Certainly an exciting development in homebuilding. But before we declare a revolution, we have to wait 5-7 years to see how these new energy-efficient houses look. Plenty of builders have seen their homes, due to faulty construction, bad materials or poor engineering, become the laughing stocks of the industry (see US Home for history's warning here). If these homes built in this green style prove to have problems of age and attrition such as mold, cracks in the drywall, etc, then this technology will be discarded as unsustainable. That said, if we see these homes flourishing and maintaining these energy ratings as 5-7 year old homes, then builders will have no choice but to follow suit. I think cautious optmimism is the way to approach this (and any) new green technology. Show me the ratings of a used home, without any structual problems, in 5 years, and I will become a believer. In addition, the iPad/iPhone application is not restricted to these homes, this application is advertised for all home owners. In a matter of fact, I think this technology will be more useful in older homes, as it can catch problems of energy efficiency before they become major ones. Let's see if this can truly be as important a step for homes as hybrids are to cars.

KB Homes is unveiling its Net Zero home next week in Orlando. We will be there covering it and sharing the video on AB.com. If two of the top five builders in North America are on board with Green, I think the rest are now trying to catch up or risk being snuffed out. Saving $200-$400 per month is just too much money for a consumer to forgo by buying a traditionally built house.

The great opportunity in transitioning new buildings to increasing thier energy efficiency 3 to 5 times, is the technology Meritage employs in their approach at 80% reduction in home energy use is all proven technology over the last 20 years. The homes continue to use conventional engineered structural framing, technologies employed in other industries since the prior millennium, and materials produced, tested, and warrantied from some of the largest companies in the world. Why continue to waste energy for 5-7 years? It costs the home owner, utility and this country millions of dollars every year we delay improving our buildings – existing buildings are cost ineffective to retrofit, and will continue to waste resources for the next 100 years. What could our national GDP be if the millions in waste was eliminated from our buildings, utility infrastructure, and cost of living?

I opine that to receive the home loans from creditors you should have a firm motivation. But, one time I've got a car loan, because I was willing to buy a bike.

Posted by Jim Janco on LinkedIn --- Very cool concept and process. We've always said it will take the big boys buy-in to make true Green Building affordable for all builders and purchasers alike. Glad to hear the Meritage and KB are leading the charge.

I certainly applaud Meritage Homes for advancing the performance of their product. As with many other such efforts, the details regarding costs are missing. Home owners need to see this upfront. Also, the video refers to these homes being better compared to homes built to 'code'. That's not exactly accurate. The HERS index is generated with respect to the HERS Indusry's reference home, not necessarily the code in your location. This issue has been a challenge for some folks to explain. What code?