Boulder's Leading Green & Zero Energy Home Builder - Press Releases & Articles

News & Highlights of 2008

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:33:33 -0600

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NEWS FROM 2007

July 09, 2008

'Green Building Goes Mainstream: A wide-angle view of sustainable materials and practices'

This article in World Watch by Erica Gies, a freelance environment reporter from San Francisco, explores the growing Green Building industry - with photos provided by Ecofutures building! The article examines the increasing popularity of green building as a result of increasing environmental awareness and the impact that the built environment has on our planet and personal health. The article features a Santa-Barbara family's renovation project, and explores he various fields of Green Building such as renovation, new construction, energy-efficiency, landscaping, and community 'greening.' Click here to read the article.

June 11, 2008

Eric Doub Gets New Appliances!

Ok, we admit, it's not the most news-worthy headline, but Energy Design Update thought it was news enough for their News Briefs section of the May, 2008 issue! Click here to read the short brief and read on for our corrections:

The reasons behind the switching to all electric appliances are actually quite different from those reasons listed in the Brief. Both the New York Times and Treehugger.com missed the boat on the real reasons motivating the switch. So, in an effort to always present the truth, here are the primary reasons behind the change:

1. Electricity is a much easier metric to use when calculating whether the home meets its annual net-zero energy goal; it is a simple energy used vs. energy produced equation.

2. As we see more and more clean energy sources feeding into Xcel's energy grid - and the prospects for continued growth of clean energy continue to grow into the future - it becomes evident that in 10 or 15 years, electricity may be the cleaner energy source. This, coupled with the predicted rise in natural gas costs, has led us to encourage our clients to build all-electric homes. Last year Solar Harvest, ever the test home, became the first of Ecofutures' homes to demonstrate this design philosophy.

Finally, a note about air conditioning: the Coolerado Cooler is the most energy-efficient air conditioner on the market as a result of its A/C-evaporative cooler hybrid design. It consumes 1/6 of the amount of energy as a conventional A/C unit: 550-600 Watts to provide 1200 CFM of 61-64 deg. F air (now that's newsworthy!). Learn more at: www.coolerado.com

To offset the small amount of added energy use for the new appliances and Coolerado, Eric added 1.9 kW of "summertime" PV in the form of low-slope east- and west-facing PV panels. Eric also removed the fishtank which once consumed the same amount of energy as three energy star refrigerators.

May 23, 2008

Abramson Zero Energy Home Featured in Boulder County Business Report

Set out to build "the greenest home in the country" Ron Abramson and his wife Lori contracted with us last year to design and construct a zero-energy home for their family. After months of careful deliberation over energy and comfort systems design, advanced engineering, and material selection, we are finally about to begin the construction phase of the project. Kicking off the start of construction, the home was featured in a very well-written BCBR article. Click here to link to the BCBR website to read the full article.

May 22, 2008

Boulder County Home Size Debate

Recent legislation in Boulder County may be considered the most progressive legislation in the country - or the most stringent - in it's focus on reducing the carbon footprint of new and remodeled homes. New County requirements ask that all new homes over 3,000 square feet achieve a HERS rating of 40 - roughly twice as energy efficient as an Energy Star rated home, and homes over 5,000 square feet achieve a HERS of 10 or less, making it a net-zero energy home. Additionally, the city of Boulder is trying to reduce environmental impact by regulating home size based on lot size, but the proposal has been met with contention by the community.

Read the entire Environmental Building News article about these new codes.

March 22, 2008

Solar Harvest Featured in New York Times

"The Showhouse That Sustainability Built" that debuted today in the New York times brings readers' attention back to sustainbility and building costs. By clearly laying out building costs vs. energy efficiency expenditures, the article tells and honest and eloquent story about how Eric was so successful in designing Solar Harvest. The article available for free online also has a audio visual slideshow well worth a look. Click here to read the full webpage and click here for the audio visual presentation.

March 8, 2008

Eric Doub Featured in Rocky Mountain News Article on Efficient Home Popularity

A recent survey of homebuyers in the Denver area confirms what many builders have come to know is true: efficient homes are selling – fast. A whopping 63% of homebuyers stated that they were looking to buy low- to zero-energy homes for their next home. Vexing many builders is the fact that these homebuyers are looking for homes in the $200-$250,000 range – a price bracket formerly deemed unfeasible by non-savvy builders. Builders like Ecofutures, however, have a realistic perspective on home costs and believe that low-cost low-to-no-energy homes are well within reach. While it is true many of Ecofutures' homes come in well above the lower price range, we are quickly adapting lessons from complex homes to the affordable housing market. Using a mix of site- and systems-built techniques zero energy homes will soon be available for any income level. Click here to read the full article.

