'Zero-Energy' Neighborhood Emerges in Boulder

The first of 12 units has been built.

"The systems installed in the nearly 4,000-square-foot house are designed to create more energy than the average homeowner will use over a year -- but it's also designed to be easily replicated at SpringLeaf and on other lots in Boulder, which the developers say will bring down the cost of building zero-energy homes.

'We're bringing this to the marketplace, and we can deliver it at a good price point,' Monahan said.

Monahan and Britton expect to sell the model home for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.2 million, which would break down to just more than $300 a square foot. But they believe they can drive the cost down to below $200 a square foot for the other zero-energy homes, five of which will be single-family houses and six of which will be smaller, attached townhouses."