Often we are asked this very question: Is it better for me to build a new home in this economy and market?

The National Association of Home Builders sees the year ahead through the eyes of its annual design award winners

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 1: classic yet contemporary. The new houses with strong sales now are those that blend modern and traditional elements to create cleaner and simpler elevations. Interior spaces are clean, bright and simple. Gone are the heavy detailing and generous ornamentation of the recent past. This project: Gold Award, One-of-a-Kind Home, 4,001–6,500 square feet Private residence, Chicago Project Team: • Architect/Designer: Kenneth Brinkman, Chicago • Builder/Developer: Environs Development, Inc., Chicago • Interior Designer: Amy May, Environs Development, Chicago Photo by Herbie Rooprai

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 2: outdoor spaces as an extension of living space. Whether for a single-family house or a multifamily building, home buyers are looking for private outdoor spaces that blend seamlessly with the indoors. This trend cuts across geographic regions, being as true in the colder sections of the country as in the warmer, milder areas. This project: Platinum Award, Detached Home up to 2,000 square feet Siena at Laguna Altura, Irvine, California Project Team: • Architect/Designer: Bassenian | Lagoni, Newport Beach, California • Builder: Irvine Pacific, Irvine, California • Interior Designer: Austin Johnson Interiors, Irvine, California • Developer: Irvine Company, Irvine, California • Land Planner: Irvine Company, Irvine, California Photo by Eric Figge

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 3: good, cost-effective designs. To keep construction costs low, we’ll see multiple roof lines and complexity give way to simplified forms. Gone is the “exploding roof” design paradigm for the straightforward gable roof and rectangular form. Innovative and creative approaches to layouts, storage, curb appeal and so on will be established in the early design stage to ensure that the new designs don’t become boring. This project: Gold Award, Single-Family Detached Home, 2,001–3,000 square feet Hampton Lane Plan 2, San Diego Project Team: • Architect/Designer: Bassenian/Lagoni Architects, Newport Beach, California • Builder/Developer: Pardee Homes, Los Angeles • Land Planner: Project Design Consultants, San Diego • Interior Merchandiser: Citrine Interior Design, Whittier, California Photo by Robb Miller Photography

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 4: the family triangle. It used to be that open floor plans were limited to certain geographic regions and buyer profiles. Now the open floor plan is desired throughout the country and by every market segment. The old living room has been replaced by a flexible space that can be used as needed while still being close to the family triangle. The jurors noted that these new open plans rely on light and detail to give a feeling of spaciousness rather than simply being large. This project: Platinum Award, Interior Design, Kitchen Brownstones of Brambleton, Ashburn, Virginia Project Team: • Architect/Designer: Lessard Design, Inc., Reston, Virginia • Builder: Miller and Smith, Mclean, Virginia • Interior Designer: Carlyn and Company, Great Falls, Virginia • Developer: Brambleton Group, LLC, Brambleton, Virginia • Land Planner: Parker Rodriguez, Alexandria, Virginia Photo by Jim Kirby Photography

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 5: multigenerational living. Whether it’s because more are children returning home after college or more parents are moving in with the family, multigenerational homes are increasing in popularity. In fact, one study indicated that the construction of such homes has jumped 30 percent in the past few years. So whether they create “lock-off” units, two master suites (one up and one down) or some other type of space, builders are recognizing the increased need for these types of homes and planning for them in their designs. Amenities such as wider hallways, elevators, grab bars and so on are all becoming the norm. This project: Silver Award, Green-Built Home KB Home GreenHouse, Orlando, Florida Project Team: • Architect/Designer: KB Home Architecture, Los Angeles • Builder/Developer: KB Home, Orlando, Florida • Interior Designer: KB Home and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Los Angeles and New York Photo by James F. Watson

