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High Performance Homes

High Performance Homes

High Performance Homes

At Tim O’Brien Homes, our top priority is for our homeowners to experience enhanced comfort and health in their home. Through the application of building science, we constantly refine our construction methods based on data-driven insights, setting your home apart with some of the nation's highest standards. By choosing us, you're investing in a home that's designed with your future in mind, thanks to our commitment to the following programs and initiatives.

We Build Super Tight Homes

What does that mean for YOU?

One of the first things visitors to our model homes say to us is "this home just feels comfortable." While there are many factors that can go into that, we can say the main reason is that our homes are built tight. We average 1.3 Air Changes per Hour (ACH). Now, we don't expect that number to make a whole lot of sense to you immediately, but we can tell you about the benefits of this and at least reference that most newly constructed homes are about 4.75 ACH, meaning our homes are over 3.5 times tighter than a typical new home.

The Benefits of a Super Tight Home:

  • Energy Efficiency: Our 1.3 ACH slashes energy costs, keeping your bills low.
  • Comfort: Ensures a cozy home by eliminating drafts and maintaining even temperatures.
  • Indoor Air Quality: Less outside air intrusion means cleaner, healthier indoor air.
  • Durability: Protects against moisture and mold, prolonging your home's lifespan.
  • Environmental Impact: Lowers carbon footprint for a greener, healthier planet.
  • Resale Value: Energy-efficient homes often attract higher resale prices.
  • Future-Ready: Meets and exceeds upcoming energy efficiency standards.

Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) Program is a symbol of excellence for Energy Savings, Comfort, Health, Quality, and Durability.

Zero Energy Ready Homes are High Performance Homes. Homes that are so energy efficient that all, or most consumption can be offset with renewable energy. In other words, they are the homes of the future.

Tim O'Brien Homes is in the top one percent of builders in the country meeting the extraordinary levels of excellence in energy and performance specified in the national program requirements.  We're proud to be a 6-time recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy Housing Innovation Award.

EPA Indoor airPLUS

The EPA's Indoor airPLUS program is a companion label to ENERGY STAR, designed to ensure new homes are equipped with advanced features to enhance indoor air quality and provide a healthier living environment. Homeowners will appreciate the comprehensive benefits that contribute to well-being, comfort, and energy savings.

Healthier Homes by Design
Indoor airPLUS qualified homes boast a variety of benefits, including:

  • Improved Indoor Air Quality
  • Minimized Pollutants
  • Enhanced Comfort
  • Protection Against Combustion Pollutants
  • Greater Energy Efficiency


Indoor airPLUS Design and Construction Features
Homes achieving this certification incorporate several key features:

  • Effective Moisture Control
  • Radon Control Systems
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Advanced HVAC Performance
  • Safe Combustion Venting
  • Use of Better Building Materials

Energy Star

This government-backed national program helps businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. All Tim O'Brien Homes feature Energy Star products.

RESNET Energy Smart Builder

Not all builders prioritize energy testing for their homes, but as a RESNET Energy Smart Builder, we make it a standard practice to test every single home we construct. This isn't just a requirement for us; it's about ensuring the quality and efficiency of your future home. Building a home is a significant endeavor, and achieving perfection is impossible. But, wouldn't it be reassuring to know if anything was overlooked during construction? Through comprehensive testing, we can identify and rectify any minor issues before handing over the keys to your new home. Our participation in this esteemed program allows us to continuously improve and refine our building practices, ensuring we deliver the best possible homes to our customers.

5-Year Energy Guarantee

We’ve always been committed to building certified energy-efficient, green homes that meet or exceed industry standard and we have the program to back it up.

A Tim O’Brien home performs 30% better than a typical new home. If yours does not, we will reimburse any additional heating and cooling costs you incur. For a full five years.**

**Based on “as designed” industry standards per WIUDC Energy Cost Compliance. Your actual energy costs and savings may vary. See a New Home Sales Professional for complete terms and conditions.

Wisconsin Focus on Energy

Every home in the Wisconsin Focus on Energy New Homes Program undergoes a series of performance tests and must meet specific program standards, including:

  • Framing and insulation installation review
  • Air-tightness to minimize drafts and create superior indoor air quality
  • Sealed combustion equipment and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure safety
  • Whole-house ventilation installed for proper ventilation


Upon certification, Tim O'Brien Homes homeowners receive a Homeowner's manual, a certification report that shows the home's energy savings, and a Focus on Energy New Homes Certification Plaque.

