Net-Zero Energy Home Marries Style with Sustainability
Energy-efficient materials for roofing and walls don’t have to lack flair and local flavor.
Constructing its first ever net-zero energy house was not without challenges for Marc Rutenberg Homes, as the Florida-based luxury builder was intent on using sustainable materials that could garner the project a LEED Platinum certification and yet also remain true to the elegant Mediterranean aesthetic for which the company is known.
“We wanted luxury home-buying clients to come into this house and look at it as a presentation of livability and functionality and not to be sensitive to the way it actually operates,” explains Marc Rutenberg, president of Marc Rutenberg Homes. “If they walk through this house and say, ‘Gee, I expected it to be rather awkward or weird, and it is perfectly normal and gorgeous,’ then we can say we’ve done our job.”