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EP35: Armando & Anita Ortega - The Future Of Regenerative Living
60 Plays20 days ago
“You don’t require perfection to make a difference in the world. You just require passion.”
Sustainability begins with the self, extends to relationships, and finally scales into business. When we approach design from this layered perspective, every choice becomes an opportunity to align with nature. Homes and communities are not just shelters—they can be built as living systems that protect health, conserve resources, and serve as legacies for generations to come.
Armando and Anita Ortega share their vision of Zero Energy Developments, a company committed to creating net zero, healthy smart communities. From filtered water and regenerative gardens to resilient energy systems, their work challenges the status quo of housing. They explain how shifting focus from profit to purpose opens the door to innovation that heals both people and the planet.
Armando and Anita have worked together for over three decades across ministry, business, and family life. Now, as co-founders of Zero Energy Developments, they are channeling their shared values into building America’s first net zero communities.
Zero Energy Developments: www.zendevhomes.com
Emails: anita@zeroenergydev.com | armando@zeroenergydev.com
Green Box Homes: https://www.greenboxus.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SEGADORESDEVIDA
Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:
Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. https://www.paulownia-la.com/.
Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.
Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.
Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.
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Transcript
Introduction to Sustainability Discussions
00:00:00
Speaker
Are you sustainable? as an As an individual. an individual. Your mind is a sustainable. are you happy? We think sustainability could be easy, but Mother Nature knows how to do it in different ways. So we also need to do the same thing. We need to learn how to adapt in relationships. How do we do business that is sustainable? How does that extend to the world?
About the Regenerative Design Podcast
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design podcast. I'm your host, Mathieu Mehuys, and in this show, I interview the leading authorities in the world of regenerative practices.
00:00:31
Speaker
People who do good and do well. Are you a person that cares about your environment and our planet? Are you a person that wants to leave the planet to our children to be something that we can be truly proud of?
00:00:44
Speaker
something to enjoy for many generations to come. But are you also a person that believes we can do all of this and do good in business? Well, I have really good news for you.
00:00:56
Speaker
You're here listening to the podcast that is all about making our planet a better place and making your business more successful.
Interview with Zero Energy Developments Founders
00:01:04
Speaker
Enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Regenerative Design Podcast. And today we have a special episode because it's not just one person that we're interviewing. We're interviewing a couple. So this is really cool. And it's not just any couple. It's a power couple.
00:01:21
Speaker
It's Armando and Anita Ortega. ah Guys, welcome to the show. I'm super excited to have you here. How are you doing today? Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here. We are honored ah to have this interview with you and with your audience. Excellent.
00:01:36
Speaker
Thank you so much. We're excited to be here. Yeah, so I'll first give in a a rough introduction. So you guys are the founders of Zero Energy Developments, and you guys are on a mission to build America's first net zero healthy, smart communities.
00:01:52
Speaker
So that's really exciting because that's fully aligned with the work that I do about regeneration. Our built and infrastructure is a big part of it. And in a lot of countries, just like in the US, there's a lot of work to be done in how we build our homes and how we live.
00:02:07
Speaker
in our homes, how we interact with the environment around it. So I'm super excited to talk about it in depth with you guys. But first off, like how did all of this start? like you We talked about it offline, you guys been together for 32 years. um And did this happen? oh How did all this happen?
00:02:26
Speaker
This is great. Well, again, thank you so much. And to your audience, we're excited to be here and to share inspiration to so many people listening and coming together into ah one voice that we matter and the world matters and what we do matters, right?
00:02:41
Speaker
Our relationship inspired so much of what we're doing with Zero Energy Developments and how we're putting that into the house and where we build these houses. I love you know that you invited us and become part of this because you care about Mother Nature.
00:02:56
Speaker
And Mother Nature takes care of us, so we need to take care of of it. right And so that's where our vision comes from, being connected to our roots, our mother, our parents.
Levels of Sustainability and Personal Happiness
00:03:09
Speaker
And as we were sharing early, our relationship, we we started really young. i was 17. She was 20 when we met. And so it's even though he looks older, right? Let's all agree to that. Yes, yes, yes.