Home Energy Rating Score (HERS)

The Home Energy Rating Score (HERS) is a national index that shows where a home lands on an energy scale. The lower the score, the more energy-efficient the home and the more money the homeowners will save. If a new home was built to the 2006 Building Code specifications it would receive a score of 100 and existing older homes typically score 150 and higher. 

Every Tim O'Brien Home is tested with an average score of 49.

Congratulations! This is a net zero home that produces as much energy as it consumes.

Your home is a net zero energy home. This means that it produces as much energy through renewable resources, such as solar panels, as it consumes. Only a net zero energy home can score 0 on the RESNET HERS® Index.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Fantastic score! This is almost a net zero home.

This is a truly outstanding score! You're probably enjoying watching your utility bills decrease while the comfort level of your home increases. The next step would be to eliminate energy costs altogether by having the house produce its own energy.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This home's energy performance is off the charts!

This is a tremendous score! Your home is well on its way to becoming a Zero Energy Home, which is environmentally friendly and produces as much energy as it consumes.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This is an amazing score!

A great score! This home is 70% more energy efficient than a standard new home and 100% more efficient than the typical resale home! It has been designed and built with energy efficiency in mind, resulting in a home that is environmentally friendly, enjoys a high comfort level and benefits from low energy costs.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Congratulations! This is a very energy efficient home.

With a score of 40, your home is a model of energy efficiency, likely incorporating many advanced energy-saving features.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This home has great energy performance!

This home is 50% more energy efficient than the reference new home of 100 and 80% more efficient that the average resale home. A score of 50, your home would be considered a "High Performance Home." Your builder must really care about their building standards!

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Time to trade up?

This house has made good progress towards optimizing its energy performance! Not only is this good news from a financial point of view, it's also a good time to put it on the market and look into newer, even more HERS® rated energy efficient homes being built by Energy Smart Builders.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Still needs improvement.

Your home is 30% more energy efficient than homes built according to 2006 code, but you can still make it more energy efficient and get a lower HERS® Index Score.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This home is outdated.

A HERS® Index Score of 80 means your home is 20% more efficient than the standard reference home, but new homes being built in the 2020s should be performing much higher.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Needs help!

At 90, your home is 10% more energy-efficient than the reference home. A home with a 90 HERS® Index Score in this day and age is dated and considered to not be energy-efficient.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Standard new home reference.

Your home is at the same level as a standard new home, which meets the current industry standard for home energy efficiency. But that doesn't mean your home is working at its optimal efficiency! There are many energy saving upgrades that you could make to your home to improve its energy performance.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This home is costing you money!

There's a whole lot of room for energy efficiency improvements here and that can translate directly into an improved quality of life and savings on your home energy bills. Start by scheduling a HERS® Energy Rating to find out exactly what the problems are and how to fix them.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This is not an energy efficient home.

Watch out for noticeably draftier rooms, higher utility bills and how your home is either too hot in summer or too cold in winter. Maybe it's a good time to look for an energy efficient HERS® rated home, and enjoy the benefits of lower running costs and better home comfort!

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This home suffers from significant energy problems.

This is the typical resale home score, which means if you're in the market for a home, this one will be at least 30% less energy efficient than it should be. The smart way to buy a home is to determine its HERS® Index Score before you decide to buy. However, if you decide that you still want this home, then you should definitely consider getting a HERS® Energy Rating to learn how to make it energy efficient.

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

Not a good score.

This is a very high HERS® Index Score - one that you definitely don't want! In terms of energy efficiency, this home is generating high energy costs, less than ideal comfort level and having a negative impact on the environment. Time to look for a new HERS® rated home!

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

This home has major energy efficiency problems!

This house is a WHOPPING 50% LESS ENERGY EFFICIENT than a standard new home! It could be a significant financial drain on your bank account as well as negatively impacting the environment. Maybe it's time to move on and find an energy efficient, HERS® rated home. HERS® rated homes offer better home comfort, lower running costs and higher resale values. Contact an Energy Smart Builder to find out more!

