Whisper Valley is the first large-scale, master-planned community offering a healthy lifestyle, great amenities and zero-energy capable homes at affordable prices. They created an innovative GeoGrid—a geothermal loop system installed up front with utilities to make geothermal energy affordable for average homebuyers. This comprehensive renewable energy solution provides every home with a ground source heat pump to heat and cool the home, solar photovoltaic to generate electricity, smart home technology to manage and monitor energy usage, and Energy Star appliances to deliver zero-energy capable homes.
These homes achieve an astonishing HERS rating of 13-25, saving residents $1,250 or more per year on energy costs, drastically reducing their carbon footprint, and making these homes more resilient to power outages. Most impressively, these homes are affordable, starting from the mid-$300,000s, and require little adjustment from traditional production builder plans, making this model extremely scalable and desirable from the developer, builder and buyer perspectives.
Whisper Valley has overcome initial hurdles getting municipalities on board with this energy solution, getting production builders to try something different, educating consumers on new technologies, and implementing this never-before-seen system. Whisper Valley is now enjoying great success from both consumers and new builder partners.
Architect/Designer | ASD SKY
Developer | Taurus Investment Holdings
Interior Merchandiser | Creative License International
Land Planner | SEC Planning
Landscape Architect/Designer | SEC Planning
Green Verifier/Rater | EcoSmart Solution
Marketing Firm | Anderson Hanson Blanton
Photographer | Anderson Hanson Blanton
Judges’ Comments | The community-wide geothermal and the way that it’s linked together is impressive.
