The Orange County Register recently sat with C.R. Herro of Meritage Homes to talk solar.
C.R. Herro is a guru of green building and innovation. And his employer, Meritage Homes, has been a pioneer in the production of net-zero homes — a house that generates as much energy as it consumes.
All the homes produced by the nation’s eighth-largest homebuilding company — totaling 7,700 in 2017 — are built with the option to be net-zero.
But just 10 percent of buyers opt to install solar, said Herro, Meritage’s vice president of environmental affairs. Just 1 percent buy the full net-zero package.
He said outdated appraisal and mortgage underwriting methods are part of the reason more people don’t buy solar or net-zero options. Neither recognizes the true value of going green, Herro said.
“Zero-energy represents the best value because its total cost — the cost to build it and the cost to operate it — is the least,” Herro said.
