IRVINE, CA-Locally based KTGY Group Inc. has designed Utah's first climate 5 net-zero “smart home” to achieve a Home Energy Rating System 0 rating. The Zero Home is the first in the state of Utah to receive the US Department of Energy Challenge Home certification, which recognizes home builders for their leadership constructing zero-energy-ready homes that are both energy-efficient and include high-end finishes, improved indoor air quality and greater durability.

The production home is part of Garbett Homes' Bellasol community and is located in the master-planned community of Rosecrest in Herriman, UT, which encompasses more than 2,500 acres of rolling foothills and valleys. Garbett has 17 lots in Rosecrest with an option on 15 more, according to Rene Oehlerking, the homebuilder's marketing director.

The self-sufficient, non-custom home, which is also Energy Star certified, is solar-powered by a 10.29-killowatt solar photovoltaic energy system and equipped with Vivint's smart-home technology and Vivint Solar's energy array. The home will generate its own energy, offsetting most or all of the homeowner's utility bills.

According to Sam Rashkin, chief architect of the Building Technologies Office at the USDOE, “Only a slect group of our nation's builders are constructing zero energy-ready homes certified as DOE Challenge Homes. The USDOE believes these homes live better, work better and last better.” He adds that American  home buyers “want this type of next-generation home; now they know how to find it.”

The Zero Home is priced in line with other homes in the area based on the price per square foot. Home buyers can purchase a net-zero home beginning at $350,000. The home is a single-family home with four floor plans that feature three to five bedrooms, two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half bathrooms and a four-car garage, including a charging station for an electric vehicle.

According to John Tully, a principal and founding partner of KTGY, "The Zero Home serves as a prototype for affordable net-zero residential building across the US." He adds that the Zero Home is the first to receive the HERS 0 rating that can be replicatd at a price the average consumer can afford and that  it will virtually eliminate homeowners' electricity bills.

“Garbett is currently selling homes with HERS ratings in the 30s and only needed minor tweaks to meet the Challenge Home specification,” says Oehlerking. “This includes multifamily projects that achieve HERS ratings in the 20s and 30s with only 1.4-kilowatt solar systems. Garbett has been able to achieve very low HERS scores with production homes and remain competitive in the marketplace.”

As GlobeSt.com previously reported, IBEW / NECA celebrated the grand opening of the Zero Net Energy Center with a formal Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in early June. Located at 14600 Catalina St. in San Leandro, CA, the ZNE Center is the said to be the very first commercial building retrofit to be recognized by the US Department of Energy as “zero net energy.”