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 6: kitchen entertaining with a view. Kitchens continue to be without a doubt the center of the house. But with square footage being trimmed, designers are having to develop innovative solutions for storage and functional needs. There’s also an increasing use of large windows to keep the kitchen light, bright and airy so it can live large. The loss of wall space for cabinetry is made up with walk-in pantries (dubbed the “Costco Closet”), where it’s not uncommon to find the (messy) kitchen desk hidden from view. This project: Silver Award, One-of-a-Kind Home over 6,501 square feet Private residence, Bluffton, South Carolina Project Team: • Architect/Designer: Hansen Architects P.C., Savannah, Georgia • Builder: JT Turner Construction, Savannah, Georgia • Interior Designer: Hansen Architects P.C., Savannah, Georgia • Developer: Crescent Resources, Bluffton, South Carolina Photo by Elaine Fultz

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 7: green design elements that consumers understand and want. Buyers expect a certain level of green elements in their homes today. Items that are somewhat familiar, reduce operating costs and are easy to use are the most popular. This project: Silver Award, Green-Built Home KB Home GreenHouse, Orlando, Florida Project Team: • Architect/Designer: KB Home Architecture, Los Angeles • Builder/Developer: KB Home, Orlando, Florida • Interior Designer: KB Home and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Los Angeles and New York Photo by James F. Watson

by National Association of Home Builders by National Association of Home Builders

Design trend no. 8: less land development, more focus on multifamily. The trend is to smaller developments and infill properties with a proximity to transportation and other amenities. A mix of housing types and buyer profiles is evident so that families across generations can live close to one other. Less emphasis is now placed on the importance of a car, as buyers want to live in walk-to-everything communities. This project: Best in Region, Pacific Northwest Legacy at Riverpark Apartments, Redmond, Washington Project Team: • Architect/Designer: EDI International, Houston • Builder: Legacy Partners Residential, Inc., Mercer Island, Washington • Interior Designer: Robin Chell Design, Seattle • Developer: Legacy Partners Residential Development, Seattle • Land Planner: Tiscareno Associates (Master Plan Architect), Seattle

General Electric Co. selected Colorado as the site for a new solar-panel plant that will be the biggest in the country, bringing 355 jobs to the Denver suburb of Aurora.

The new plant, which was announced in April, will be up and running a year earlier than projected with the first panels coming off the line next year and being commercially available in 2013. The plant will make enough photovoltaic panels annually to generate power for 80,000 U.S. homes, or about 400 megawatts.

GE plans to invest about $300 million in the facility, bringing its investment in its solar business to about $600 million.

The world’s leading maker of gas turbines, GE has been expanding its renewable-energy businesses as it seeks new revenue streams in its energy business. The company became the world’s second-biggest maker of wind turbines in less than a decade of purchasing Enron Corp.’s wind business in 2002. It seeks to grow its solar business in a similar fashion.

“We want this to be a multibillion segment in GE,” Victor Abate, who leads GE’s renewable-energy business, said in an interview. “It’s going to be a build-out cycle over the next several years.”

GE received no incentives from the federal government for the project, Abate said. State incentives were focused on job training and construction amounting to under $15 million.

GE selected Colorado from 10 states that jockeyed to win the business. New York lost out in the final round. GE said it will create 100 new “high-tech” positions at its research facilities in upstate New York.

SolarWorld AG of Germany currently operates the largest solar-panel manufacturing plant in the U.S., a Hillsboro, Ore., facility that produces panels capable of generating about 350 megawatts annually. GE’s panels will be based on a different technology.

In 2007, GE purchased a minority stake in solar start-up PrimeStar Solar, which had thin-film solar panel technology. GE eventually acquired the company in its entirety. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, part of the U.S. Energy Department, has given a 12.8% efficiency rating to the thin-film solar panels produced by PrimeStar, a record for the technology. Some conventional solar panels are more efficient at converting sunlight to electricity. But GE contends its technology is less costly, and it said it expects to improve the performance.

“What we have been doing over the past decade is tracking all the technologies in solar and assessing which ones can get to the lowest cost of electricity,” Abate said. “The cost of solar needed to come down and that is what has been happening.”

In the first half of 2011, almost 54 percent of the 5,851 kilowatts of solar panels installed on homes in the state were leased, according to the Colorado Solar Industries Association.

In the first half of 2010, 60 percent of the installations were customer-owned, association data showed.

