DENVER – While some homebuilders have struggled to stay afloat during the economic downturn, New Town Builders has managed to shine, thanks to its standard solar panels and top-ranking energy efficiency.

While some other companies have seen big declines in home sales, New Town Builders has seen a more than 100 percent increase since last year.

The company’s new homes feature a 3-kilowatt solar panel system, thicker walls and insulation. Executives at New Town Builders say there are tax credits, subsidies and immediate savings on utility bills, making their homes attractive for buyers.

“We recently had a homeowner who was featured in the newspaper, whose total electric bill for the whole year was $40. The payback is immediate,” CEO Gene Myers said. “We think more and more people really look at the cost of homeownership including the cost of operating it with utilities, and so the lower that is, the better.”

New Town Builders has been offering solar standard panels for two years, and company officials are hoping other companies catch on to help reduce the carbon footprint and spur economic recovery.

Recently, KB Home announced they would provide solar panels as a standard in test markets in Southern California. Myers believes energy efficient features are one way the market in Denver and around the country will bounce back, and the way his company will continue to thrive.

“We’re hoping to continue to prosper as a result of really keying into these new trends in the market and we think green is a big part of that,” Myers said. “I see the Denver market firming up quite nicely.”

The most affordable New Town Builders single-family home that comes standard with solar panels and energy-efficient features costs $354,000. Multi-family homes with solar power start at $170,000.

Imagine living in a brand new Stapleton home and never paying an electric or gas bill. New Town Builders is building its Zero Energy Home in Stapleton’s new Central Park West neighborhood to demonstrate that zero energy homes are now within reach of the home-buying public.

New Town Builders is Stapleton’s most energy efficient builder. This efficiency is achieved by constructing the homes with the following characteristics:

• Homes that meet or exceed current Energy Star® requirements.

• Each home is tested by an independent third party.

• The frame of each home is turned into an insulating envelope to keep the outside air out and inside air comfortable.

• Heating and air conditioning ducts are checked for tightness so heated or cooled air reaches its destination with 7% or less loss.

• High efficiency furnaces, air conditioners and water heaters are included.

• Each home includes a photovoltaic electricity generating system on the roof as a standard feature.

The Zero Energy Home will take New Town’s energy efficiency to a new level.  New Town began discussing the construction and demonstration of a Zero Energy Home over two years ago and looked to NREL, the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado for assistance.

The Zero Energy home has four goals.

1. To generate as much energy as it uses over the period of a year. This is measured by the Home Energy Rating System, also known as a HERS rating. Homes in Denver’s older neighborhoods typically have HERS scores between 100 and 200. New homes built today based on Denver’s current building code have a HERS rating of 100; thus, a lower rating is better. Energy Star requires a HERS rating of 85. All of New Town’s single family homes achieve HERS ratings in the low to mid 50’s. New Town’s Zero Energy Home will achieve a HERS rating of 0 by building to even higher levels of conservation and generation.

2. To insure an attractive and comfortable home in which to live. This will demonstrate to the consumer that a Zero Energy Home isn’t some unique one-off design that people would find unattractive. To accomplish this New Town is using one of its existing plans with a modified exterior wall, so it will live like and look like any other New Town home.

3. To find a cost effective design that can be constructed within the normal processes of a production builder so that New Town may offer this feature to the market on an economically viable basis.

4. To create a home that does not burden the homeowner with complicated, exotic systems that require constant monitoring and maintenance. In fact, the Zero Energy Home may require less maintenance than the average home because of the high standards of construction.

New Town’s Zero Energy Home will be constructed next to its new models within Stapleton’s Central Park West neighborhood. Beyond the current New Town construction standards the Zero Energy Home will include:

• A a double 2×4 exterior wall with staggered studs and a gap between the exterior 2×4 wall and the interior 2×4 wall.

• The exterior wall will be insulated with one inch of spray foam to seal and insulate the wall. The entire remaining cavity will be filled with blown-in cellulose insulation.

• Additional foundation insulation.

• Spray foam insulation at the seams where the wall meets the roof, foundation, windows and doors.

• More energy efficient widows with decreased U-value.

• Even higher efficiency mechanical systems including a tankless water heater, 96% efficient furnace, 16 SEER or better air conditioning unit, and a continuous whole house energy recovery exhaust fan in lieu of a fresh air ventilator.

• Energy Star appliances including refrigerator.

• 100% CFL and LED lighting, eliminating incandescent lighting.

• Additional photovoltaic panels increasing the kilowatts generated.

Many consumers know that advances in building science have made building zero energy homes possible. What New Town’s Zero Energy Home will demonstrate is that zero energy homes are beautiful and affordable. Stapleton and New Town will be the first and only place we know of that everyday homebuyers can see and purchase a home that is truly at the state of the art of building science. The Zero Energy Home will demonstrate how New Town makes saving energy beautiful.