ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN REIMBURSEMENT Mersinger Brothers offers homeowners a matching design credit to reimburse architectural fees incurred when designing your new home. Please keep in mind that utilizing the services of a Mersinger Brothers authorized architect or designer is not a pre-requisite for Mersinger Brothers to bid or build your new home. Many of our customers come to us with architectural drawings that have been pre-purchased, most need only slight modifications. However, the program does offer a way for the prospective homeowners to cut costs up front on design services.

SWEAT EQUITY Mersinger Brothers encourages customers to participate in the construction of their new home through our "Sweat Equity" program. We offer this program to address the requests from many of our customers who have had the time, energy and talents to become more involved in the construction process and of course a desire to save money. Most all builders shy away from this level of customer involvement. We welcome your participation.

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ENERGY   Energy management is of paramount importance given the volatility of fuel prices and environmental concerns. Mersinger Brothers is committed to the employment of the most efficient energy conservation building techniques and systems. Our commitment begins with the evaluation of the two variables most influential to energy management and consumption - BUILDING ENVELOPE  /  ENERGY CONSUMING APPLIANCES. BUILDING ENVELOPE Mersinger Brothers specializes in providing the tightest most energy stingy building envelopes. In every stage of your new home's construction, we are diligently focused on the proper implementation of the home's weatherization systems. Each system is custom tailored to meet or exceed the specific energy goals set forth by our customer. Minimally these should include: Foundation wall and sill insulation systems. Continuous perimeter dual bead air penetration barrier at plate/ deck junction. Wrapping of all house exterior walls in spun high density fiber wind and moisture barrier. Constructing exterior walls with 2" x 6" studs for expanded wall cavity depth to accept additional capacities of insulative medium. i.e. expanded foam, blown cellulose, or fiberglass batt. Low E/ Argon gas high performance windows with minimum "U" factor of .35. Weathering-in of all window and door installations to prevent moisture penetration, air penetration and heat lose. All interior and exterior wall mechanical penetrations sealed with expandable foam. "Door blower" testing to quantitatively evaluate envelope performance. ENERGY CONSUMING APPLIANCES Mersinger Brothers uses the most energy efficient and cost recuperative energy systems available in the industry. Heating and cooling your home is the major energy consumption culprit. The importance of selecting the proper system is given top priority. It is little surprise to us that 3 out of the last 5 houses we built where heated and cooled by the upfront costlier geothermal system. However, these higher upfront costs are gradually recouped over time through lower energy consumption. We have installed all three types of geothermal systems- vertical loop, horizontal loop, and pond loop, as well as solar technologies in our homes. We are also equally committed to the most efficient and budget friendly conventional heating and cooling systems as well. Efficient energy management is the eventual lump sum total of all these components and systems working comprehensively together. There are consequences to such efficiencies, both budgetary (long & short term) and environmental concerns (stale indoor air) that also need to be addressed. Your homes energy plan should be worked out long before the construction begins. Call us. We will be happy to evaluate all the available systems with you, analyzing their costs, efficiencies and longevity.

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CONSERVATION GREEN Mersinger Brothers has long incorporated environmentally friendly conservation minded building techniques and materials in our homes. Remember, we started building in the oil embargo years of the 1970's. There is a ever enlarging universe of products that lay claim to the "green" mantra. Examples of those we frequently use would be: bamboo flooring, low VOC finishes, geothermal heating and cooling systems, engineered lumber components, passive and active solar, recycled plastic exterior sundeck flooring and railing, and refuge recycling.

Our philosophy has always been to use the finest materials available for the specific application at the best possible cost to our customers. Often times the best materials are not what would be considered the greenest. As always, we present our customers all the pertinent product facts and all the alternatives. Ultimately you, the customer, makes the decision- as it should be.

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UNIVERSAL ACCESS Mersinger Brothers builds custom homes. Each one specifically tailored to the lifestyle needs of our customer, whatever those needs may be. As the Baby Boomer generation advances in maturity, so to have their lifestyle needs. Over the years, with increasing frequency, we have experienced the evolution of “barrier free” living in design and construction of our homes. Some of the more mainstream “barrier free” lifestyle accommodations we have implemented are:

1st level master suite Zero curb, no step transition from garage level to 1st floor level Expanded hallway and door widths Roll-in showers with safety grab bars Pull under cabinets Comfort height toilets Elevators, chair lifts, and stair chairs Whatever your need, special or ordinary, Mersinger Brothers has the talent, experience, and knowledge to fulfill those needs that accentuate your lifestyle.