Futuristic home becomes national example of green living

By Ashley Livingston

Friday, Jan. 16, 2009 | midnight

Amid the rich history of the Tomiyasu Lane neighborhood near Sunset Park — home at one time or another to the likes of Wayne Newton, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard — one property is about to serve as an example for the future.

Chosen by the National Association of Home Builders as the New American Home 2009, one of the homes in the new development Marquis Las Vegas will be featured during the International Builders Show as a showcase of green technology and innovative building techniques.

The home is one of 14 half-acre estate homes in the Marquis Las Vegas development that is being built by Las Vegas-based developer Blue Heron on a track of land on Tomiyasu Lane that abuts the northeast corner of Sunset Park.

All of homes in the development are from 4,600 to 10,000 square feet and begin in price in the low $1 millions.

In every home, tankless water heaters, additional insulation and energy efficient appliances and lights help keep the power bill low.

In the New American Home, which incorporates all of the additional energy efficient options available for each home in the development, 56 solar panels generate electricity and natural gas fuels air conditioning units in each room of the house.

An energy use summary published by the New American Home puts the home's annual power bill at less than $500, based on a rate of 11 cents per kilowatt hour.

Additionally, Tyler Jones, principal of Blue Heron, pointed out that it's not only the green technology that makes the home unique.

It also incorporates smart home technology, he said.

"Microsoft is our partner on the house. You can control anything about the house from anywhere in the world," he said.

Jones said combining all of the green features and technology into a single project was a difficult task and that most of the features will likely take years to trickle down into the mainstream construction industry.

Local housing analyst and president of Home Builders Research Inc. Dennis Smith has said that while certain green features that conserve energy are becoming the norm in home construction, features like solar panels that actually produce energy have yet to become standard.

Smith said it's all a matter of solar panels becoming more cost efficient and thus allowing people to recoup their investments faster.

Looking into the long-term, Jones said he sees benefits to the pocket book in the form of savings on the monthly energy bill as well as benefits for the environment.

"I think everybody is realizing that energy is one of the most important issues that's going to face the U.S. over coming years and there's really no excuse to continue building the same old way," he said.

Ashley Livingston can be reached at 990-8925 or [email protected].