Whisper Valley Wins National Award for Innovation at 2018 Gold Nugget Awards

(July 3, 2018—AUSTIN) – Judges for the 2018 Gold Nugget Awards have selected Taurus Investment Holdings’ Whisper Valley as a Merit Award winner for the Best Innovative Energy Design Award. The annual competition honors architectural design and planning excellence and draws entries from throughout the United States and internationally. The awards are a feature highlight of PCBC, the nation’s largest regional conference and trade show for the real estate development field.

“This award continues to validate our team’s efforts to create an affordable, healthy and environmentally sensitive community for our homeowners,” said Peter Merrigan, Partner and CEO of Taurus Investment Holdings, the developer of Whisper Valley.  “We are honored to receive this award and thrilled to set the new standard in the industry for innovative energy design.”

Whisper Valley homes include solar panels to generate electricity and a high-energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system to save up to 65 percent on typical monthly energy consumption. The entire community is connected together by an innovative geothermal loop field or GeoGrid to maximize efficiency and achieve zero-energy capable homes at an affordable price. The homes also meet the carbon-neutral standard promoted by the City of Austin for all new construction homes.

“Our innovative EcoSmart communities are not only more environmentally friendly but also provide comfortable homes that increase in value and we have several homeowners with single digit energy bills,” said Axel Lerche, CEO of EcoSmart Solution, a subsidiary of Taurus that created and implements the community’s innovative energy design. “Whisper Valley is a model for the rest of the nation and internationally.  A lot of time, planning and research has gone into making this a sustainable, zero-energy capable community.”

Amenities in Whisper Valley include 700 acres of green space, a fitness center, a resort style pool, high speed internet service by Google Fiber and smart home NEST products. In addition, all homes are pre-wired for a garage-mounted electric-vehicle (EV) charging station.  Homeowners also qualify for a Federal Tax Credit of $7,000 to $10,000 on the solar pv and geothermal systems in their homes, which makes the investment for the home owner even more affordable.

Whisper Valley also features a custom organic farming and home food delivery program in partnership with Lettuce Network. Phase I of the program is already producing fruits and vegetables delivered to residents’ doorsteps.