Priscilla Martin, a realtor in Bend, was surprised when she held an open house for a home built by Arbor Builders. “After one day, I wanted to buy it myself,” Martin said. “I just loved all the light and the overall design.”

Built by Energy Trust trade ally Arbor Builders and served by Pacific Power and Cascade Natural Gas, Martin’s newly constructed home has an EPS^TM, Energy Trust’s energy performance score. The score of 82 tells her she bought a home with energy-efficient heating and cooling, lighting, windows, water heater and ventilation all designed to save energy and reduce costs. The home is also solar ready, which means the conduits for a solar electric system were built-in so Martin can easily install the equipment down the road.

“I’ve had amazingly low utility bills,” Martin said. “My gas bill was about one-third of my previous home’s bill this winter.”

Arbor Builders works with Energy Trust to build EPS-rated homes―helping home buyers choose homes with energy efficiency built in.