2025 Recap: This was a historic year for geothermal heating and cooling. Once a niche luxury, it has now entered the mainstream.
At Dandelion, we aren’t just watching this shift—we are driving it. By partnering with national and regional builders to deploy this technology at scale, we are providing superior comfort and savings for homeowners, reducing grid strain, and ultimately creating a path for an affordable clean energy future.
Why the Future of Geothermal is Built-In
Dandelion has installed thousands of geothermal heat pumps since 2017. Building on that foundation, we reached a staggering milestone: installing over one million linear feet of ground loops. While our roots are in retrofitting existing homes, 2025 marked a strategic pivot toward new construction. By making this shift and integrating geothermal into the very foundation of new communities, we’ve unlocked benefits that were previously out of reach:
- Massive Cost Reduction: High-volume installations in focused locations allow us to practically eliminate mobilization costs.
- Standardization: We’ve standardized vertical loops to integrate seamlessly into the production homebuilding process.
- Grid Resilience: Geothermal reduces peak demand on the coldest winter days by more than 60%, offering a “virtual power plant” effect for local utilities.
Breaking Ground: The Largest Residential Deployment in US History
This year, we made the leap into large-scale production housing. Specifically, we are proud to highlight our partnership with Lennar to bring geothermal to 1,500 new homes in Colorado. This marks one of the largest geothermal deployments in U.S. history.
However, Lennar is not alone in this movement. We are also working with innovators like EYA are also setting a new standard for sustainable urban development. By working with national and regional leaders, we are proving that geothermal isn’t just a premium add-on; rather it is a scalable, cost-effective solution for the modern builder.
A Growing Foundation of Policy and Progress
This momentum is being further supported by a wave of state-level progress and investment. Across the country, new policies and favorable tax credits are making geothermal the most attractive investment for developers and homeowners alike. We’ve seen states double down on geothermal through increased rebates and geo-forward legislation, recognizing that this technology is the most efficient way to decarbonize the building sector.
A few key state and local incentives driving growth include:
- Colorado: Xcel Energy other provide substantial rebates, up to $25,000 to builder for high-efficiency, all electric homes, and the state offers a $2,000 tax credit for ground-source systems.
- New York: Homeowners can access utility rebates up to $25,000 and a 25% state tax credit (up to $10,000).
- Maryland: Empower Maryland offers rebates up to $4,950 per home for high efficiency, all electric geothermal, plus Geothermal Renewable Energy Credits.
- Massachusetts: Mass Save offers $16,500 builder rebate per home for high efficiency homes heated and cooled with geothermal.
Beyond individual savings, the macro impact is clear: widespread adoption of geothermal heating and cooling over the next 20 years could eliminate the need for 24,500 miles of new grid transmission lines, producing annual grid savings of $4 billion.
2025 Wrapped: Leading the National Conversation
As geothermal moved into the spotlight, Dandelion’s leadership was invited to share our vision across the airwaves. Dandelion CTO Kathy Hannun joined David Roberts on the Volts podcast to discuss how we are finally removing high upfront cost barriers and scaling ground-source technology.
But the conversation didn’t stop there; in fact, our team joined several other industry-leading programs to discuss the intersection of real estate, technology, and climate:
- Built in America: Discussing the future of sustainable construction with Kathy Hannun.
- Association of Professional Builder Builders: Wyatt Roberts, Dandelion’s Head of New Construction, explores how builders can leverage geothermal for climate resilience.
- Commercial Real Estate Pro Network: Highlighting the efficiency gains of geothermal in the commercial and multifamily sectors with Director of Business Development, Bryan Roberts.
- Earth 911: CEO Dan Yates on how our new leasing model is transforming home energy.
Expanding Access and Affordability
Building on this public momentum, 2025 marked the year that Dandelion officially launched a first-of-its-kind leasing program this year. More specifically, this new model allows builders to integrate geothermal systems into their communities for significantly less than traditional HVAC, reducing upfront expenses while delivering premium, high-performance homes that stand out in today’s competitive market.
Because of this model, new homebuyers can access geothermal for as little as $10–$40 per month, typically a fraction of their energy savings, bringing clean, affordable comfort to more homes than ever before.
In addition to these direct savings, we also leveraged favorable tax credits and new policies to make geothermal an increasingly attractive investment. Combined with state, local, and utility incentives, geothermal becomes the most cost-effective heating and cooling solution for new home construction.
Winner of the 2025 Brilliance Award
We are proud to wrap our 2025 recap with a major accolade: Dandelion Energy won the 2025 Brilliance Award in the HVAC/IAQ category from the Builder Innovator Awards. This award recognizes the most impactful and innovative solutions in the homebuilding and home technology sectors, and we are honored to be recognized among the industry’s best.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we enter 2026, we are working with more builders than ever before. However, the challenges are still there: energy prices remain volatile, homebuyers are facing home ownership affordability pressures, and home builders are looking for ways to stand out against competition. As a result, geothermal provides an opportunity to differentiate, providing a modern, reliable, cost cutting solution. Ultimately, we look forward to bringing the most efficient heating and cooling solution to even more homes in the coming year!
