ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2005--GE's ecomagination is creating a new awareness of energy-efficient homes and solar electric products for the new home construction industry. The company's commitment to ecomagination is already evident in its development of solar products specifically for new homebuilders and in its involvement in more than 55 solar-housing communities in California.
Ecomagination is a GE initiative aimed to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. Under ecomagination, GE will invest $1.5 billion annually in research in cleaner technologies by 2010, up from $700 million in 2004.
GE Energy continues to bring ecomagination to life by developing a new inverter, new colors and design variations for its roof integrated solar electric modules, all of which were a direct result of customer requests and the company's commitment to its future in the solar industry. GE also offers a complete customer service program for new homebuilders in solar electric communities.
The company's roof-integrated tile modules won second place in the 4th annual "Cool Products Competition" at PCBC 2005 (Pacific Coast Builders Conference), the annual tradeshow and conference serving residential builders and their project teams, which is taking place May 31-June 3 in San Francisco. GE Energy's roof integrated tile modules were voted number two by 5,000 randomly selected PCBC attendees who judged the more than 125 entries.
"GE Energy is the industry leader in the integrated design of solar electric equipment for new homebuilders," said Ali Iz, general manager, GE Energy's Solar Technologies division. "Over the past few years, GE Energy's solar products have become the standard for many of the nation's top homebuilders looking to meet the growing demand for energy-efficient, attractive homes. We are proud that GE's ecomagination initiative moves renewable sources of energy, including solar energy, into the spotlight."
"Pardee Homes was very pleased to be part of the May 9 launch of GE's ecomagination initiative; this innovative and exciting program goes hand-in-hand with Pardee Homes' commitment to building only energy-efficient, new homes and to be a 100% EnergyStar builder," said Mike McGee, Pardee Homes' president and CEO. "GE's brand of solar products is one that homebuyers know and trust, which reinforces Pardee Homes reputation as a premium homebuilder."
"Premier Homes was excited to learn about ecomagination. It ties in very well with our own corporate goals," said John Ralston, vice president, sales and marketing, Premier Homes. "GE's building-integrated solar electric systems were an important part of the 95 homes we built in Premier Gardens, the first Zero Energy Homes (ZEH) community in the Sacramento, California area. Premier Gardens now generates more than 300 megawatt-hours of its own electricity every year."
About GE Energy
GE Energy (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2004 revenues of $17.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.
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