Imagine Homes and Dow Unveil First DOW POWERHOUSE™ Community in Texas

Willis Ranch Community becomes the first in San Antonio featuring pioneering technology Solar Shingles as standard feature.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Dow Chemical Company and Imagine Homes, a San Antonio-based homebuilder leading the nation in new high performance green building technology, unveiled the first solar standard community in San Antonio. This new community is leading the way in sustainable living by incorporating the award-winning DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle - an integrated solar roofing system that protects the home and generates electricity - as a standard feature on all homes in their Willis Ranch subdivision. This latest offering of Dow’s Solar Shingles gives homebuyers in San Antonio the first community that combines Imagine Homes’ superior homebuilding design with the most cutting-edge renewable solution on the market.

“DOW POWERHOUSE was the ideal partner for us on the Willis Ranch community in San Antonio”

“DOW POWERHOUSE was the ideal partner for us on the Willis Ranch community in San Antonio,” said Imagine Homes President John Friesenhahn. “They enable us to offer our customers a breakthrough roofing solution from one of the biggest names in home energy-efficiency. A roof that protects the home, uses sunlight to power it, and provides superior aesthetic appeal for our exterior design is exactly what this market is looking for. There is no other product on the market like it."

Homeowners that purchase a Willis Ranch home will get a complete POWERHOUSE roofing system that saves money on their annual energy bills, reducing the overall cost of home ownership and generating an unprecedented financial return on their home investment. The home also comes with a monitoring system that provides real-time readouts of electricity generation and home electricity usage. Homebuyers can also choose to upgrade the standard sized system to a bigger array that will offset even more of their energy bill. Expected savings range anywhere from $4,000-$10,000 in the first year, plus the POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles will increase the overall value of their home.

The combination of Imagine Homes with DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles are helping to redefine green living in San Antonio, and are working to meet Mayor Castro’s, the city of San Antonio’s and Build San Antonio Green’s goals to increase solar and reduce energy consumption in the area.

“The grand opening of this new Willis Ranch community directly supports our mission to increase the number of green-built homes throughout our region,” said Anita Devora, Executive Director, Build San Antonio Green. “DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles enable homeowners to have their roof work for them as a renewable energy source and we are proud to support the partnership between Imagine Homes’ and DOW POWERHOUSE in San Antonio. This is the future of new homebuilding in America.”

Earlier this year, DOW POWERHOUSE announced the collaboration with Imagine Homes to offer the DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle roof system to all new homebuyers in Imagine Homes’ six San Antonio area residential communities.

“We are very excited to be expanding this collaboration and celebrating the first solar standard community in San Antonio with Imagine Homes,” said Dan Pezolt, Dow Solar Marketing Director. “It’s a perfect partnership, bringing together two companies that share a vision of smart homebuilding - which is ideal for the San Antonio market.”

Made in the USA and backed by a 20 year warranty from Dow, the POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle is certified as both a solar and roofing product. It has received seven performance and safety certifications, including the backing of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) certification and is proven to withstand rain, hail and wind uplift.

The DOW POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle was recently honored as a recipient of a 2012 Breakthrough Award by POPULAR MECHANICS for creating the new benchmark in roof design and engineering in the U.S. They were also awarded Gold for Best New Product by the internationally-renowned 2012 Edison Awards™, and received the TIME Magazine Best Invention of the Year in 2009.

Visit DOWPOWERHOUSE.com to find more information about the DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles and to get specific information on our availability in the Texas market. Homeowners and building professionals can also follow DOW POWERHOUSE on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DowPowerhouse), Twitter (@DOWPOWERHOUSE), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/dowpowerhouse/) and via YouTube.

About Imagine Homes

Imagine Homes is San Antonio’s only true "green" volume homebuilder that combines innovation and craftsmanship to build healthy, energy-saving and environmentally responsible homes. The company was the first to build all homes under both the federal Energy Star program and the Build San Antonio Green program, co-administered by the Greater San Antonio Builders Association and the Metropolitan Partnership for Energy. Established in 2006 by Jim Bastoni and John Friesenhahn, Imagine Homes has grown quickly with homes built or under construction in six high-growth neighborhoods throughout the San Antonio area.

About Build San Antonio Green®

Build San Antonio Green® is San Antonio’s residential green building program. The goal of Build San Antonio Green is to create awareness and interest among builders and homeowners in resource-efficient building methods, materials, and technologies. Build San Antonio Green has certified more than 1200 projects as “built green,” including single family homes, multifamily developments, and retrofit construction projects. These certifications have resulted in more than 22 million kilowatt-hours of energy savings and more than 12 million pounds of CO2 emissions reductions.

About DOW POWERHOUSE™

The DOW POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle is a first-of-its kind product, designed to combine the benefits of solar technology with the durability and performance of traditional roofing materials. POWERHOUSE has been developed to introduce solar technology to a new generation of homeowners by providing an unprecedented integrated roof appearance and simplified installation. It combines a roofing shingle with a solar cell, enabling the DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle to be installed by a roofer along with standard asphalt roofing materials. This makes the DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle an easy choice for homeowners looking for a residential solar solution that is easy to install and aesthetically pleasing. Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) products from Dow Solar are one of the many innovations from Dow establishing the Company on the forefront of alternative energy solutions and expanding Dow's commitment to using chemistry to solve the world's energy challenges. More information about DOW POWERHOUSE can be found at www.DOWPOWERHOUSE.com. Homeowners and building professionals can also follow DOW POWERHOUSE on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DowPowerhouse) and Twitter (@DOWPOWERHOUSE) or via YouTube.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.