UPDATED Oct. 8, 2015

得克萨斯州奥斯汀的工作正在进行，强调能源效率的两个住房细分，其中包括所有7,500户房屋将以零能量标准构建。

Taurus of Texas, a real estate investment firm, said in September that it was starting construction of the first 237 houses at Whisper Valley in East Austin, according toa report at MyStatesman.com。公司官员表示，这将是第一个大型的单户开发项目，其中所有房屋的设计都与他们每年使用一样多的能源。

Houses还将配备Google Fiber的光纤系统，该光纤系统说，Whisper Valley是新的住房开发中第一次安装非常快速的互联网服务。

Separately, Lennar announced it would build Austin’s first “solar standard community” where each house would have its own rooftop photovoltaic (PV) array. Homeowners could either lease the panels or buy them outright.

The first phase of Lennar’s Colorado Crossing subdivision, underway near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, will include 120 homes, ranging in size from about 1,200 square feet to 2,800 square feet and costing between $195,000 and $277,000,神秘主义者在另一份报告中说。

Balancing performance and price

Construction details about houses at Whisper Valley weren’t available, but MyStatesman said that the intent was to seek a market niche where houses with low energy demands also would be affordable. Taurus expects to price the houses between $150,000 and $275,000, which is higher than the median market value for the immediate area around the development but about in line with the median market value in the Austin metro area of $267,000.

金牛座的合作伙伴包括Bosch，该公司将提供节能厨房电器，地面源热泵和热水器；Google Nest，将提供其网络连接的恒温器；和Google纤维。

The web report said that Whisper Valley residents will pay a fixed utility fee averaging about $175 per month, which would cover the cost of the rooftop PV, an LED lighting package, the Bosch appliances, ground-source heat pumps, and maintenance costs.

除了零能量的房屋外，该开发项目最终还将包括联排别墅，公寓以及超过200万平方英尺的办公室和零售空间。该项目的第二阶段，包括另外200栋房屋，将于明年开始。

Mystatesman说，金牛座在2006年为该项目购买了2,062英亩的土地，但该开发项目被房地产和金融市场的崩溃所束缚。后来，该公司与奥斯汀市合作，该市向该地区的高速公路，水和下水道线条提供了债券，以换取该公司在实现奥斯汀还清碳还原目标方面的帮助。

每个人的太阳能电池板

在科罗拉多州的十字路口，购房者将能够在房屋上的租赁或购买太阳能电池板之间进行选择，但他们不会有机会说“不，谢谢”。分区中的每个房屋都会吸引他们。

由太阳电池板将安装和维护Street Energy Group, a Lennar subsidiary, whose CEO said that the decision to include solar was not so much about “being green” as about making sound business decisions.

他告诉Mystatesman：“这是关于消费者的相关性，这是他们想要的。”“我们尚未建立绿色业务，这是基于经济和消费者需求的真正业务。”

购买该系统的房主将预先支付15,000美元，尽管在2016年底之前将获得30％的联邦投资税收抵免。关于系统的大小。租赁系统的房主将以折扣价从奥斯丁能源那里购买电力。

It wasn’t clear how big the arrays are, and GBA was unable to reach anyone in the company who could offer additional information on solar capacities or mechanical systems. However, David Kaiserman, SunStreet Energy’s CEO, told the website UtilityDive.com that the panels were expected to meet about 60% of each home’s electricity needs. The systems range from 3.18 kW to 5.3 kW in capacity and average 3.45 kW.

According to theColorado Crossing website，在墙壁上，墙壁上的板板隔离为R-15，天花板中的R-22和R-38之间，并带有辐射屏障屋顶甲板，以降低阁楼温度。“技术”功能包括可编程的Wi-Fi恒温器。房屋用燃气炉加热，并用Lennox 16 Seer空调系统冷却。

Lennar is using the IRC’s performance-based method for code compliance. The houses, which are inspected by an independent third party, “consistently” receive HERS scores in the mid-60s, the company said.

The company said that 20 homes have been completed, with a total of 35 sold. A second and possibly third phase, with another 120 houses each, are in the works, but Lennar didn’t have a firm timetable for a complete build-out.

The right opportunity for solar

David Grove, Lennar’s division president for the Austin and San Antonio markets, said by telephone the company had been looking into adding solar for a number of years but until now hadn’t found a way to make it available affordably in the Austin market. SunStreet’s lease option made the difference.

他说：“我认为很明显，房主想要太阳能，他们想要技术。”“If you asked anybody off the street, ‘Would you like solar on your home, and do you understand it makes sense?’ the answer is a resounding, ‘Yes!’ The challenge has been what a homeowner is willing to pay, and that’s always been the prohibiting factor. Now we’ve found a way to provide the solar without the homeowner paying out of pocket at a reasonable, very economical rate.”

Lennar is the country’s second largest builder, with $6.8 billion in housing sales and 21,000 closings in 2014, according toProfessional Builder。The company has roughly 120 solar communities underway in several states, including California, Colorado and Maryland, adding up to “several thousand rooftops” in all.

Lennar预计将于明年年初在奥斯汀建立第二个太阳能社区。格罗夫说：“从战略上讲，我认为我们将尝试在我们开放的每个社区中追求它，然后我们在能够执行的地方执行它。”

“Folks historically have looked at solar as something that you’re only going to see on expensive, million-dollar homes because they have the ability to utilize it and it’s cost prohibitive to others,” he continued. “I think as we make this more commonplace and expand the footprint it will become more and more the norm.”

格罗夫预计大多数(如果不是全部的话)买家在科罗拉多Crossing will opt for a solar lease, not an outright purchase. Leasing is by far the most common way homeowners go solar, accounting for as many as 95% of PV installations at Lennar subdivisions, particularly in areas where buyers don’t have a lot of discretionary income, Grove said.

Lennar is technically creating power-purchase agreements with buyers rather than straight leases,The Wall Street Journal注意，因为房主仅支付他们使用的功率而不是系统本身。但是房主为电力支付的费用要比当地公用事业公司所支付的少，因此无论该安排如何，他们都会节省资金。

Austin aims for 55% renewables

如果奥斯汀市议会要实现其积极的效率目标，将需要这样的发展。去年12月，纽约市批准了一项计划，该计划于2025年从清洁能源那里获得55％的动力，气候进步reported.

In addition to providing 600 metawatts of utility-scale solar, the proposal would have Austin Energy, the municipally owned utility, find 200 MW of local solar, at least half of which would have to be owned by customers.

Energy efficiency and improvements in demand response were to provide another 800 MW of power over the next 10 years.

“It’s clear that to achieve the ambitious goals Austin Energy has set for itself, we must significantly increase the number of rooftops generating power from the sun,” Austin Energy vice president of customer energy solutions Deborah Kimberly told MyStatesman. “Communities like this with solar integrated into the design from day one allow us to make faster progress toward those goals in ways that allow us to plan infrastructure and protect the overall stability of the electric grid.”