PR July 2013

The first certified DOE Challenge Home—the Wilson Residence in Winter Park, Fla.—produces more energy than it uses with construction costs one-third less than originally proposed. Completed in May 2012, this 4,305-square-foot custom home scores a HERS 57 without solar, which is well below the HERS 100 for a standard home built to code.

To achieve a measure of differentiation that really works, how you do what you do is equally important, and in many cases more so, than the actual deliverable it produces. I know that sounds absurd on the face of it, but think about it.

Now is the time to start planning for next year. Start your brainstorming, your creative ideas, and your staffing plans so you can have your plan in place with a budget starting Jan. 1.

Your biggest competition today is your prospect making the right decisions and choices. They have been sitting on the sideline so long that the level of pent-up demand is very high. Meanwhile, the proliferation of products and choices has many homeowners paralyzed.