00:03:21
Speaker
You watch on YouTube to verify. But ah over three decades that we've been together and we've we've discovered um the secret to sustainability in many aspects. And we want to share that to your audience, to the people that are listening to this podcast.
00:03:37
Speaker
And there's three levels of sustainability that can impact the world. The first one, it's the most important one, which is you. Are you sustainable? as an and As an individual, your mind is is sustainable. Are you happy?
00:03:50
Speaker
Are you sad? Are you negotiable? Are you prosperous? Are you looking for your best version of yourself? Are you giving love and grace to yourself? Are you in alignment with Mother Nature yourself?
00:04:02
Speaker
Everything has an order. And if are you ah sustainably in your mind and your body your spirit in in order, everything from there can stem better. So that's the first layer.
00:04:14
Speaker
The second layer is sustainability in relationships. And so that extends outside of your insight into somebody else. And then it brings the dynamic connection of other people because we think sustainability could be easy, but mother nature knows how to do it in different ways, how to sustain itself.
00:04:32
Speaker
So we also need to do the same thing.
Sustainable Business Practices
00:04:34
Speaker
We need to learn how to adapt in relationships. How do we become sustainable? and Then third and not last because it impacts the whole world is how do we do business that is sustainable not only with the people and the products, but then how does that extend to the world? we We're going to pass.
00:04:54
Speaker
And we're very cognizant of our time and in in on Earth, right? And so we have a limited amount of time to make an impact. We're trying to do that while we're healthy, strong, and that we can make the most impact. So we're here to make a difference, to make ah ah to come together with you and your audience and the people in the world that believe that we need to create smarter, more intelligent things that protect us in the environment around us.
00:05:22
Speaker
I love that. that's ah That's a brilliant thought to think like you start with yourself first, then you look into your own family or your community, get that in order, and then go out into the world and and ah do business. Because I believe business is like the the most, yeah, it's the best way to have an impact in the world. There's different ways you could do NGO work, you can do get into politics. They're all good and they should.
00:05:46
Speaker
But in this podcast, I want to focus on businesses because I believe that's what really changes the world. It's the people that ah go out there. And I love what you said about, like, you have to start with yourself because I think it was a ah a guy from India called Sadhguru, who's like a spiritual leader you might know.
Introduction to SASE
00:06:04
Speaker
I've heard of him. He's doing a lot of speeches on these events around climate change and all that stuff. And he said, like, you have to have fun yourself. You have to enjoy this regeneration of the planet with there's a big paradigm where I think it's, I don't know where it stems from, but it's kind of this dooms thinking that everything is already too late.
00:06:23
Speaker
the the The climate is already broken. And so we come from this negativity and then we try to solve it. yeah yeah It's never too late. It's the half but it empty, half empty mentality.
00:06:35
Speaker
hu you know there's ah you hear You've seen the analogy of that the the glass is half full or half an empty. It's really on how you feel inside if the world is if the the future of your life is growing like a plant.
00:06:50
Speaker
or is is is withering like a different type of plant? And so I think that's you answer, we answer, and we we inspire others. And you inspired me, again, just to know that people all over the world, and believe it or not, after our conversation, which probably was close to a year ago,
00:07:11
Speaker
um you know We've been continuing to work with Sear Energy Development and we have now started a vision to create SASE. and you We haven't told you about it, but be SASE.
Balancing Family and Business in Sustainability
00:07:23
Speaker
SASE is ah Sustainability Ambassadors Collective International. which will include a collective of people around the world that do what we're doing in different aspects of business. So it doesn't have to be just houses or a product.
00:07:39
Speaker
It could be land and it could be anything that promotes sustainability, intelligence, better world in the future. I love that. So i'm I'm very curious to hear from you because we talked also about it offline and and maybe Anita can jump in more from the family perspective. Like you but you both have, well, you have kids together, of course, like how and they're out of the house. Was that something that changed the energy for you guys to say, let's build a business together or have you always worked together in business?
