Truly, necessity is the mother of invention, and the need for energy-saving homes is prompting a permanent, high-tech shift in the way houses are being built. Fortunately, these “green” technologies are not only boosting home sales, they’re also driving customer delight. Here’s how:

Silence Is Golden

One of the hallmark construction techniques that Meritage and some other “green” builders are offering is spray foam insulation. Not only is it better at insulating against energy transfer, it is also a great way to improve soundproofing. While most builders are familiar with this technology, Meritage has taken it a step further by providing 9-inch staggered stud wall construction that is then filled with foam. This wall thickness is unprecedented for large-scale production builders and most custom builders. But the real secret to the soundproofing experience is that the studs facing the outside only touch the inside wall at a few places. This means that sound vibrations being sent through the studs that support the drywall are greatly reduced. Even houses built this way next to busy streets are almost silent inside.

Not surprising, customers are raving about this level of sound insulation, and as more home buyers are exposed to this game-changing technology, it will be increasingly difficult for builders to sell traditionally framed and insulated houses. Incidentally, customers are also delighted with the extra-wide window sills created by these thick walls, providing the perfect perch for framed pictures and potted plants.

Clean Energy and Air

Another standard feature among today’s “green” builders is solar systems. But some builders have discovered that solar technology delivers benefits well beyond the anticipated energy savings. To capture even more of the sun’s energy, some solar systems have integrated the home’s air-exchange systems beneath the solar panels. The unexpected benefit of this design is that it generates negatively charged ions, which can play a significant role in air quality.

Many people are familiar with air purifiers that claim to send negatively charged ions out into a room, where they attract positively charged particles that are then drawn out of the air. Well, this method of air purification is now being validated by solar systems that introduce negatively charged ions into the air via a home’s air exchange system. PVT Solar, a provider of such solar systems, is delivering air purification so good that air filters need to be changed only once every three years (although PVT recommends changing the filter annually to be safe). This is a “wow” feature that’s delighting homeowners fortunate enough to get this technology in their houses.

Digital Control

It seems like there’s a mobile app for everything these days, so it comes as no surprise that tech companies are exploring ways for consumers to interact with their homes via cellphones and the Internet. Smart home technology, which enables people to control lights, thermostats, appliances, sound systems, and even hot tubs and swimming pools, have been around for some time. But consumers are now being wowed by the convenience of monitoring their homes from a mobile device.

PVT Solar, for example, makes it possible for homeowners to monitor solar energy production and consumption via a computer connected to the Web or a mobile app on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The company’s Echo monitoring system displays outside, home and water temperatures and indicates how much energy is being produced by the solar system. Users have complete control of the home’s heating and cooling needs. A graphical interface makes it easy to analyze how well the system is working on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. Best of all, the system alerts homeowners to potential problems, providing peace of mind in addition to energy savings.

You can view high-definition videos of actual homes using these new building techniques at www.builderonline.com or www.avidbuilder.com. But to understand how important these cutting-edge construction methods are to the future of home building, it helps to look back more than a century. By the early 1900s, indoor plumbing — a technological innovation for its time — had become a “wow” feature in all new home construction. Existing homes without outdoor plumbing became difficult to sell. It’s not hard to make comparisons between indoor plumbing at the turn of the 20^th Century and “green” construction today.

Dr. Jack ReVelle, Ph.D., a world-class quality guru and author of 25 books on the subject, taught me that the most successful entrepreneurs seize the day when technological wows emerge. Such “wow” factors are so revolutionary that they change the game for everyone and give early adopters a competitive advantage — at least until the rest of the industry catches up to them. So, while the rest of the home building industry continues to construct houses the way they always did, now is the time to explore ways to differentiate your products and services in ways that attract today’s consumers and leaves them more delighted than they had ever imagined.

Paul Cardis is founder and CEO of AVID Ratings, the leading provider of customer loyalty research and consulting to the home-building industry. Through the AVID system, home builders improve referrals, reduce warranty costs, and strengthen their brands. He can be reached at paul.cardis@avidratings.com.