Page 17 - Green Builder Jan-Feb 2021

Gold standard. Thrive Home
Builders’ award-winning product,
such as Panacea, a Green Builder
Home of the Year winner from
2019, can be found throughout
Colorado. COURTESY OF THRIVE HOME BUILDERS

Gene Myers:

a product into a home’s construction and sale. (“For a lot of builders, the
answer’s a no right off the bat,” he notes.) And there have been some great
successes, such as in dealings with Panasonic or Broan. Superhero Stats
But there have also been some flops. One prominent home battery
maker failed to meet its obligation and left Thrive with customers who
had paid for the product and waited for up to a year to have it installed. But Some of GENE MYERS’ career
now there’s a similar plan in the works with Sonnen, another prominent
home battery manufacturer, one that looks far more stable, Myers notes. accomplishments include:
In another case, a solar panel manufacturer offered customers a no-
money-down lease, which Thrive worked into its home pricing. But then
the company cancelled the program without telling Myers. The “huge mess” 11x
was resolved with the help of SunStreet and its similar leasing program. 5x WINNER of the U.S.
A lot of the learning process is “fail forward,” Myers says. “After Environmental Protection
situations like that, your thought may be, ‘Oh, man, I never going to do GRAND WINNER Agency’s Indoor airPLUS
that again,’” he notes. “Well, if it doesn’t work, you try to find out why it of the U.S. Department Leader Awards, including
didn’t work. That’s been pretty typical of our evolution over the years.” of Energy’s Housing Builder of the Year in 2019
Thrive’s community standing can’t be ignored, either. Over the years, Innovation Awards
the company has donated more than $1 million dollars in time and homes
to Denver-area nonprofits and local building associations and foundations.
“Our mantra is to always do the right thing,” Myers says. “It’s something WINNER of the
everyone can believe in.” 8x ENERGY STAR Certified 3x
There are a dozen other reasons why Myers and Thrive Homes have Homes Market Leader
succeeded over the years, through good economies and recessions, Award GREEN BUILDER®
through pro-green and science-defying Administrations. But going into HOME OF THE
all of those here would result in an epic like War & Peace. YEAR WINNER
He offers some parting advice. “We, as green builders, like to think
that if we build these homes, they will come,” Myers says. “I think
what we’ve learned is that they might not. The home still needs to Thrive Homes is Colorado’s largest
be beautiful, emotional and comfortable. It needs to be all of the things
a customer is looking for…we can’t coast on sustainability, we can’t coast LEED Certified Home builder
on green building, we can’t coast on zero energy homes. It’s got to be and was the U.S. Green Building Council’s Partner of the Year
the whole package.” GB in Colorado in 2019

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