00:08:08
Speaker
So we've actually all um pretty much worked together throughout our lives. We have a history of working together. i know a lot of people when we say that, um a lot of relationships, you know they kind of have these big eyes and say, like how is that even possible? like I don't know that I can work with my significant other in business. We'd kill each other. oh But you know again, it's it's kind of like what we were saying. It's about that you need to start with ah as a friendship you know with friends. and Armando and I have always been friends from the get-go, from the beginning. Again, he was 17, was 20.
00:08:42
Speaker
We've got 32 years in this. So we have worked together in business um in many aspects. We were um back in Florida, ah We worked in a church and a ministry together.
00:08:55
Speaker
ah We were leaders of youth, of women, of men. 20 years of that. 20 years of of working together. We also, not just in the ministry, but we also worked um in the offices in the church um as an administrative. ah So his office was down the hallway from mine.
00:09:13
Speaker
um But we all always have known to wear the different hats, like I say. you know When we're in business, when we're working together, we're working as business partners, as team.
00:09:27
Speaker
ah that team um we've We have online businesses together that we've created. ah We've had short-term rentals like Airbnb, VRBO, which we've managed together as well.
00:09:39
Speaker
We've worked in a ah chemical plant here in Georgia. um Together, he was plant manager. i was in the offices as administrative, logistics, you know shipping, receiving. And so it's just about liking each other. At the end of the day, you know I like him as a person. He likes me as a person. And therefore, we're going to you know unite together.
00:10:02
Speaker
ah We've raised four children. we've adopted We adopted one when she was 12 years old. I was pregnant with our first. And she's 40 years old now. Two babies of her own. So we are proud grandparents.
00:10:19
Speaker
Congratulations.
Vision for Sustainable Homes
00:10:20
Speaker
Thank you. And then we have three biological children. We have a boy that's 26, Caleb, Natalia, who is 23, and then Genesis, which is 21.
00:10:31
Speaker
So they're older. They're older. They're ah young adults. They are on their own. They're amazing children, amazing kids. ah and um And now it's you know our time to do what we want. you know And one thing that Armando and I have always put a priority in our relationship was each other, even when we had our children you know and raising our children.
00:10:56
Speaker
We were number one. We were the priority. We learned to date each other. to love on each other, to you know leave the kids with the babysitters and give ourselves some time to connect all the you know to be connected all the time. And that's extremely important in a relationship.
00:11:14
Speaker
This podcast is brought to you by the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass. Are you struggling with finding the right tools and tricks for your garden? Are you lacking the confidence to be a self-sufficient gardener?
00:11:26
Speaker
Do you sometimes get overwhelmed by the lack of knowledge and time you have to actually do gardening? Then the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass is for you. That's such a beautiful thing that you walked. It sounds like you guys just love to spend time together being as a business partner, as friends. Can you tell we even do podcasts together? even do podcasts together? Do you have a tandem bike? you have that kind of a tandem bike? We're missing that We don't need to go that far. We don't need to go that far.
00:11:58
Speaker
But we sleep in the same bed still. That's ah But then where did you guys shift to like, okay, you've done a bunch of businesses, you've you've figured out a lot of stuff in life.
00:12:09
Speaker
Where did you say like, okay, I want to actually build a business that is both a business and doing good for the environment or for society? Where where did that shift happen? Interesting question. So we um we have had a calling in our lives to to make an impact.
00:12:27
Speaker
Like we feel like we can die before we do something impacting. And we've lived our life that way in all the areas that we've, I guess, grown.
00:12:38
Speaker
ah In life, if you always try to do the next best thing, right? Like, you know, I want to do that. You do it and you're like, wow, I feel so good. I did that. And then you're like, what's my next thing?
00:12:49
Speaker
I want to do that. And then you do and you're like, man, I'm good. I can do things. And, you know, and then you go a little bit further. and so We had that journey. um when When I got to the probably the most comfortable position as a person, I had so much excuse me some ironic situation that, you know when you have everything and you're not happy?
00:13:12
Speaker
yeah I had a moment that I'm like, wow, I have the most money, the most freedom. i i carry i can I can coast along and we'll be fine.
00:13:23
Speaker
And that scared me because it was not where i really felt that I could grow. And ah i I said, I need to do something. I started literally praying for and opportunity to find impact in a way that would be meaningful and also create a legacy, create wealth.