“Leasing has gone from zero at the start of 2010 to a dominant part of our market,” said Neal Lurie, director of the solar-industries group. “The reason: They simplify the process, and there is no upfront cost.”

A purchased system similar to the one installed on Le’s home would cost from $25,000 to $35,000, according to the Solar Industries Association.

A homeowner who buys solar panels is eligible for a rebate, a renewable-energy credit for the electricity generated and federal tax credits.

After incentives are applied, the costs of an installation comparable to Le’s would come down to $8,000 to $18,000.

However, leased systems do away with the need for upfront money.

Homeowners can get solar panels for zero down on a 12- year to 20-year lease and pay a set monthly fee. With a down payment, customers get more advantageous terms.

For example, with no money down, a SolarCity lease would cost between $25 and $100 a month — depending on the size of the system and the difficulty of the installation, according to SolarCity.

Read more:Solar-panel leases surge as no upfront costs make sun power “available to everyone” – The Denver

From Fox News:

Geothermal energy is essentially free heat that comes from under your feet, and according to the annual report by the Geothermal Energy Association, the United States is using more of it.

“Very basically, it’s heat from the Earth that’s caused by radioactive decay, volcanism, all that hot source from the center of the Earth,” says John Lund, Principal Engineer of the Geothermal Program for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory,

In a recent statement on this renewable energy source, the GEA wrote, “In 2011, the geothermal industry is producing clean power in nine states and developing projects across 15 states… with the total number of geothermal projects… increasing 12%.” Additionally, the generation of geothermal energy in the U.S. is enough to power over two million homes.

Dr. Lund is not only one of the nation’s foremost geothermal experts, he uses it to power his home. “To heat my house, my hot water, my hot tub, everything, (for) ten dollars a month.” Lund uses what’s known as a geothermal exchange pump, buried several hundred feet below ground in his backyard for his home. Pumps are a localized system that uses the heat of the ground water, through an assemblage of pipes to bring up the extreme warmth of what’s beneath the surface. They can be used anywhere in the world.

“Right now,” says Al Wallace, president of the Energy Environmental Corporation, “ground source heat pumps is the fastest growing form of heating and cooling in the United States.” The central part of the country is already pretty familiar with geothermal pumps, but because of the initial investment and lack of understanding by homeowners, it takes some educating for other folks to come on board. “I think the reason people don’t buy ground source heat pumps is they’re…(not) familiar with the technology and implementing systems that they’re comfortable with, which is basically the same technology we’ve had since the 1950′s or 60′s.”

Additionally, Wallace says, in comparison to the most energy efficient traditional home furnaces, geothermal exchange’s power blows the competition away. “For most furnaces or gas appliances, the most efficiency is 98 to 99 percent. That means for every one kilowatt or every dollar you pay in energy you get 98 cents back. With a ground source heat pump…for every dollar you spend on heating or cooling you get five dollars worth of heating or cooling in the heating pump.”

Folks get power from the heat of the Earth in two ways: heat pumps and power plants. The latter is not something everyone can access, because the location of production facilities are largely where we can see heat rising from the crust (think The Geysers of California). That is slowly changing.

Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the GEA says, “The industry is growing now, because over the past decade both the federal and state government have put in place laws and policies to really promote clean energy”. Gawell adds, “And that’s helped to overcome the initial problems with geothermal, which are: it’s expensive and it’s risky to develop these sites.” In order to access our subterranean furnace, exploration and oil and gas size drilling is required. But with recent U.S. Department of Energy financial incentives, like loan guarantee programs and grants, innovation and technology are making expansion possible.

“Because if we can make some breakthroughs in that area then geothermal could move much more rapidly across the country.” Right now, Gawell says today geothermal is probably one half of one percent of the United States power production, mostly in California and Nevada. In the future, industry insiders say it could be five to ten percent.

First, the average American needs to know it’s there, says Gawell. “Frankly I think most people think the ground is cold where the center of the Earth is extremely hot, and it in fact is an energy resource that we can tap almost anywhere in the United States and around the world”