Stafford Standards

Built Above Code

Stafford Homes & Land build homes above industry standards to be healthy, comfortable, and energy-efficient. From the start, we plan out the details of our homes which makes them green and healthy. The results are green homes that conserve energy, reduce our homes’ carbon footprint, and a comfortable environment to live in. We build with advanced building techniques, improved insulation, improved ventilation, and install healthy products on both the exterior and interior of your home. It is building better for a home that is long-lasting and more enjoyable.

Energy Performance Ratings – Verified by 3rd party

We employ third-party companies like Earth Advantage and Energy Trust to inspect our homes with an exacting checklist. Each home receives a test that gauges how well the home is built. Insulation, windows, and products are reviewed to help gauge how well the home will perform.

Energy Performance Score (EPS) between 69 and 48

Much like a miles per gallon (MPG) rating for a car, our homes have a score for how they perform. How they consume electricity, use natural gas, and even how they leave a carbon footprint emitting emissions into the air. The lower the score, the better the home performs and the lower the monthly utility costs will be. The savings are incredible. The homes are more comfortable, the lifestyle is responsible, and the results are truly measurable.

Path 3 Energy Features- As described by the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO)

 We try to include as many upgraded features in our homes as possible. We have chosen measures to ensure our homes are better than code. Your home remains desirable even when the code standards increase.

Framing the Home

When designing the home, we make sure our homes create less wasted lumber, while making sure our exterior walls have less transmission of energy in or out through the lumber. Most of our headers are insulated and moving most junctions where lumber can transmit energy and replacing with insulation helps keep the home more efficient and aids in the prevention of air leakage.

Kiln Dried Lumber Coupled with Certified Moisture Testing

We choose to install Kiln Dried Lumber that contains much less moisture. We test the moisture in the lumber after the home is framed we assure the home contains no more than 12-14% moisture before covering with drywall. This reduces the shrinking behind the walls and floors that occurs and saves on damage to the home. Our homes are also third-party tested, and we obtain a moisture certificate before covering our walls. Our crawl spaces are dried to less than 16%. Reports show mold cannot grow at 16% and below.

Open Web floor truss system – In our LEED Certified Homes

We use the open web floor truss system in many of our plans to allow ductwork to be tucked away We use the open web floor truss system in many of our plans to allow ductwork to be tucked away inside the homes conditioned space. This reduces the energy that escapes when ductwork is ran through attics and floors and results in a more comfort-able and energy efficient home.

Building House Wrap

Our homes are wrapped in a moisture barrier designed to provide enhanced drainage in areas subject to extreme, wind-driven rain.   It combines the superior air and water resistance, vapor permeability, and strength of Tyvek® or similar product, with a vertically grooved surface to help channel water safely to the outside.

We may choose to use other brands based on availability of products. In either case, we wrap every home with a moisture barrier to protect the home from the elements. 

Fiber Cement Siding

Fiber Cement is made from recycled materials and creates a very sustainable alternative that performs better and lasts longer than lumber products. This material is extremely durable and comes with a 25-30 year warranty. This siding also reduces the impacts on forests and the products made from them. It can be produced in specific lengths to match the parts of the home, thus reducing waste further.

Window and Door Flashing

We take steps and measures during construction at vulnerable points of the home where water damage can occur. Windows and doors must be flashed and installed properly for a true exterior barrier to occur against the weather. Our windows are installed by a professional window installer certified and insured to only install windows the correct way.

Windows With an Efficiency Rating of 0.3 or Lower

Stafford Homes benefits from 15% less heat loss than code built. Windows are rated by U Values — the lower the U rating the better the window performs. U-Factor is generally a number between 0.2 and 1.20, indicating the heat loss or gain through a window. A lower number produces a window with a higher level of comfort, value and saves on energy usage.

Superior Insulation Measures added for Home Comfort

Most of our homes have additional insulation in the attic and walls. The window framing headers and any part of the home that touches the exterior with wood have what is called “thermal bridges.” We insulate and create breaks in the thermal bridges of a home, which can be heavy lumber, concrete and any other piece of the structure than energy can transmit through in or out. The upgraded features of insulation in our homes help us make sure our homes are more comfortable, quieter, healthier, and more energy-efficient than a code-built
• Attic Insulation- R-60, which keeps heat from escaping through the roof and covers duct runs to rooms.
• Wall Insulation- R-23 – BIBS (blown-in blankets) making less room for leakage and our homes are so quiet.
• Floor Insulation- R-30.

Home Air Sealing Measures- 2.0- 3.0 ACH or less

Sealing a home to prevent air leakage in or out of the building envelope is one of the most important measures to make a home more comfortable. Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) is a measurement used to signify a properly sealed home with fewer air leaks. Our homes are designed and sealed to meet ACH of 3.0 or less. We spend more effort sealing areas of a home that are more prone to leaking, which can be in the roof, windows, walls, and any penetration in the exterior envelope like Air Conditioning lines drains, vents. Sealing efforts come from caulking top and bottom plates of framing, between framing lumber at exterior wall connections, and spray foam.

