Basalt Vista Housing Project: A net zero affordable housing community

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The Basalt Vista Housing Project is a net zero affordable housing community located in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado. It is the first all electric, net zero housing project in rural Colorado. The 27 homes feature high performance building envelopes, onsite solar PV, and high efficiency all electric heating and cooling. The project partnership was led by Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley along with multiple partners including Holy Cross Energy (HCE), the regional electric cooperative. In this webinar, Chris Bilby, Research & Program Programs Engineer at HCE, discussed the energy efficiency, renewable energy, and advanced energy management features of the project and how they are using the project to create a template for future affordable, net zero communities.

From an energy management perspective, HCE is using the project as a “Live Learning Lab.” Working with NREL, HCE added batteries and advanced smart controllers in order to show how distributed energy resources (DER), smart appliances, and other demand side techniques can optimize how the home interacts with the grid by reducing or eliminating electrical usage during peak demand. This not only benefits the grid, but also benefits the homeowner by making the homes more affordable to operate over their lifetimes. Having smarter homes that can interact with the grid to intelligently manage energy usage and production from DER will be essential to achieving a 100% renewable electrical system.