New Green Homes Offer Buyers Energy Break
It makes perfect sense to build energy-smart homes in the desert! And especially ones that could even pay homeowners back during the hot summer months. In a cooperative effort between the UNLV Center for Energy Research, Pulte Homes and NV Energy, the first-ever green community is going up in Summerlin.
Villa Trieste will eventually have 185 homes, ranging from about 1500 to 1900 sq. feet and priced in the low $200s. All will have cutting-edge, energy-saving features like roof-integrated solar power to help create energy for the home, real-time energy meters inside the house that will communicate directly with the utility company when the power demand increases at peak afternoon hours, as well as improved ventilation, thermal systems, HVAC equipment and water conservation features.
The community is actually a research project, funded by a $7 million grant from the Dept. of Energy. UNLV researchers will monitor home performance once they are occupied. The goal is to find ways to reduce peak energy consumption by more than 65% compared to a typical new home development. Hopefully it’s just the beginning of new and smart eco-friendly ways to construct homes in the hot desert southwest.
The grand opening to view the models for Villa Trieste is Saturday, January 10. The homes are located off the I-215 Beltway west. The first phase is expected to open in April of this year.
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Categories: Energy, Government, Water
February 12th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
living green is the most important thing we can do. all homes should be able to go green. some prices need to come down but more people who buy green the cheaper it will get. let the home builders get on board and do all they can to build green. not forgeting to recycle, reuse, and reduce.