Presented during the 2006 E-Star Summit, Ecofutures was awarded the New Millennium Builder of the Year Award for our commitment to innovations in energy efficiency and to building ENERGY STAR-rated homes. With founder and CEO, Eric Doub, trained as an ENERGY STAR-Certified Home Performance Auditor, Ecofutures is in a unique position to design and build homes that surpass all ENERGY STAR ratings. Learn more about building new ENERGY STAR-qualified homes.
News Release
December 4, 2006
Kristin Shewfelt
Program Development Officer
E-Star Colorado™
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Colorado’s Most Energy-Efficient Home Builders and Contractors Recognized by E-Star Colorado and ENERGY STAR®.
2006 New Millennium ENERGY STAR Builder Awards Presented to Nine Companies That Provide Consumers with Outstanding Quality and a Buffer Against Rising Energy Prices
DENVER – December 4, 2006 – Colorado consumers will continue to experience price volatility in winter residential energy pricing, but 8 home builders and 1 trade contractor are being recognized today for providing homeowners with a way to keep utility bills reasonable and homes more comfortable. At a luncheon ceremony held during the first annual ENERGY STAR Summit, these firms were honored with the 2006 New Millennium ENERGY STAR Builder Awards for their demonstrated commitment to energy-efficient homes throughout the state. The winners of the New Millennium awards have designed, constructed, and marketed top quality, high-performing homes judged to be some of the best in the state.
E-Star Colorado, a statewide non-profit that promotes energy efficiency in housing, together with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR for Homes program, presented the 2006 New Millennium ENERGY STAR Builder Awards to this year’s winning homebuilders in a luncheon ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in the Denver Tech Center. Sam Rashkin, National Director of the ENERGY STAR for Homes program, was the keynote speaker.
Now in its sixth year, the New Millennium ENERGY STAR Builder Awards recognize and celebrate Colorado home builders and contractors who demonstrate a clear understanding of the positive effects of energy-efficient construction on their businesses, homeowners, and the state economy. The awards program is intended to show the building industry the benefits and advantages of constructing highly energy-efficient homes. The awards also help consumers identify Colorado’s leading energy-efficient homebuilders.
“With rising energy costs, consumers need to identify Colorado home builders that provide comfort and savings on utility bills along with all the trappings of a traditional home,” said Pat Keegan, Acting Executive Director of E-Star Colorado. “Our goal is to put the spotlight on these outstanding home builders and show that exceptionally high-quality, energy-efficient homes can be built in any price category. Each of the homes built by the winning homebuilders is beautiful, comfortable, and offers a way to lower the monthly cost of ownership. Homes such as these also lessen the impact of housing on the environment since they use less energy and most of our energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. As a matter of fact, two of our award winners this year built zero-energy custom homes, almost eliminating the need for purchased energy from fossil-fuel sources. Other builders showcased the ability to integrate energy-efficiency measures in the affordable housing sector. This is critically important for people hit hardest by the operational costs of housing,” added Keegan.
The 2006 New Millennium ENERGY STAR Builder Awards were presented in six categories to the following eight home builders and one trade contractor:
- New Rising Star Builder – Denver Metro – Harvard Communities
- New Rising Star Builder – Front Range – Colorado Custom Homes
- Affordable/Attainable Builder – Denver Metro – Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver
- Affordable/Attainable Builder – Front Range – Aspen Homes of Colorado
- Production Builder – Denver Metro – New Town Builders
- Production Builder – Front Range – Engle Homes
- Custom Builder – Denver Metro – Ecofutures Building
- Custom Builder – Front Range – Aspen Homes of Colorado
- Trade Partner Award – Front Range – Atlantic Heating and Air Conditioning
- Super Nova Award of Distinction – Habitat for Humanity of Colorado
“These builders and trade contractors use a systems-approach to homebuilding to achieve outstanding results,” said Patty Crow, the ENERGY STAR representative for Colorado. “Although there are a variety of ways to build ENERGY STAR qualified homes, all of the homes constructed by today’s winners utilize superior levels of insulation, tight construction, low-e windows, and highly efficient heating and cooling equipment. By constructing ENERGY STAR qualified homes, these companies are providing better places to live for Colorado residents and helping to protect the environment for all of us.“
To qualify for the New Millennium ENERGY STAR Builder Awards, builders must have built new homes or renovated existing homes that meet or exceed the home energy rating standards of the EPA’s ENERGY STAR for Homes program. This rating is a uniform and a comparative measure of energy performance, and can be thought of as a residential “miles-per-gallon” sticker. To be ENERGY STAR qualified, a home must undergo a third-party evaluation of its energy performance. The EPA will issue an ENERGY STAR label that can be affixed to the residence’s home upon receiving written verification of a home scoring 85 points or lower using the newly-defined home energy rating index score.
As was the case with the Awards in prior years, an outstanding panel of energy-efficiency experts and professionals within the building, design, and construction industries judged the entries. Entries are evaluated on criteria such as: innovative use of building processes or technologies to achieve energy efficiency; economic considerations; health considerations such as combustion safety and indoor air quality; moisture management techniques; features that enhance durability; the whole-house systems approach; marketing and consumer education as well as the use of ENERGY STAR qualified appliances and lighting products.
“This year’s New Millennium winners are providing outstanding value to Colorado consumers while helping to alleviate high energy prices and assure an adequate supply of energy for all Colorado residents,” Keegan said.
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About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR for Homes is a national, voluntary program that develops partnerships with the home building industry to construct homes that use at least 15 percent less energy than required by the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code. For further information, contact local ENERGY STAR representative Patty Crow at (303) 312-6464, crow.patty@epa.gov, or visit www.energystar.gov/homes.
About E-Star Colorado
Founded in 1995, E-Star Colorado is a statewide non-profit that promotes energy efficiency in housing. The organization does so through its Home Energy Rating system and other initiatives for participants in Colorado’s housing industry, including consumers, homebuilders, real estate professionals, code officials and utility companies throughout the state. More information on home energy efficiency, E-Star programs and a list of Raters who perform E-Star energy evaluations can be found at www.e-star.com or by calling Jim Meyers at (303) 482-1226.
