At this year’s 2016 Building Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (BAMP) Holiday Party and Award Presentation, Bachman Builders won the 2016 Best Green Energy Efficiency House in the price range of $450,001 – $850,000.
Founded in 1938, BAMP is the only professional Home Builders Association in the Metropolitan Pittsburgh region (Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Greene Washington and Westmoreland counties) that is part of the National Association of Home Builders and the Pennsylvania Builders Association providing consumers with a nationwide network of housing services and information. Celebrating 20 years of business, Bachman Builders was incorporated in 1995. In the past 20 years, Bachman Builders has built over 150 custom homes, hundreds of renovation and several light commercial projects. Specializing in quality craftsmanship, unique designs and focused client interaction, Bachman Builders is also committed to building all homes to Energy Star standards.
“After half of a decade building in the Energy Star program, I fully understand that meeting those goals is a lot more difficult than “counting “Rs,” or matching the thickness of insulation to Energy Star standards. Every aspect of the home is calculated – from windows to the HVAC equipment, to light bulbs and foundation insulation. But most of all, the key factor is sealing the envelope,” said David Bachman, President of Bachman Builders. “Home envelopes are measured by how many times the air in a home changes every hour. Code calls for no more than seven. Energy Star requires that to be under four. Bachman Builders homes are even less than that, so we are only heating half as much air as a home built to code. One advantage to this is that our homes do not need as big, or as many furnaces, as homes built to code only. This saves our clients’ money in both the short-term and long-term, especially when they have to replace the furnace in years to come.”
Bachman Builders commitment to Energy Star is twofold. “First, we want to build a home that is measurably better than our competition. By being so, we create a value proposition for a client to buy from Bachman Builders. But we are also concerned about how our homes effect the environment in general. If half, or even 10% of what climate change scientists are saying is true, then we ALL need to be concerned. It is not enough to say we believe in climate change, or even to vote for people who do, if we do not practice our convictions in what we consume. My daughter Lindsay Bachman Flickinger works for the Home Performance Coalition, an alliance of like minded organizations working to ensure all homes are healthy, comfortable and energy efficient. They, like us, are concerned about climate change and advocate for others to be willing to invest in energy (and therefore pollution) savings. I spend a lot of my time with Gen X and Millennial clients, who will pay a premium for an efficient BMW, Prius, or even a Tesla. I encourage them to also make their home buying decisions similarly, not just on a price per sq. ft. basis, but on an energy efficiency basis,” said David Bachman.