Capsa Ventures, the developer of the FOURTH& Condos in Austin, Texas, announced they would provide free electricity to PG&E customers if they buy a condo in their 102-unit building near downtown Austin. The announcement came immediately after PG&E declared bankruptcy in January.
“With the mounting uncertainty PG&E customers must have, we want them to know we’ll take care of them if they decide to relocate,” says Scott Sproat, Director of Marketing & Project Sales for Capsa Ventures.
The Austin condo development promotes responsible energy consumption and received a 5 (out of 5) star rating through the Austin Energy Green Building program, the nation’s most successful sustainable building program.
Photo by Bruce James.
“We have a responsibility to be good stewards of the land we develop,” says Rance Clouse, CEO of Capsa Ventures. “Through extensive pre-planning, our team was very intentional with the materials we included at FOURTH&.” The New York Times even included FOURTH& in an article titled “The Many Faces of Innovation In U.S Cities.” With 600 solar panels on the roof, 100 percent LED lighting throughout and an extraordinary building envelope, anyone living here will see significantly reduced energy and water use. The condo project offers “Texas-sized” micro-loft (efficiency) units that are just over 500 square feet to two-bedroom, two and a half bath Urban Walk-Up units that are over 1,400 square feet. Pricing starts in the $250s for micro-loft units. The offer includes a $500 voucher for airfare and all electricity bills for their new condo to be paid for 12 months when new residents purchase and move into any available unit.
Partnering with sonnen, a worldwide leader in smart solar technology, residential development firm Pearl Homes announced its plans for a zero-energy community in the small fishing village of Cortez, Florida.
Hunters Point Pearl Homes & Marina will include 86 performance homes, 62 lodges, and 47 boat slips. Comprised of a network of solar-powered smart homes, each smart home in the innovative community will share excess renewable energy with its neighbors and to a larger grid, which creates a virtual power plant that produces clean electricity.
Construction on the fully furnished green homes will begin in late 2019. Hunters Point is the first residential community established to help decarbonize southwest Florida, and also makes history as the first time an energy storage system will use Google Home to intelligently maximize renewable energy in each household.
“We have an opportunity and responsibility to improve our impact on the environment, and this is our chance. Hunters Point is about luxury living and sustainability, but also about the larger picture — creating a world that is better for our kids and grandchildren,” said Marshall Gobuty, president and founder of Pearl Homes.
In addition to a 600 square foot open-air entertainment space, 600 square feet of interior living space, and a 1,200-square-foot garage that doubles as a basement, each home uses sonnen’s energy management technology to control rooftop solar panels, a smart Nest thermostat, and an electric vehicle charger, ensuring that the home is powered by the cleanest possible energy source.
Photos courtesy of Hunters Point Pearl Homes & Marina.
This story previously appeared in the Winter 2019 edition of Unique Homes Magazine.
Inside the S2A Modular Megafactory — a one-of-a-kind controlled environment in which both commercial and residential buildings are constructed in modules — the nation’s first electrically self-sustaining, custom luxury homes are being developed.
Known as the #GreenLuxHome, these world-class residences are giving new meaning to sustainable living.
Green Lux Home buyers can choose between 35 pre-designed floor plans, or design their own living space. The homes are constructed in less than six weeks after the designs are chosen and the plans are approved. Each home is customized according to the buyer’s specifications, including the home’s pre-installed state-of-the-art appliances and smartphone-controlled settings. Despite their innovative modular construction method, the homes have foundations that are visually identical to their more traditional counterparts.
The homes exclusively rely on Tesla Powerwall units and solar panels, which eliminate the cost of gas, propane and/or grid-powered energy. The Tesla Powerwall is low voltage and has 100 percent off-grid capabilities. In some instances, utility companies may even pay Green Lux homeowners for their contributions to the community energy grid, since each home is connected to the grid as a backup power source.
John Rowland, co-founder and president of S2A Modular:
“A Green Lux Home saves money, time and energy, while reflecting the ultimate level of sustainability, luxurious design, high-end materials, smart-connected features and an overall better way of living. ”
The 100,000-plus square foot MegaFactory protects the projects from the elements, as the homes are constructed in dedicated indoor work pods. By moving the majority of construction indoors, S2A sets a new standard for construction speed, shifting emphasis away from mitigating outdoor complications and onto building quality.
Photos courtesy of S2A Modular.