The idea of buying their own homes may seem daunting to new college graduates. But there is a little-utilized mortgage program that can make the decision easier for anyone looking to get started building home equity right away.

It also can help green-leaning homeowners limit their impact on the environment.

An Energy Efficient Mortgage, or EEM, allows homeowners to borrow up to 15 percent more on their mortgage than the home's appraised value. The money must be spent on improvements to make a house more energy efficient, such as replacing an outdated furnace.

To safeguard new homeowners from spending beyond their means, mortgages are only approved if the upgrades save them more on their monthly bills than they spend in extra monthly mortgage payments.

Joel Wiese has been a champion of the program since he found out about it three years ago. The product specialist with Indigo Financial Group in Lansing now works exclusively with EEMs.

"Your first home is not going to be the nicest," Wiese said.

He said many new home buyers end up in "starter homes," which are typically older and not well-maintained. In the long run, homeowners who do not take advantage of an EEM either pay for such upgrades out of their pockets or pay higher utility bills.

"An energy-efficient mortgage, for a student right out of college, addresses all these issues," Wiese said.

As an example, Wiese said a homeowner who takes out an additional $10,000 would end up paying about $60 more a month in mortgage payments. He said EEM customers, however, typically save twice that amount on their utility bills.

"You just made $60 a month you didn't have before," Wiese said.

Despite his campaign to create awareness about the program, he said few people realize it exists.

"This program has been around since 1979. It's not a new program," Wiese said. "Still, 99 percent of mortgage companies don't know how to do this."

That was the situation when Lansing resident Tim Shand was looking to move outside the city.

"I never knew they existed," Shand said of EEMs. "I talked to several people about financing and even asked the people who mortgaged my existing house. They didn't know anything about it."

Then Shand heard about the program through a client of his Information Technology business.

He is now remodeling a house in Williamston to give his 10-year-old daughter, Alexandria, more room.

"I needed a second bathroom," he said. "She's getting to the age where she needs her own space, and I do too."

When Shand picked a geodesic dome built in 1977, he contacted Brad Mann, a contractor with Lansing-based Comfort First Energy Consultants, to inspect the house.

"In the long run, I would have saved a lot of money," Shand said, if he had gotten an EEM with his first home, a 1920s era house in Lansing he has owned for about 10 years.

So far, Shand has replaced the furnace, is installing new windows and is adding an air-to-air heat pump that doubles as an air conditioner and heater.

He said the EEM set him free to work on remodeling part of his home, while he pays contractors to make it more energy efficient.

"It opened up the funds to get in there and get it done right," Shand said.

And while saving money helps Wiese get people interested in the program, it is not the only reason he is passionate about spreading the EEM gospel.

The more energy efficient a home is, the less harmful it is to the environment, he said.

A typical home produces between four to six tons of greenhouse gasses a year, Wiese said, adding that "with energy improvements, we can cut that by two to four tons."

Mann said a home's greenhouse gas output varies based on its furnace, appliances and the quality of its windows and insulation.

Mann performs Home Energy Ratings System inspections for prospective homeowners looking to take advantage of EEMs.

One aspect of the evaluation is a blower door test, in which Mann installs a calibrated fan in the door of a home that sucks out all the air, creating a vacuum. Then the fan monitors how much air is leaking into the house per hour. Each leak is a place where energy, and money spent on home heating and cooling, is lost.

Through the blower door test and a thorough inspection of the home's appliances, furnace and windows, Mann said an energy consultant can develop a comprehensive list of places where a homeowner can save money through upgrades.

"It's like a shopping list," Wiese said. "You'll know how much each upgrade costs and how much each will save you on your utility bills."