DENVER (Dec. 17, 2012) – Denver-based Thrive Home Builders has won the “Green Builder Home of the Year/Production Builder” from Green Builder® magazine, whose editors called the winning entry a “…zero-net-energy performance at an affordable price.”
Green Builder magazine awarded Thrive Home Builders with this distinction based upon the way NTB constructed the home in the Central Park community for top energy efficiency. The “zero-energy” distinction means that the home produces as much energy as it uses, on average, over the course of a year. Green Builder magazine focused on the home at 8146 E. 35th Ave., but NTB offers the zero-energy package on any new single- family home, including the new development at Castlewood Ranch in Castle Rock, CO.
In the story about the zero-energy home in this month’s edition (headlined “Way Above Average”), Green Builder magazine said NTB was able to achieve zero energy by focusing on “low-tech essentials.”
“It’s fairly easy to improve HERS (Home Energy Rating System) ratings with better windows, higher efficiency furnaces and other bells and whistles,” said Green Builder magazine, “but Thrive Home Builders wanted to develop a replicable strategy for hitting net-zero-energy using (mostly) standard materials. They achieved that using simple but
effective techniques, such as staggered 24-inch, on-center stud framing to allow for more insulation, and use of a ‘California Corner’ that allows for insulation at corners – a common weak point in many stick-framed homes.”
In its award application, NTB explained that the goal with this zero-energy home was to “mainstream” it into the Denver market, just as the company had managed to mainstream the concept of energy efficiency as a primary “selling point,” along with standard photovoltaic energy and use of Colorado Pine Beetle (Blue Stained Pine) lumber.
“We are honored to receive this energy-efficiency award from Green Builder magazine, and we owe a tip of the cap to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which consulted with us on this project for long hours,” said Gene Myers, chief executive officer of NTB.
Many of Thrive Home Builders’ energy-saving techniques are on exhibit at the NTB Building Science Center, 8126 E. 35th Ave., Denver. Call Mike Carey at 720-941-0359 to set up a tour of the Center and a zero-energy home.
About Thrive Home Builders
Thrive Home Builders has been creating original homes in the Denver area since 2001, with an emphasis on energy efficiency, sustainability and neo-classical designs that recall an era when houses truly felt like homes. On the outside, liveable porches and designer colors lend a distinctive appearance to Thrive homes; while on the inside, technology and smart design allows Thrive Home Builders to “future-proof” its homes. All Thrive homes receive the Energy Star Efficiency Rating, and Thrive is a member of the Colorado Association of Home Builders. They offer homes in the Colorado neighborhoods of Central Park (Denver), Tallyn’s Reach (Aurora) and now Castlewood Ranch (Castle Rock). For more information go to www.thrivehomebuilders.com or call 303-707-4400.
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