00:13:41
Speaker
um One of the things that I always told my wife, I never cared about money. Because I know that money will one day, you know, be something that you'll have plenty of because we have good hearts. We have a desire to help and do good things.
00:13:57
Speaker
We just need to find the right opportunity. And that's exactly what happened. Our partner, Bernard Ostra, as we we became friends, he started sharing the vision of zero energy developments, which was to build a sovereign home, vital secure home, one that didn't have neglect on the value that's being put in the house. You're paying all this money for a house and the houses are not made better, right? They're actually made worse.
00:14:26
Speaker
Warranties and things happening with houses are worse. The health factor in the house is ignored. It's not looked at. Nobody looks at house and say, oh, ah how healthy or how pure, how good is this house? But if you build a ah hospital, a clinic, a dentist, you have to care for those things, right? So the houses in where all of us live has been neglected.
00:14:47
Speaker
And the resilience of not counting with you know the unreliable power grid that sometimes can come and take your whole family down just because you don't have a backup plan.
00:14:59
Speaker
We um started talking about this and I'm like, I would love to make this a reality with you. I am a visionary. When I see an opportunity, I know like this is it. and This was like the answer prayer for me. I said, Anita, this is amazing to be able to be a developer, to be able to build the houses of the future, to be able to do it in a way where everybody wins. like To me, it was I saw the end.
00:15:29
Speaker
and We've been now two over two years working on this. And it is the most beautiful fulfillment in our lives to be able to do something meaningful because it's needed.
00:15:41
Speaker
And a lot of people don't do it because it's risky. We'll take the risk. I would love to live to do something that is worth for somebody else. And what we're doing will literally impact humanity and potentially the world.
00:15:56
Speaker
And so our product well will and is impacting
Housing Problems and Solutions
00:16:01
Speaker
the world. We're here talking to you. We're going to reach people. And we don't know who, but those people can get inspired just because we're pushing forward.
00:16:09
Speaker
And not just like you pushed me when I see you doing what you're doing, people that hear your podcast, people that hear me, people that hear us doing the right thing, they we get inspired. So we're just full of energy to to do this vision To share that and energy. And to do something good for the planet.
00:16:28
Speaker
ah In the meantime. That's right. We do believe that we're in a paradigm shift. The whole world is. And so we are part of that new beginning. We're thinking in the best.
00:16:39
Speaker
Give the best to the people. Because the people. We're the ones that are here in this planet. I love that. Very beautiful vision. And you're actually doing it for two years already. And i think you hit on some very important marks. to To say like.
00:16:54
Speaker
I think in general, but probably because of inflation, speculation, housing is becoming very expensive and just like um building costs, all those elements. So it's very tempting for developers to to reduce the quality of the homes to be able to still sell at a high price um as there's probably new technologies or new systems that that require less or more harmful materials that can be used. A lot of chemicals are being used.
00:17:23
Speaker
A lot of houses are are poor in in quality and isolation and ventilation and that the can be a disaster for molds and ah create a lot of health issues um over time. And so I think it's a very noble thing to do to focus on that because whatever you're going to build, it's for it's for the children of the people that will live there.
00:17:44
Speaker
So correct you have to think. I've come across this beautiful thing now that in in indigenous people from canada i don't know the exact name but they as they make decisions as they make or still make decisions in their community they say we will when we make decisions we think eight generations ahead so we we think like okay whatever we're going to build now or do we have to think like how is that going to impact eight generations from today and that's crazy like nobody does that yeah exactly everybody thinks about
00:18:16
Speaker
one and now One to 10 years, maybe the return investment of a year correct or a quarterly return. And they're thinking eight generations. So I think with the work you're doing, you're going embed that.
00:18:29
Speaker
So what have you come across from probably doing some study and and looking and at the housing in in Canada? what are What are the main problems ah sorry in in the U.S.? ah What are the main issues in construction and how are you solving them?
00:18:44
Speaker
Perfect. Yeah. So right now we have a housing shortage that creates a very dynamic situation in in whichever way right you're leaning into this.
