Every home is green in a new Denton subdivision — and its developers are not talking about the color of the paint.

DRC/Gary Payne

Drought-tolerant plants such as the purple button, left, and blue stem are part of the landscaping at a home in the Denton Affordable Housing Corp.’s “green” housing development on Paisley Street. The plants are watered by a drip irrigation system. The houses are built by Dan Fette Builders.

Denton Affordable Housing Corp. has started construction on 14 single-family “green” homes in eastern Denton designed to be environmentally friendly and save big bucks on monthly utility bills.

As part of a trend toward environmentally friendly home construction, it’s the most ambitious project of its kind in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to construction manager Dan Fette, who also was the lead designer of the homes.

With one home already nearing completion at 3400 Paisley St., and others at various stages of construction, the builder and the developer will hold a grand opening from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday to showcase the single-story homes to potential buyers and to educate the public about the green concept.

The main selling point is the savings on energy costs, Fette said. The amount of gas and electric usage required to heat and cool the house are guaranteed. On average, the 1,340-square-foot display house would see its energy bill reduced from $150 to about $50 per month at current prices.

The guarantee stipulates that heating and cooling costs will not exceed an average of $58 per month for the homeowner. That amount would vary slightly between the four available floor plans, which range from 1,180 to 1,600 square feet and begin at about $120,000.

Nevada Court, as it is called, is the largest project to date for Denton Affordable Housing, an 11-year-old nonprofit developer that typically acquires and renovates existing homes, then sells them to first-time homebuyers who meet income eligibility guidelines. The homes it has built usually have been one or two at a time on infill lots.

“I’ve had a longtime interest in residential energy conservation,” said Jane Provo, DAHC executive director. “We wanted to make this development as green as we possibly could and still keep it affordable.”

From foundation to rooftop, every aspect of the house is designed with temperature control in mind. And in Texas, that means preventing penetration of the hot summer sun.

The light gray shingles on the roof will reflect the heat. The windows have a minimal solar heat-gain coefficient, meaning they generally block sunlight with a very thin metal film between two panes. Even the house itself is positioned at an angle that will shield it against the sun during the summer months, while allowing more sunlight in during the winter.

DRC/Gary Payne

Often you have to wait for the water to get hot when you turn on the hot water at a sink. The home at 3400 Paisley St. has a pump underneath each sink that senses when the water is hot enough to come out when the hot water tap is turned on. Water that isn’t hot enough yet is moved over to the cold water connection.

“In the summertime, you’re trying to keep the heat out,” said Fette, who owns Dan Fette Builders. When the heat is kept outside, the air conditioning doesn’t have to work as hard to cool the house.

Once inside, Fette expects to improve air quality by reducing the adhesives used in paints and varnishes. The Swedish wood floor contains patches of carpet designed to reduce long-term allergen buildup, and the insulation is free of formaldehyde. Plus, the paint on the walls has a low ratio of volatile organic compounds. The floors and cabinets are prefinished.

All of the lights are fluorescent or compact fluorescent, which lowers energy heat and buildup. The ductwork, meanwhile, is concealed behind a double ceiling, putting it in an air-conditioned space to prevent it from exposure to a hot attic.

See a pattern here?

The energy-conservation methods stretch to the use of electric appliances and recycled materials. A garage-based water heater is the only gas-burning appliance.

During the winter months, the heating bill should be about $45 per month, Fette said.

The environmentally friendly concept extends outside the house, as well. The yard uses a form of landscaping known as xeriscaping, aimed at reducing storm water runoff and reducing overall water consumption.

The gardens have drought-resistant plantings, and a 1,600-gallon polyethylene tank collects water off the roof through a series of gutters and watertight downspouts to use for irrigation. The cistern retains enough water to account for all of the property’s irrigation needs, given at least average rainfall.

A pump then directs the water from the tank into a drip irrigation system, not hooked up to the public water supply, which covers the lawn. Irrigation typically accounts for 50 percent of water usage in a house, Fette said.

“It helps keeping storm water runoff on this site instead of overloading our storm drain system. We’re alleviating a public challenge,” he said. “As water becomes more scarce, this is the way people are going to solve the challenge of having a nicely landscaped yard and not a lot of resources to do it.”

The concept of a “bio-retention” garden is growing in popularity along with green building, said Rodney Love of Tierra Designs, which is xeriscaping the project.

“We’re trying to hold every bit of water we can,” Love said.

The concrete foundation is made of 25 percent coal fly ash, a waste-burning byproduct of coal power plants that would ordinarily be sent to a landfill. Instead, it is recycled into an additive in concrete to improve the setting and hardening characteristics.

Provo hopes showcasing the subdivision to the public will help clear up any misperceptions about the expense of green building, that such homes are now more affordable to build and to buy.

“These homes look basically like any other well-built home,” Provo said. “The summer months teach us just how important a well-built home is in this climate.”

The open-house activities will include live radio broadcasts, exhibits and promotions from builders and product manufacturers, hourly seminars on green building topics, and pre-qualifying for potential buyers with on-site lenders.

Provo said that after the open house, DAHC would hold monthly seminars for potential buyers at the model home. The seminars will be open to the public in an effort to continue the educational push.

The Denton subdivision, located at the intersection of Mockingbird and Paisley, is the first to be certified through the Greater Dallas Home Builders Association’s new Green Building Initiative.

To the average observer, the green homes don’t appear much different from the other single-family structures that dot its modest neighborhood. And if trends hold true, more could be on the way.

“We are building a product that is more durable than the typical affordable house would be,” Fette said. “Now, this is the kind of house that people can be asking for.”

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6878. His e-mail is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com

GRAND OPENING

What: Denton Affordable Housing Corp. and Dan Fette Builders will showcase the first of 14 planned single-family “green” homes designed to maximize energy conservation

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

Where: 3400 Paisley St.

Information: 940-484-7048 or www.dentonaffordablehousing.org

Photos by Gary Payne/Denton Record-Chronicle

Drought-tolerant plants such as the purple button, left, and blue stem are part of the landscaping at a home in the Denton Affordable Housing Corp.’s “green” housing development on Paisley Street. The plants are watered by a drip irrigation system. The houses are built by Dan Fette Builders.

Rainwater is reclaimed from the house’s gutters and saved in a tank, to be used to water the landscape

Often you have to wait for the water to get hot when you turn on the hot water at a sink. The home at 3400 Paisley St. has a pump underneath each sink that senses when the water is hot enough to come out when the hot water tap is turned on. Water that isn’t hot enough yet is moved over to the cold water connection.