By Jonathan Devin

Increasing the energy efficiency of homes and businesses is a new trend for the public, but Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division has been pushing the idea for quite some time. In some cases, though, the utility's programs are largely laying fallow, awaiting a surge in consumer demand.

Becky Williamson, MLGW's strategic marketing coordinator, said that the utility's interest in building more efficient homes predates the recession and the dramatic rise in fuel costs, but there's just one problem.

"There's a certain market (in the public) that's really interested in it and another that doesn't think about it all," Williamson said.

In 2004, MLGW established its EcoBUILD program, a voluntary set of construction standards for energy efficiency. The standards were developed with the help of consultants from Texas-based Austin Energy, with local input from builders, developers, and code enforcement.

"The theory was to come up with a prescriptive checklist of things you need to do to achieve 30-percent energy savings," Williamson said.

Developers Jack Belz and Henry Turley, who built Uptown, were one of the first to sign on.

"They require any new single family construction in Uptown to be EcoBUILD-certified so they wrote that into the covenants for development," Williamson said.

Specifically, certification requires a minimum air-conditioning efficiency level of 14 in the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio . The typical market house SEER is 13.

EcoBUILD also requires no more than 8 percent of conditioned air leakage from ducts in the attic; most homes lose 30 to 50 percent.

Of course there's been a learning curve for contractors.

To meet the duct standards, contractors had to switch from all flexible ducts to sheet-metal ducts with no more than 3 feet of flexible ducts in the system. And the ducts must be sealed with a liquid adhesive rather than tape.

"We had contractors who were not used to working with sheet- metal ducts and they weren't accustomed to somebody actually checking to see how well the unit had been installed," Williamson said.

Some struggled at first to make systems that produced less than 20 percent leakage, but now she said most are going well below the required 8 percent.

Still, only 530 homes have been certified in the Memphis area since 2004.

Another MLGW green program has fared much the same in terms of popularity.

The Green Power Switch allows Memphians to voluntarily pay extra on their utility bills to support the generation of green energy by TVA.

The program is aimed at households and businesses that can't afford to install their own solar panels but would like more energy to be generated from renewable sources like East Tennessee's wind farm, Shelby County's methane co-generation site and some 15 solar farms across the state.

The cost is $4 per unit of green energy with no minimum purchase for homes.

Still it seems customers are more concerned with the green in their pockets than green energy. Only 928 MLGW customers have enrolled, including just 18 businesses. About 12,000 customers across the Tennessee Valley have signed on.

"It's not as large as we would like it to be in terms of local participants, but we're fortunate to have 928 supporters because that $4 can be a big impact," Williamson said.

Only a handful have invested in MLGW's Generation Partners program in which homes and businesses actually invest serious cash in a solar panel system that generates energy for TVA.

Among those are Sharp Manufacturing and six die-hard green residents.

The cost in equipment is roughly $8,000-$10,000 per kilowatt of generation capacity, and the output is 1,450 kilowatts for each unit system.

"It takes a pretty sizable capital investment on the front end, and produces a fairly small amount of power because the average MLGW household uses a little less than that a month," Williamson said. "You really have to have an environmental commitment because of the cost."

The cost vs. efficiency debate leaves many builders and contractors scratching their heads.

Most say they like building EcoBUILD homes, but the market is driven toward low costs. Even taking into account that energy efficiency saves money over time, it can be difficult to sell a more expensive product on the front end.

"If you take an eco-house, you've got less (HVAC) tonnage than you do with a normal house," said Bobbie Forrester Sr. of B and W Heating and Air. "If you save a ton on an eco-house and the price is a little higher, they average out, except you get a better sealed house."

Forrester has been working on EcoBUILD homes for the last five years.

"A lot of builders, especially in market houses, don't want to do that because they have to get MLGW out there and go through the process," Forrester said. "Builders want to get in and get out."

"A lot of builders are not really knowledgeable about it," said Marc Belz, vice president of Kircher-Belz Builders LLC. "It's good that MLGW is helping. Even I have been learning some things from it."

Belz said it takes know-how, not just better materials, to build an energy-efficient house.

"You can have insulated glass in your house and still not meet the requirements," Belz said.

Kircher-Belz is building its first EcoBUILD home for the upcoming Vesta Home Show and a second home is in the works. Kircher-Belz is a custom builder and Belz said builders are much more likely to get interest in EcoBUILD standards from a family building their own home.

Williamson agreed that developers like Turley-Belz who get on board with the program can really fuel the market with efficiency.

So why hasn't that happened ?

Williamson said other states like California are in the midst of a "perfect storm" of energy demand. There are rolling blackouts when energy consumption exceeds production. Utilities there have public commissions to set their standards. And of course, energy costs are through the roof.

Belz, said he can see that happening here, though much more slowly.

"Years ago people weren't as concerned about utility bills as they are today," Belz said. "Now the price has gone up, whatever we can save is a good thing."

One MLGW program that has become popular - perhaps more due to convenience than energy-efficiency - is the paperless billing program in which some 145,000 customers go online to receive their utility statements and pay bills. That's roughly one-third of all MLGW customers.

Energy efficiency, it seems, catches on when saving becomes easier and quicker than wasting.

Originally published by Jonathan Devin Special to The Commercial Appeal .

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