It's not easy going green, but what if you didn't have to think about it? That's the idea behind the new Eagle View Estates subdivision planned for Kingman.
Homes in the subdivision are designed to exceed the government's Energy Star rating.
In order to receive an Energy Star rating, a home must be more energy efficient than 80 percent of the existing homes on the market.
"It kind of happened by accident. We were all talking about the development and Eric [Frye and his partner Henry Neth], the developers really wanted to put solar panels on these homes to help with operating cost of the home," said Richard Iddings, spokesperson for the development.
"It just sort of mushroomed into a discussion about improving upon the insulation and some of the other features of the homes so that we could get an Energy Star rating."
The prices for the Eagle View Estates homes start in the high $200,000s and run to about $500,000.
There are eight different floor plans and 10 different styles of homes to choose from.
The development, when completed, will have a total of 327 lots on 80 buildable acres.
It will also include a large central park that the developer hopes to donate to the city.
The development is trying to take advantage of the cost reduction in green technology such as solar panels, windows, doors and insulation, etc., to bring that technology to the regular homeowner, Iddings said.
Some of the energy efficient perks to the homes include solar panels and tubing to provide energy to the home and heat water; radiant barriers to help keep the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter; better insulation in the walls; double plumbing to recycle water from sinks, showers and washers for landscaping; self-sustaining landscaping that needs little watering; low-flow toilets and appliances to conserve water; energy-efficient appliances including air conditioners and furnaces; blankets for water heaters; shade screens for windows; Low E glass windows; and solar attic fans.
Each home will also be wired for a Crestron home automation system. The system can be programmed to raise and lower the temperature and turn on and off the lighting in the home, Iddings said.
More complex Crestron systems can actually learn and automatically adjust the temperature and turn on or off lights in the home at certain times. For example, the system learns that the homeowner opens the garage door, turns on the lights and turns down the temperature at 5 p.m. every day. It will automatically lower the temperature and turn on the lights at 5 p.m. in anticipation of the homeowner returning from work.
"These homes are going to be as good as it gets right out of the gate," Iddings said.
Some of the lower cost homes may not have the automated system or some of the more expensive energy saving technology. This is an effort to keep the cost of some of the homes down but still offer green technology for those that want it.
The homes are not designed to be zero or neutral energy homes, Iddings said. Zero or neutral energy homes actually generate enough energy through alternative means, such as solar or wind energy, to either eliminate their need for electricity from a power plant or generate enough energy to put back electricity on the grid.
Eagle View Estates homes are designed to make it easy for homeowners to conserve energy and resources without having to think about it. The energy-efficient technology for each home should save homeowners between 30 and 50 percent on their utilities bills, he said.
"One of the biggest challenges to the green movement has been the fact that people have to change their behavior in order to be friendly to the environment," he said. "The idea is, if it is easy for them [the homeowner] and actually gives them another level of luxury, its something the homeowner will embrace."
According to the Energy Start Web site, www.energystar.gov, a homeowner could save between $200 and $400 a year on bills with an energy-efficient home.
On top of the utilities savings, homeowners may qualify for tax breaks and discounts from the federal government, local utility companies and mortgage companies.
"One of the things that's actually exciting about the development is the amount of support they've been getting from Unisource Energy and even Frontier Communications in the technology integration side of things," he said. "I personally was shocked by the amount of attention and interest generated by those two companies."
Unisource has a proposal before the Arizona Corporation Commission to reimburse people who generate energy through alternative sources such as wind and solar, Iddings said.
Eagle View has been working closely with Unisource and Frontier Communications to improve the efficiency of the homes. For example, Frontier has agreed to wire each house with fiber optic cable instead of copper.
According to the Energy Start Web site, some mortgage companies actually have discounts for energy-efficient homes that will allow someone purchasing a home to increase their income by a dollar amount equal to the estimated energy savings from the home.
"The timing of this is thanks to Al Gore and his little movie," he said. "It may cost the homeowner a tiny bit more in the beginning, but within a very short amount of time, between tax credits, what they save on their mortgage, what they save on maintaining the home, they recoup that investment very quickly.
"It's naive to think that Kingman can stop growth," he said. "Kingman is just in a really good position for some strong economic growth for the next five to 10 years. The way Henry and Eric really kind of looked at this was 'how can we build a development of over 300 homes in it but it doesn't have the environmental impact of 300 homes?' and a way to perhaps encourage other developers that come to Kingman to build in a similar fashion, because one day Kingman is going to be a large place, and this is sort of a way to encourage smart growth versus growth that is controlled by the government through environmental regulation."
Iddings said construction of model homes for the development should be completed by early next year. They have already sold a number of lots in the development.
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Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007
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