February 21, 2008

Final REGREEN Guide Published!

www.REGREENprogram.org

News & Highlights of 2007

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:30:59 -0700

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NOVEMBER 30, 2007

Ecofutures Featured in YERTpod 16

Norbert Klebl and Ben Apple, Founder and Designers of GEOS Village
Pete Chandler, President, Living Space
Stu Galvis, Chief Visionary and Realtor for Boulder Green Properties speaks about Solar Village
Eric Peltier, Owner, Dovetail Lending
Rob Jenkins and Rick Felton of SIP/Con

Visit our links page to see other websites of fellow green builders, entrepreneurs, and designers in Colorado, along with some of our favorite educational resources!

OCTOBER 22, 2007

Boulder County BuildSmart Program Public Hearing

The BuildSmart Program is an attempt to ensure that all homes built and retrofitted in Boulder County in the future will serve to decrease greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy technology. The new set of mandatory building requirements also seeks to decrease construction waste to landfills, improve occupant health and safety, and promote water conservation initiatives in every home.

Once the program is approved, all builders will have to comply with the new construction standards, and work with third-party rating services to ensure that appropriate energy efficiency measures were taken. Because the program affects all builders, the County has asked for input from local builders during the development of the draft, and they are now asking for public input.

Attend the BuildSmart hearing on Tuesday, October 25 at 3:30pm in the Boulder County Courthouse. More information can be found in this letter from the Board of Review, and the latest BuildSmart Draft can be downloaded here.

OCTOBER 15, 2007

Eric Doub Chimes in on Solar System Regulations

"It's scandalous," remarks Eric Doub about the city's uncompromising stance on small-scale renewable energy generation stations installed on homes such as PV arrays and solar hot water panels. Despite city-wide initiatives to reduce climate change, the city continues to uphold strict rules on where panels can be placed making it difficult for homeowners to implement renewable energy solutions that can make a big impact on solving environmental problems. Click here to read the online article or here to download a PDF.

OCTOBER 8, 2007

City Revising Green Points Program

On October 30 the City of Boulder will hold their next public hearing to allow commentary about the Revised Green Points Program under consideration by the city, local builders and industry leaders. The new program seeks to reduce the complexity of the existing Green Points program, and to shift the focus from general green building strategies to specifically those home improvements and building strategies that increase home energy efficiency. Click here to read the article online or here to download a PDF.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

Eric to Present at the CU-Bioneers Conference October 19-21!

Session Information:

Date:     Saturday, 10/20
Time:    4:20-5:30pm
Title:    Redefining Community with Green Development

Presenters will discuss local successes, challenges, and trends of redefining community with green development. How are we moving beyond green building? What do small scale and large scale green developments look like in the future? What's the latest with co-housing initiatives? Presenters include: Bryan Bowen, Bryan Bowen Architects; Eric Doub, EcoFutures Building; and Dave Wann, Sustainable Futures Society.

Learn more about the Bioneers event here.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

Solar Harvest Featured in New Hybrids-Plus Advertisement

Local plug-in hybrid car conversion company, Hybrids-Plus, used Solar Harvest as a live film location while shooting for their latest infomercial on plug-in hybrid cars.

YouTube video coming soon.

AUGUST 20, 2007

Solar Harvest and the Skinner Net-Zero Energy Homes Featured on Discovery Science Channel

The series entitiled "Eco-Tech" featuring innovations in green building will aired Wednesday, August 22 at 7pm MST (9pm EST). We will post clips of the episode to our YouTube site, so stay tuned!

Click here to learn more about the feature and view other airtimes.

AUGUST 2, 2007

Solar Harvest Featured in the Boulder Green Building Journal

Another wonderfully written article about Solar Harvest, highlighting the home's mechanical and renewable energy features as well as its beauty and functionality. Featured in the Journal of the Boulder Green Building Guild in the Spring issue, the article is splashed with beautiful photos of the home. Click here to download the issue.

JUNE 21, 2007

Photo by Marty Ciavano, Daily Camera 2007

Discovery Science Channel Turns Spotlight on Broomfield's Newest NZEH

A film crew from the Discovery Science Channel seeking out "the high technology of building green" visited two Ecofutures homes today to interview our project managers and designers. The episode is to air during the first week of August. View pictures from the film shoot on our Flickr site and click here to read the article in the Daily Camera about the event.

