Wall Street Journal staffer Kris Hudson speaks with industry pros–including Meritage Home’s C.R. Herro, Blue Heron partner Tyler Jones, KB Home’s Dan Bridleman, and Lennar’s David Kaiserman–only to find varying degrees of buy-in towards the net-zero concept.
At this year’s Design & Construction week, which wrapped in Las Vegas last week, the 2015 New American home was the first of its line to achieve net-zero electrical usage, thanks to a superior insulation package, passive solar design, LED light fixtures, Energy Star appliances, and an 15 kW photovoltaic array. Click here to take a virtual tour of the 2015 New American Home.
Net-zero electricity homes, which generate more electricity in a year than they use, are often viewed as a niche product for the affluent who can afford custom homes. Projects like the 2015 New American Home, aimed to make a splash on a production budget, are out to change that perception.
Meritage Homes Corp., which builds in nine states, has constructed 50 net-zero homes since 2011 and intends to build 50 this year alone.
C.R. Herro, vice president of environmental affairs at Meritage, says the company can achieve net-zero status in homes costing as little as $200,000 in certain markets. Thus, the key to more mainstream acceptance, he believes, is not price but informing more home buyers of the benefits of net-zero homes. “Net-zero is technologically and financially solved,” he said. “It’s now a matter of the consumer catching up to that potential. That’s probably another three years.”
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