Meritage brings first net-zero energy home to production

Related:Environment, Residential Real Estate, Energy Sponsored Links Bid for the Yields You Want. You just might get them on CDs and bonds. Try Zions Direct Auctions. www.zionsdirect.com Business On Main: Online Community Free Online Tools and Resources To Help Start Or Grow Your Business. Join Today! www.BusinessOnMain.com Microsoft Office 365® The Benefits Of Office Meet The Power Of Cloud Services. Sign Up. www.microsoft.com/office365 Meritage Homes Bruce and Kerry Ploeser live in this net-zero energy home in the Verrado development in Buckeye. It was built my Meritage Homes. Meritage Homes Corp. is raising the stakes in energy-efficient building with the first production home that will have net-zero energy use. Built in the Verrado development in Buckeye, the home already has owners. It will be a model for homes to be rolled out first throughout Arizona and California, and then the rest of Scottsdale-based Meritage’s product line. “Net-zero is really demonstrable,” said C.R. Herro, vice president of environmental affairs for Meritage. Meritage has been pushing greener homes for about a year. It started in the Valley and gradually will progress through its other subdivisions around the country. The homes are energy efficient, featuring improved insulation and optional solar systems designed to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star standards. Taking what the home builder had been doing and going all the way to a net-zero home was more of a challenge. Net-zero calls for homes to produce as much or more energy than they consume. For the Verrado project, Meritage turned to a popular solar system designed by Echo Solar Systems, formerly PVT Solar. The company estimates the net-zero package will roll out with a cost of $10,000 or $15,000 above the base cost of the home in Arizona Public Service Co. territory, and potentially more in Salt River Project territory, Herro said. Bruce Ploeser and his wife Kerry bought the home, where they will live with their four children. They said they’d been looking at something with energy efficient features but hadn’t expected to go this far until Herro suggested it. “Energy efficiency is something we really wanted,” he said. “We know that energy costs aren’t going down any time soon.”

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