Building Sustainable Communities
00:18:57
Speaker
There is a need for houses, so houses will always sell. And this is what perpetuates, in a way, what you just mentioned, the sub-quality in the housing. um we We are looking at it from two different angles on how to hedge for the future.
00:19:14
Speaker
We are building at scale so we can actually have more leverage because we're building and our our margins are a little bit allowing us to... to pivot a little bit better um and still provide the value. Quality. Right. And then the other one is that we do a built for rent product. So if we can't sell the houses because the market conditions are not favorable, we can always switch to the built for rent. So we still have the portfolio and still produce that way.
00:19:47
Speaker
And that's really what we are thinking about as far as if the market conditions become unfavorable. we can always pivot due to our scalability, in other words, our our our capacity,
00:20:00
Speaker
We already get additional discounts by building these at scale, and it allows us to have a little bit more wiggle room. Our vision is to make sure that the best house is literally bought at the most fair price.
00:20:16
Speaker
As a company, we could charge a million dollars for these houses if we wanted to, because we're we're selling you all the options, solar power, battery backups.
00:20:27
Speaker
air filtration, ah water filtration throughout the whole house, ah regenerative gardens, landscaping. We can have off off-grid capabilities.
00:20:39
Speaker
We're going to have ah rain barrels collecting rain so that you can, again, utilize that water if you need to. Our resilience in our houses, the insulation, the factor of peace, the zen, you know like you're disconnected from the world.
00:20:54
Speaker
You get to save between 60% 70%.
00:20:58
Speaker
on your electrical bill. All of that is packaged into the cheapest price that you will find in the market because nobody builds the houses with the health conscious and the security that that brings you to your family first.
00:21:13
Speaker
Our our practice And you know again, since we're seasoned people, almost like accomplished, you could say, our vision is not about money, which is, I think, what most people get into this business to make money, right?
00:21:28
Speaker
And so it it may shift the direction the actual focus of what we should be building. we We turned to the the paradigm around. It's kind of like when the phones didn't have touch screen and now you can put all these apps in your phone. Now your phone is not to make a phone call. You can do so many more things.
00:21:45
Speaker
We see the house the same way. The house is like like a touch screen now. You can add more things and it's actually better for you. We want to be the first ones to bring that to the market in a way that is most affordable.
00:21:59
Speaker
Oh, that's beautiful. It would be interesting. I just had this idea to show like when people buy a home, they probably mostly think about the initial investment and paying back the the loan of the bank or their like their rental that they have to pay.
00:22:13
Speaker
But then the the running costs from operating a home, let's say, that can add up as well. And if you guys can prove like, okay, you might have to invest. I don't know what and but how much more expensive it would be than general houses.
00:22:27
Speaker
Do you have some stats on that? No. Is it competitive? Yeah, so very competitive. Very competitive. Yeah, so we're at the 450 to 560 range starting, right, for a 3-2 house.
00:22:39
Speaker
And they're going between 1,600 3,100 square feet. Okay, that's great. So that then you could say like it's even competitive or let's say even it's 5% more than a regular home because you have better materials, better.
00:22:54
Speaker
Then you could show like, oh but okay, you might have to pay a little bit more, but look at what's going to how your monthly expenses are going to go down, like 60% less energy. um all of those things. Maybe even you could add in your medical bills because a lot of people have have health issues. And in ah in America, you don't have a strong, well, you have a private health system, so you have to take care of it. It's very expensive.
00:23:19
Speaker
I heard in the U.S. it's somewhere between 200,000 per person per life on average what people spend on healthcare bills. Healthcare care bills. healthcare care which is like for many people, that means if they have to pay it at once, which can happen when you have cancer, or it's like a bankruptcy. yeah um So if you live in a healthier home that is more regenerative, that has healthy water, healthy ah air,
00:23:44
Speaker
then your your medical bills will go down as well. and And that's the value that we're bringing to our homes and why we want to make it out of so as affordable as possible.
Community Gardens and Landscaping
00:23:55
Speaker
Because we want to be able to allow families and give the opportunity to families that are just starting, that are raising children or that you know are just starting their families, a good quality home, a healthy home.
