Page 15 - Green Builder Jan-Feb 2022 Issue

Winning combo. Red Fox Crossing, Wisconsin’s first solar-powered net-zero neighborhood, is a sustainability crown jewel for Tim O’Brien Homes and
partners Neumann Developments and SunVest Solar. CREDIT: COURTESY OF TIM O’BRIEN HOMES

NO NICHE MARKETING THE GRAND PLAN
In the late 2000s, green building was a niche item among Madison By 2008, O’Brien had been heavily involved in the local home
area builders. Their projects topped out at 20 homes. O’Brien builders association for several years, when one of the other
and Neumann believed the marketplace standard could be 100 to members approached the group with a proposal: He wanted to
150 homes. “We knew the home was not going to be the cheapest make “The Home of the Future,” a structure that would define
on the market, but it was going to provide the best value for our what the typical house would look like in 20 years. O’Brien and
customers,” O’Brien says. “Our customers needed to be able to other association members contributed; the home featured struc-
understand that value.” tural insulated panels (SIPs), greywater recycling, recycled plastic
TOBH offered free energy efficiency upgrades—but “we shingle roofing, a photovoltaic array and a solar water heater, and
could never get people to take them,” O’Brien recalls. “So finally, even a permeable concrete driveway made with recycled content.
I decided I was just going to bite the bullet and add this cost In 2009 came “The Energy Producing Home,” which called
into our homes, and we’re going to sell it to consumers as best for the conversion of a natural gas dwelling into one run entirely
we can. If I believe that this is the right combination of air on solar. It was, effectively, an early foray into electrification,
sealant and insulation additions that we can use to place our according to O’Brien.
home above the certification requirements, I’m also going to The energy producing home evolved into a grand plan: A com-
stress that it’s going to provide a more energy-efficient and pletely net-zero neighborhood. That project, Red Fox Crossing
comfortable home.” in nearby New Berlin, opened in 2018 and featured 34 homes of
All of the enhanced features would remain—there was to be 1,800 to 3,200 square feet that were each primarily powered by
no downgrading to close a sale. In the long run, the persistence 6- to 8-kilowatt (kW) solay arrays. They were ENERGY STAR,
paid off. “We started to hear about it on our year-end surveys: EPA WaterSense and EPA Indoor airPLUS certified. The grand
‘We can’t believe how comfortable this home is and how low our opening model, Savannah, is one of Wisconsin’s first three homes
energy bills are,’” O’Brien notes. “People are now experiencing the to be certified as a Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) by the U.S.
benefits, things that they never would have if changes in terms Department of Energy (DOE). Red Fox Crossing is also the state’s
had been made at the time of purchase.” first net-zero community.

www.greenbuildermedia.com January/February 2022 GREEN BUILDER 13