Live in a Home that Pays You Back

Today’s homeowners want sustainability—not just for home construction features, but to maintain long-term affordability as well. With an energy-efficient home, the true cost of homeownership is lower due to reduced utility costs, longer-lasting appliances and construction materials, and less maintenance and repairs.

Live in a Home that Pays You Back: A Complete Guide to Net Zero and Energy-Efficient Homes features the revolutionary home construction programs available throughout the U.S. and Canada. With clear commentary and helpful infographics, award-winning author and housing expert Anna DeSimone explains every part and parcel of the sustainable home and renewable energy options such as solar photovoltaics, wind power, geothermal energy, hydro-electric power, and biomass fuels. Readers will discover a whole new vocabulary of terms such as zero carbon, passive house, net metering, and renewable energy certificates—a tradeable commodity with cash value.

Whether someone is looking to build, buy, or retrofit a home, the author leaves no stone unturned. Packed with hundreds of free resources, along with a directory of rebates and incentives for every U.S. state and Canadian province, Live in a Home that Pays You Back lights the way for making informed decisions.

- Why invest in an energy-efficient home?

- Whole-house efficiency blueprint: high performance systems and new trends

- Renewable energy: infrastructure and financial incentives

- Net zero and zero energy-ready certification programs in the U.S and Canada

- Home building opportunities: passive house, zero carbon, log homes, and prefab kits    

- Energy assessments and scores

- Healthy homes and smart home technology

- Financial payback and true cost of home ownership

- Mortgage programs from U.S. and Canada housing agencies

- Directory of Rebates & Incentives by U.S. State and Canadian Province

About the Author:

Winner of three national book awards, Anna DeSimone is author of Housing Finance 2020: New Mortgage Programs for the New Generation of Homebuyers, and Welcome to the Agrihood: Housing, Shopping, and Gardening for a Farm-to-Table Lifestyle. She is a respected expert in the housing finance industry, and author of more than 40 industry handbooks on the topic of fair and responsible lending. She is the retired founder and CEO of Bankers Advisory, a Boston-based compliance auditing firm acquired by Clifton Larson Allen in 2014. She has been a featured entrepreneur by Forbes Magazine and Bloomberg Markets, named one of Housing Wire’s Women of Influence, and has received awards from Acquisitions International and Wealth and Finance Magazine. DeSimone provides expert commentary for media such as: Apartment Therapy, Axios, Bankrate, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Business Journal, Forbes.com, Fox Business, Log Home Living, MarthaStewart.com, Michigan Chronicle, Money Magazine, MSN Money, Newsday, Next Advisor, and The Washington Post.