fossil fuels. Electricity, while clean when used, still needs to be produced. Most often, it is produced by coal or other fossil fuels with tremendous negative environmental impact. By cutting the electric demand, you can help reduce the amount of fossil fuel that needs to be consumed. By doing certain things in your new home, you can greatly reduce the electric demand.

First, you want to take advantage of high quality insulation in new construction. Use enough insulation to adequately protect your house from the outside elements. Ideally, you should insulate your walls, attic, floors and basement to help maintain an even inside temperature. The steadier the inside temperature, the less often your heat will kick on, using energy to stabilize the temperature.

Next, consider your windows. With new homes, you can use higher efficiency windows that reduce breezes, insulate outside cold temperatures and help block out ultraviolet light (which can fade fabrics, paint and carpets, requiring you to replace them sooner).

Solid construction is critical. Small gaps can create significant air flow points that can allow heat to escape in the winter and air conditioning to escape in the summer. When this happens, your heating and cooling systems need to work doubly hard to compensate. Fixing these leaks will significantly reduce your energy costs. With new construction, tight and solid construction, especially around external pipes and duct work, you will have a major savings.

Finally, as you choose a builder, for example www.EmmyHomes.com on Long Island, be sure the homes have a verified Energy Start certification. This protects you to make sure that you receive the energy benefits that you expect from your new construction.

Craig Axelrod is one of the senior developers with Emmy Homes. Emmy is one of LI’s top real estate builders. Emmy’s Commack real estate features new construction in Commack. Visit EmmyHomes.com for details.