Frisco First: Codified Green Building Program

Starting May 23, 2001, every new home in the City of Frisco, Texas must be built to the minimum standards of the city’s green building program, featuring the EPA Energy Star® Homes program. This makes Frisco one of the first cities in the U.S. with a mandatory green building program, and the first to mandate Energy Star standards. A coincidental overlap with a new initiative from the local utility, TXU Electric, is helping to make these requirements affordable for builders.

Located 20 miles north of Dallas, Frisco is the fastest growing city in the state of Texas with a current population of just over 40,000. Jeff Witt, senior planner for Frisco and a key player in the program’s development, said, “This year, 3,000 new homes will be built in Frisco. The City Council and Mayor wanted a program that would bring this large new housing stock up to a higher standard of durability and performance, and insulate their homeowners from inevitably rising energy costs.” Witt and a committee of seven area home builders developed the green builder program and criteria, and on May 1 of this year, the City Council and Mayor unanimously approved the program. (At this meeting, each council member worked on the agenda items from a laptop computer, making the meeting paperless and giving an indication of the sophistication of this progressive group.)

Meanwhile, in a completely independent effort, TXU Electric decided to develop extensive support for a Dallas/Fort Worth Energy Star New Home Program. This was a proactive response by TXU to the energy efficiency goals of the state’s new electricity deregulation law. The TXU program gives participating builders a variety of services including plan analysis; training for trade contractors, superintendents, sales representatives, and realtors; and subsidized inspections (blower door and duct testing). TXU Electric will subsidize Energy Star certification for 4,000 new homes in the Dallas/Fort Worth service area. “Out of the blue, TXU calls and says they want to talk to us about what we are both doing—it was a perfect fit,” said Witt. (TXU has about 80% of the residential accounts in Frisco.) The Dallas/Fort Worth Energy Star New Home program was launched on May 2, just one day after the Frisco green building program ordinance was passed.