JUNE 10, 2007

Solar Harvest Featured on HGTV's Series "Red, Hot and Green

Focusing not only on the mechanical systems that make Solar Harvest a net-zero energy home, HGTV visited Solar Harvest to film some of the interior design features that make it a green, healthy home. The show airs again on July 1, 2007 but in case you missed it, view it here or visit our YouTube page.

MAY 15, 2007

Ecofutures Clients Featured in the Denver Metro HBA Magazine "Home Builder"

In a beautifully illustrated article by Sandra Graham, with photographs by Phil Mumford, 2 Ecofutures Building homeowners were interviewed to discuss the benefits to remodeling green. The article featured Joan Gregerson, who is converting her existing Longmont home to a net-zero energy home, on a tight budget. And, John and Vicky Graham are undergoing a more "extreme" renovation to make their home beyond net-zero; in fact, the end result is predicted to be net-negative. Click here to read the full article.

APRIL 27, 2007
Investor's Business Daily: "Better Built Houses" Features Ecofutures' Homes

In a unique feature on the benefits of green building from an investor's point of view, Brad Kelly features several national builders including Eric to discuss the ongoing trend. Quite simply put, building green makes "cents". Click here to link to the Investor's Business Daily site. No registration required. Or use these downloads for PDF versions: article and graphic.

APRIL 26, 2007
Eric Doub Quoted in the Washington Post: article on the hazards of "price per square foot" valuation

Most homeowners ask immediately, "how much per square foot" when evaluating the value of a home. This method of home assessment, however, can obscure the true value of the home. home that achieve a low per square foot cost do so at the expense of the home's efficiency, heating and cooling equipment, quality, health and durability. Eric and other builders remark on the hazards of the per square foot cost accounting. Click here for the full article.

APRIL 20, 2007
Eric Doub Quoted in Daily Camera: Sustainability in Land-Use Hearing

"There are hundreds of building codes that cost more to follow than the easiest way of doing things. We cannot afford not to afford these measures," remarked Eric at the close of a hearing on improving sustainability measures in Boulder's land use practices. Eric has been advocating for providing stricter guidelines for builders to adhere to in improving home efficiency and construction. The extra cost of these measures, he contends, will be more than offset by savings on utility bills. Click here for the full article, free registration required.

FEBRUARY 10, 2007

Photo by Marty Caivano, Daily Camera 2007

Solar Harvest featured in Boulder's Daily Camera: One Year Later

This weekend's warm temperatures and sunny days marked the onset of what many Boulder residents referred to as "the big melt" - as Boulder began to emerge from a blanket of snow that lingered for over 50 days. As residents looked forward to warmer days, Daily Camera writers revisited Eric at Solar Harvest to find out how the home fared in spite of several consecutive spells of freezing temperatures, ice, snow, and sunless-days. Click here for the full article, a free subscription to DailyCamera.com is required.

February 7, 2007

Solar Harvest's first year as a net-zero home: update

Solar Harvest finished its first year as a net electricity producer! A check written by Xcel Energy to Eric and his family confirms the home’s success as a net-zero-annual cost home: Solar Harvest provided more energy to the grid than was purchased over the course of the year.

The home’s contribution of 197 kWh of renewable energy to the grid prevented 1289 lbs of carbon from being produced at Xcel’s power plant. Taking into account the carbon emissions from the 36 therms used for cooking and clothes drying, Solar Harvest missed designation as a net-zero emissions home by a mere 124 lbs of carbon. This difference in can easily be offset by the purchase of RECs; a single purchase of $5.50 through CarbonFund.org will offset 8 times the amount due.

Through the purchase of a very small amount of RECs, Solar Harvest also successfully met the definition of a net-zero-annual source energy home. Alone, the building missed the source-energy mark by 1%. The deficit of kWh causing the home to miss the definition can be attributed to the normal process of learning about how to best manage the home’s energy consumption and production – specifically, in this case, of the 360-gallon outdoor spa heating with electricity, an unintended event at the start of the year, when the solar loop was first being hooked up and started.

Based on the knowledge gained in the home’s first year and the future implementation of accurate monitoring systems, Solar Harvest is expected to meet and exceed the NZEH benchmark by a wide margin in the years to come.

JANUARY 29, 2007

Ecofutures Building commits to build 100% Energy Star qualified-homes

2007 marks our first year honoring our December, 2006 pledge to build 100% of all new homes as Energy Star-qualified homes; homes that are designed and built to meet strict guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. EPA. For our clients, this means peace of mind knowing that they are living in a home rated and designated by the government-backed Energy Star program. We are the first builder in Boulder to make the 100% commitment. Visit the Energy Star webpage for more information.