Franklin, TN – The Jones Company of Tennessee, LLC is pleased to announce that it has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a 2010 ENERGY STAR® Leadership in Housing Award. This award recognizes the important contribution The Jones Company has made to energy-efficient construction and environmental protection by building more than 92 ENERGY STAR® qualified homes last year. Collectively, these homes will save their customers approximately $41,124 on utility bills each year.

The environmental benefits of these ENERGY STAR® qualified homes are equal to the equivalent of:

• Eliminating the emissions from 45.08 vehicles;
• Saving 272,688 lbs of coal;
• Planting 74.52 acres of trees; or
• Saving the environment 534,796 pounds of CO2 per year.

To earn the ENERGY STAR®, a home must meet strict guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes.

According to Ronald Myers of Real Green Solutions, LLC, the third party “Green” verifier, “The certification ratings for The Jones Company are actually well above where their homes have to be to qualify as ‘Green’. In fact they go beyond the requirements in ways that the average customer may never see, resulting in a much healthier environment to live in, and more substantial savings.”

ENERGY STAR® qualified homes offer homebuyers all the features they want in a new home, plus energy-saving features like effective insulation systems, high performance windows, tight construction and ducts, properly-sized and installed efficient heating and cooling equipment, efficient products, and third-party verification of energy performance.

“Most homebuyers focus on what’s outside the walls,” said Sam Rashkin, National Director for EPA’s ENERGY STAR® Homes Program, “but they also need to look behind the walls for the energy-efficient features found in ENERGY STAR® qualified homes that help ensure comfort, quiet, improved indoor air quality, and low utility bills for years to come.”

More than one million ENERGY STAR® homes have been built in the United States since the program first began labeling homes in 1995. Because of that, families living in ENERGY STAR® qualified homes will save more than $270 million this year on their utility bills, while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 370,000 vehicles.