2024 Hankin Lecture
"A Homebuilder’s Journey to Carbon Neutral Construction"
Wednesday, November 6 at 4 p.m. (E.T.)
Robb Hall in the Hintz Family Alumni Center, Penn State University Park
Gene Myers, owner and chief sustainability officer of Thrive Home Builders, will deliver the 2024 Hankin Distinguished Lecture, hosted by the residential construction program and the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, which is housed in Penn State’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His talk, “A Homebuilder’s Journey to Carbon Neutral Construction,” will be held at 4 p.m. on Nov. 6 in Robb Hall in the Hintz Family Alumni Center at University Park. A reception will follow the free, public event.
Lecture Description:
Thrive Home Builders, based in Denver, Colorado, is a seasoned builder of high-performance homes. Recent climate events, culminating in the New Year’s Eve 2021 Marshall Fire that destroyed over 1000 homes in the Denver metro area, prompted Thrive to map out its own climate action plan. Thrive completed its first carbon neutral home, a Green Builder Magazine Vision Home, in its Sonders Ft. Collins project. The home won the Energy and Environmental Builder Alliance (EEBA)’s Excellence Award for Carbon Neutrality at the 2023 EEBA Summit. Thrive has since embarked on two all-electric communities in the Denver area and one all-electric and carbon neutral community in Breckenridge. Benefit from Thrive’s lessons learned and its vision for becoming a carbon neutral builder.
About the Hankin Distinguished Lecture Series:
The Hankin Distinguished Lecture series, hosted by Penn State’s residential construction program and the PHRC, was established in 2006 to honor the late Bernard Hankin and his family for their continuous and dedicated support of the residential construction program at Penn State. It brings world-class speakers to Penn State to address students, faculty, industry members and the public with thought-provoking topics and education related to the housing industry. The residential construction program and the PHRC are administered within Penn State’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering. The lecture series is free and open to the public.
The full length videos for lectures from 2007-present are available for online viewing on our website.
About Gene Myers
Gene Myers is owner and chief sustainability officer of Thrive Home Builders in Denver, Colorado. By virtue of its unprecedented thirteen Grand Awards for Housing Innovation from the United States Department of Energy over ten years, Thrive is among the nation’s best builders of energy efficient homes. Thrive is also among the nation’s leading healthy home builders as evidenced by numerous EPA Indoor airPLUS Leader Awards and its designation as Leader of the Year in 2019. National recognition of Thrive includes Builder of the Year by Professional Builder magazine and National Housing Quality Bronze and Silver Awards. Myers recently received the EEBA Legend Award for his lifetime achievements and was named Sustainability Superhero by Green Builder magazine. Myer’s current efforts include leading Thrive Home Builders to carbon neutrality.
