Ridding Denver-area homes of gas

Bolstered by state grants, Zero Homes is expanding its staffing to help electrify buildings

by Allen Best

If Colorado is to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals for 2050, it must replace natural gas furnaces in nearly a million houses and other buildings. Geo-exchange makes sense in new homes, but heat pumps are the easier answer for existing homes.

That is where Zero Homes fits in. The Denver-based company will — with nearly $1 million in state aid — expand operations in metropolitan Denver.” The company has 23 employees and says it will add 53 new jobs.

The company helps homeowners navigate home electrification. Among the services it provides, according to its website, are heat pumps, water heaters, induction cooking, EV chargers and electrical upgrades.

To assist homeowners in completing upgrades, Zero Homes has pioneered an “all-virtual” process that reduces the cost of implementing high impact upgrades. The process is completed through a free mobile app and backed by the Zero Homes team, which supports customers from project design to installation, including job scheduling, final inspections and rebates.

The approach seeks to simplify the entire process and reduce overhead for both homeowners and installers.

This announcement comes just after the Denver Regional Council of Governments formally launched Power Ahead Colorado to revamp buildings. That project across Denver and parts of eight other counties was funded by a nearly $200 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that was announced in July 2024. See: “A great transition 50 years from now,” July 27, 2024.

Zero Homes was founded in 2021 by Grant Gunnison. On his LinkedIn profile, he calls himself the “Founder & Night Janitor.” Before that, he had been an integration and test engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center in Boston and a graduate research assistant at the MIT Space Telecommunications, Astronomy and Radiation Laboratory in Cambridge.

“I care deeply about protecting our planet and equity in all forms. I help homeowners figure out how to make their homes healthier and emission free, without all the hassle,” Gunnison says in his LinkedIn profile.

Offices are located in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood.

Zero Homes also reports working with electrical cooperatives in Gunnison County, the San Luis Valley and El Paso County as part of a agreement with Tri-State Generation and Transmission.

The company has also been involved in a program to electrify 2,800 homes in California in the city of Los Altos Hills.

Clearly, heat pump technology is central to the company’s mission, as is evident in this post on its website.

In announcing the Zero Homes expansion, Gov. Jared Polis emphasized the job creation.

“In Colorado, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and saving Coloradans money on energy bills,” said Gov. Jared Polis in announcing the news. “I am excited to welcome Zero Homes to Colorado, helping us to boost our clean energy economy, and creating 53 new good-paying jobs.”

The jobs will pay an average annual wage of $140,377. Positions will include software engineers, operations staff and management. The company currently has 23 employees in Colorado.

“We’re proud to be building in Colorado and to be leading the charge to rebuild our communities and homes in a more sustainable way,” said Zero Homes’ Gunnison.

“This support from the state makes a strong statement about what the administration values and the innovation they are willing to back to enable the future we want. Heat pumps and more affordable, healthier homes are more accessible than ever.”