Creating a Market for Energy Efficient Homes

Birmingham startup Eco Three has plans to extend its business model and carve out a market for energy efficient homes in Birmingham.

By Alan Alexander for the Birmingham Business Journal, June 5th, 2015 (http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2015/06/05/eco-three-looks-to-carve-out-birminghams-market.html)

Eco Three is based in the Innovation Depot and provides inspections, consultations and upgrades to the insulation infrastructure of a house, and CEO Jonathan Handey said that when it comes to energy efficiency in residential homes, Alabama is 10 years behind nearby metros like Huntsville, Nashville and Atlanta.

He said that could be because of different industry environments, but it doesn’t stop the fact that homeowners are losing lots of cash on their energy bills.

That caused Handey to launch another aspect to his business called Eco Three Innovations, in which Eco Three will work with residential contractors to implement energy efficient solutions into homes as they are being built.

“We wanted to focus on the quick pay back and tackle the existing problem before they happen,” Handey said. “Brand new houses often come with energy issues that the buyers don’t even know about.”

Handey is working with Birmingham-based home builder Harris Doyle to fix that problem.

“We’re working on upgrades that will improve an occupant’s comfort from day one,” said Micah Kaufhold, project manager at Harris Doyle. “The Eco Three package we are rolling out will increase a mortgage by $25 per month, but will decrease a monthly energy bill by $40.

Kaufhold said this is a trend he sees catching on in the future as municipalities and building codes catch up to new building designs.

Eco Three is concentrating on resident projects for now, but Handey said that there are opportunities for commercial work in Birmingham, especially as historic buildings begin to be restored. Handey said he continues to research the benefits of renewable energy and also has plans to extend Eco Three’s footprint into Mobile.