MERV Air Filtering and Handling

Particles in the air can cause the air in your home to be very unhealthy. See the chart linked below about how the MERV-rating works. Our homes come standard with MERV 13 filters or higher which is a higher grade filter just below hospital laboratory air filtration. MERV-ratings range from 1-16 and are 35% to 50% more efficient at filtering particulates, pollen, dust, and mold before they are introduced into the home. MERV-13 filters is one of the highest filtration filters and is rated clean, similar to hospital. MERV-11 dependent LEED certified homes is step up with more cleaner healthier air. 

96% High Efficiency Gas Furnace

Our homes have a minimum efficiency of 96% AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). When shopping for new homes, it is best to make sure the ductwork is not only insulated but sealed and tested for leakage. This key factor is crucial in keeping the heating and cooling inside the rooms and ductwork, and not in a crawl space or attic.

Furnace and Ductwork

Placing the ductwork within the thermal envelope eliminates heat and cooling loss to attics and crawl spaces. It also prevents many of the indoor air problems associated with running ducts in the crawl space and garage.  By doing this your Stafford home is healthier and more energy-efficient. 

Sealed Heat and Cooling Ductwork

Mastic sealed and tested ductwork is a measure to keep ducts from leaking heat and cool air into any spaces around them. It is a painstaking measure that separates our company from others. When ductwork is not sealed it can lose up to 30% of the heating and cooling created for the home. By doing this, we reduce the loss to less than 6% and will help keep contaminants coming in.

Protected Ductwork Vents and Furnace Equipment

During construction, much debris falls into the ductwork and is left in the home well after move-in. In our homes, we protect the ductwork from the debris and we use outside heat sources to construct the home rather than a permeant furnace. The construction debris from saw dust, drywall dust, paint particles, carpet fibers, and other air pollutants all contribute to the wear and tear of the furnace. In the final phase of construction, we even clean the vents before finishing the home

Low VOC Adhesives and Caulking

The use of these types of products maintains indoor air quality by reducing the off-gas of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the home.

Sealed Gas Fireplaces w/ Electric Ignition

There is no continuous burning pilot light so our homes produce less carbon monoxide with electronic ignition, promoting a healthy indoor air quality.

Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Latex Indoor and Outdoor paint

Low VOC paint reduces the amount of harmful chemicals in a home during and even after construction. Our homes use Sherwin Williams circle. Certified indoor paint which are certified by a third-party organization to meet requirements for product and com-pany responsibility.

Generous use of Laminate Wood Flooring Throughout Main Living Areas

Hard surface flooring cuts down on areas in the home where dust can collect and settle. We use more solid surfaces in the spirit of making healthy homes. Our wood flooring is made from recycled wood, short growth forests, and lumber cutoffs from normal milling efforts. These efforts dramatically reduce demand on forest timber.

Water Conservation Measures and Low Flow fixtures

Plumbing fixtures and appliances in the home have been chosen to perform better while consuming less water. They use aerators to mix air with the flowing water. The perceived flow is comparable to code built fixtures, but can save up to 500 combined gallons of water per year, which reduces energy bills and helps the environment.

High-Efficiency Water Heaters

Most of our homes come with a high-efficiency 50 or 65 gallon water pump heaters. We install high-efficiency heat-pump water heaters, typically rated at 3.4 EF . This matters. Water heaters are responsible for up to 17% of a home’s used energy. Naturally, we wanted to start with higher impact features to save our home buyers money over the decades to come.

100% CFL OR LED High Efficiency Lighting

Our homes come with 100% CFL or LED efficient light bulbs. CFL’s produce light differently than incandescent bulbs. In an incandescent bulb, an electric current is driven through a tube containing argon and a small amount of mercury vapor which generates invisible ultraviolet light that excites a fluorescent coating (called phosphor) on the side of the tube and then emits visible light. CFL’s need a little more energy when turned on, but once the electricity starts moving, CFLs use about 70% less energy than normal incandescent bulbs.

Energy Star Circle rated Dishwasher and High-Performance Appliances

Our dishwashers are rated and use 25% less energy which saves about 1000 gallons of water each year when compared to a conventional type.

Most of our homes are solar-ready. Plumbing and electricity already run ahead of time anticipating the use of solar panels to produce energy and allow the home to be off the main power grid

Recycling Jobsite Waste

Almost all of our metal, drywall, plastic, shrink wrap and a great portion of the rest of construction debris are recycled rather than sent to landfills. This results in over 85% of the home’s waste being recycled and not in landfills or it is separated at the landfill and recycled.