Denver, Colorado

Field Evaluation and Demonstration Site: Oakwood Homes, Green Valley Ranch

Project Profile and Results

Interim Report (PDF format) February 2002

Green Valley Ranch is both a Field Evaluation Site and a Demonstration Site, located about 10 minutes driving time east of downtown Denver and about eight miles south of Denver International Airport. Green Valley Ranch is a master-planned community with an active homeowners' association and neighborhood recreational facilities (swimming pool, parks, tennis courts, miles of open space, and a planned golf course). Parks and recreational amenities are owned and maintained by the City of Denver, which reduces homeowner association dues. The NAHB Research Center is working with Oakwood Homes of Denver to perform field evaluations of several PATH technologies at the site.

Pat Hamill, President of Oakwood Homes, and a Working Group of the City of Denver developed an Affordable Housing Proposal, titled "Filing 22," for a large section of Green Valley Ranch. The Working Group is also developing procedures to expedite the processing and review of affordable housing projects.

Information gathered by the Research Center and the builder during this field evaluation includes construction techniques for frost-protected shallow foundations, PEX plumbing pipes, and plastic manifolds.

The NAHB Research Center installed temperature sensors in two of the frost protected shallow foundations. The data collected validates that the slabs and the nearby soil remain above freezing.

See the project profile for construction photos and status.

Content updated on 11/20/2006