Energy Savings

Home Comfort

Carbon Footprint

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How We Build

At Tim O'Brien Homes, we strive to build lasting homes by using the most efficient and innovative building practices, technology and materials. Click on the clovers below to discover what's behind the walls of our homes.

Eliminates hot air pockets at ridge of the roof; allowing full air flow along the length of the roof for even flow, preventing wear streaks as the result of individual cap vents.

Provides a high level of resistance to conductive energy loss and gain from an unconditioned attic. The higher the r-value the less wasted energy.

Exhaust Fans direct vented to the outside, these upsized fans move 60% more air than code requires. Spot ventilation such as bath fans and kitchen exhaust remove excess humidity, odors and harmful gasses at the source.

By strategically applying spray foam to all penetration areas of the ceiling and walls (can-lights, HVAC runs, fans, outlets) this reduces air infiltration and minimizes energy loss through the attic and walls.

Reduces water consumption by 20%.

Uses significantly less water per flush, you are helping the environment every day.

Applied to all exterior walls and gable ends, Tyvek® acts as a rain coat for the home keeping bulk water out, allows the home to breathe while reducing drafts, and is water vapor permeable. Water vapor can travel through the membrane in one direction—inside to out.

Rigid insulation foam sheathing material reinforced with graphite fibers. The graphite lends strength to the foam and increases the overall R-value of the sheathing. Our homes have Neopor® foam boards as sheathing over OSB (oriented-strand board, a wood product) to significantly reduce thermal bridging. Think of this as your jacket layer that many new homes go without.

1” rigid insulation foam on exterior walls (R-5) over 7/16” OSB, R-15 dense packed fiberglass for superior sound deadening reduction in thermal transfer. Total Wall R-Value (R-20.55).

Keeps the foundation walls warm, reducing energy loss. The warmer the wall the higher the comfort.

Concrete is strong and dense, but it is permeable to water given enough time. Dorken-Delta Foundation Drainage frees the foundation walls from hydrostatic pressure that lead to water leaks in foundation walls. Also allows the foundation to cure to the outside vs just the inside.

In a typical home 30% of the air leakage occurs in the basement. Sealing this area dramatically reduces that air leakage. This continuous barrier eliminates drafts, prevents pests from entering, and increases comfort.

The air flows for each room are designed based upon size, orientation, and physical make-up. An Energy Consultant checks the actual air flows and adjusts each room if needed.

An exhaust fan in the attic pulls the subsoil gases from beneath the home and vents it to the outdoors where it quickly dilutes. This effectively prevents harmful gases from entering the home for healthier indoor air, and a drier basement. A pressure sensing device shows that the system is functioning properly.

(Energy Recovery Ventilator) We install an ERV in all of our homes. This employs a cross flow heat and humidity exchanger between inbound and outbound air flow. This provides great ventilation in the home without the loss of heat or humidity. Fresh air, climate control, and energy efficiency are all benefits of having an ERV in your home.

(Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) air filters catch 99% of particles greater than 1 micron (copy toner). A standard filter will only catch 60% of ordinary house dust.

Centrally located in the basement for optimum performance. Code requires air furnaces to be at 90%. This ensures optimal performance and ductwork is kept out of exterior spaces.

Help maintain a healthy indoor air quality.

like three-stud corner framing, removes non-essential wood, which provides better insulation and performance and decreases condensation.

This added insulation over every window increases the R-value and reduces thermal bridging.

Measures the tightness of the building envelope and puts a negative pressure on the home amplifying air leakage when viewed through an infared camera.

Single-hung windows with Low-E coating, 98% argon filled insulated glass, and .27 U-value (code requirement is .40 U-value). The lower the U-value of glass, the better.

Used for exterior trim and a composite that reduces the need of old growth material. It is also more dimensionally stable and more weather resistant than Cedar or Pine.

This small detail with a big benefits is a piece of recycled construction waste, which raises the roof trusses allowing double the attic insulation in critical areas reducing energy loss, without compromising airflow. This means a cooler roof in winter preventing ice dams.

This small detail with a big benefits is a piece of recycled construction waste, which raises the roof trusses allowing double the attic insulation in critical areas reducing energy loss, without compromising airflow. This means a cooler roof in winter preventing ice dams.

We choose to add insulation baffles to EVERY truss cavity allowing for improved attic ventilation in both quantity and consistency.

These allow drywall to seal tight to the top plates of the wall minimizing air movement.

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