Luxury homes most often stand out thanks to their stunning design and amenities that simply can’t be found in a typical home. From grand libraries and music rooms to swimming pools and home theaters, each luxury home can be as unique as those who live inside them.
Of course, all those luxury amenities mean that the average high-end home will be using a lot more energy than its standard counterparts. While the cost of energy isn’t necessarily a concern for luxury homeowners, their potential impact on the environment can be. Going green in many ways can become a status symbol in and of itself — but not all luxury homes have the right location or design for sustainability options like a solar panel installation.
As Robert Palmese, president of Indra Energy, a company that facilitates access to renewable electricity and gas, explains, today’s luxury homes have additional solutions to access clean power without making drastic changes to their property.
Indra Energy’s efforts to bring clean energy to more luxury homes are made possible through deregulated energy markets. “In a deregulated energy market, power generation is separated from distribution. This means that homeowners can choose who supplies their electricity or natural gas, even if a different local utility is still responsible for owning and maintaining the infrastructure,” Palmese explains.
“With this setup, homeowners have the ability to choose suppliers who match what they want, including suppliers that provide access to renewable energy options.”Robert Palmese, President of Indra Energy
Energy deregulation, which essentially allows for more competitive markets, varies from state to state. In some areas where Indra Energy operates, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey, both electricity and natural gas are deregulated. In other states, it becomes an either/or situation, where only one of electricity or natural gas are open to consumer choice.
In the deregulated market areas where Indra Energy operates, this allows luxury homeowners to select Indra as their supply provider, while the local utility still handles infrastructure, meter reads, outage support and so on. No additional equipment installations are needed to make the switch, and service continues uninterrupted. Energy continues to be supplied by the existing grid, but with Indra’s distinct approach to sustainability.
While the power supply that a home receives from the grid doesn’t seem to be any different on a day-to-day basis, Indra Energy’s use of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) allows luxury homeowners to offset their current energy use. Though typically associated with businesses trying to offset their energy use, Indra Energy’s programs link RECs to residential properties as well.
“Indra Energy purchases RECs to match your home’s electricity usage. A single REC matches to one megawatt-hour of electricity that was generated by a renewable source, like solar, wind, hydro or another zero-emission source,” Palmese says.
“Purchasing RECs then adds this zero-emission electricity to the grid in an amount equal to the amount of electricity you used. Even if the electricity being delivered to your home isn’t fully renewable, your power consumption has been paired with an REC to make you more neutral.”
For homeowners, this means a simpler and more cost-effective approach to green energy, as there is no need to install solar panels or make other complex adjustments to the property. Because the renewable energy is added to a shared grid, this doesn’t mean that the electricity flowing into the home is necessarily “green” itself.
However, luxury homeowners are able to offset their electricity-related emissions when Indra Energy pairs their usage with a Renewable Energy Credit. The revenue generated by RECs can also encourage investments in additional renewable projects, furthering their environmental impact.
For luxury homes that rely on natural gas for heating and other energy needs, Indra Energy also promotes sustainability through its carbon offset plans. As a major contributor to emissions in the United States, offsetting natural gas use is equally important for luxury homeowners, who often have above-average natural gas consumption.
“Just like with our electricity plans, you continue to receive your natural gas as normal after switching to Indra Energy,” Palmese explains. “With carbon offsets, your eligible gas usage is matched with verified offset projects to balance your greenhouse gas emissions. These offset projects can include things like reforestation or methane capture, which essentially counteract your own home’s natural gas usage. This way, your end result is net-zero or near net-zero in terms of your own emissions.”
As part of its own commitment to environmental impact, Indra Energy participates directly in these types of projects through its tree planting initiative, in which it works with reforestation partners to plant a new tree for every new customer.
As Palmese and Indra Energy illustrate, bringing clean power to a modern luxury home doesn’t have to involve drastically overhauling the property itself. By utilizing renewable energy credits and carbon offsets in deregulated energy markets, luxury homeowners can quickly and easily make the switch to renewable energy. Rather than being called out for creating more emissions than millions of homes, they can take steps to promote sustainability without sacrificing lifestyle.
When paired with other sustainable solutions, such as using thermal insulation and controlled ventilation to further reduce energy consumption, homeowners can have confidence that they are reducing their environmental impact.
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