00:24:09
Speaker
you know I suffered from allergies you know all my life. and um And so have, you know, some of our children and being in one of our homes, for example, you know, we'll have a good air quality, an air quality control, you know, that will help eliminate, if not eliminate, you know, health issues such as allergies or, you know, just internal health issues because of the water you're drinking. You know, that is why we're we're going to have, you know, water, ah filtered water and
00:24:40
Speaker
throughout the whole home. So it's not just your drinking water, it's the water that you know you're watering your garden with, or you're giving your pets, that you're bathing with. you know Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies.
00:24:53
Speaker
When we shower, we don't think about it, but our skin is absorbing that water internally. So yeah these are the things that that we're we're bringing to our homes to help and give and offer and give value to the families.
00:25:08
Speaker
that we're trying to to help and provide something better. i love that. And that's extremely valuable. like We have to be able to put a prize on that and and um so that people understand what the real value of the homes you're creating are.
00:25:22
Speaker
And I think there's another beautiful topic that we could talk more about. It's like I've been investigating a little bit in the US and in how communities are built with the homeowner associations and how they manage the properties and how much chemicals are being used in in the gardens and the semi-public spaces in and with contractors coming in to to maintain the the the lawns and they use a bunch of chemicals because they're kind of incentivized to use it and it's kind of this old age-old thing like ah why would we change it we've been doing it forever since with those chemicals
00:25:58
Speaker
But you don't need to do that. So i'm I'm very hopeful that you guys are going to create that that lush environment as well, where where you have no chemicals and in in the gardens and in the semi-public spaces. did Could you elaborate a bit more on on that?
00:26:13
Speaker
Because you're going to build communities. thing. We just started a research and development for just for this, which we're excited. um And in my community, there's ah already an agricultural garden, community garden.
00:26:26
Speaker
And so what we did is we have a half an acre and we decided to take a portion of that and and donate it to the community communityity for research and development.
00:26:38
Speaker
and we have We are working with a local person here, his name is Tress Crow, and he is an owner of a company called Green Box Homes. Green Box Homes, what they do is they they have a different ah sustainable type of vision. they They only do electrical machines to come into the garden, you know, like to take care of it. And they come every week to your house to either plant or to structure your garden to be more native.
00:27:10
Speaker
so that it's got native plants and it's more natural in the way that it should be. Our houses will have that implementation, everything that we are get learning from here in the community.
00:27:22
Speaker
That's exactly what we're going to be up applying into the houses, which is regenerative gardens and native landscaping so that it's more um in tune right with what mother with Mother Nature. and It is a paradigm shift.
00:27:37
Speaker
People do not, and you know they do things without knowing. you You buy a house and you think you need to have green grass, right? And yes, you can do so many more things with your yard.
00:27:48
Speaker
And it's just a lack of understanding and knowledge that this is right there, perfect landscape to create any canvas, paint any picture that you want.
00:27:59
Speaker
And now it brings you in tune with nature. like It's proven when you work in your garden, your stress levels go down. you know your Your life just gets happier. I mean, just think about that for whoever's listening.
00:28:11
Speaker
Go outside, take off your shoes and just breathe and look up and realize we're we're already in the abundance, right? And it's just connecting to Mother Nature.
00:28:24
Speaker
And we yeah we're definitely going to be ah implementing the best. We're actually working with some of the universities here and applying some of the technologies into the agricultural space so that we can have, let's say, an aquaponics type of garden inside like a shed that the community can enjoy and then Share on produce.
Project Overviews and Investment Needs
00:28:47
Speaker
When was the last time you heard a neighbor, hey, let me give you some of my produce or exchange something. This is how we started bartering. That's what money was. Money was food. right It was bartering. It was sharing.
00:28:59
Speaker
And this is where the values come from. We're adding that value back into the community. that's That's so nice. um I want to ask a little bit more about ah on the specific projects you are working on and where you are at at the stages, just to ah see where you're at. And maybe even some listeners that are listening could help out. and I think you're still looking for financing, right?
00:29:22
Speaker
We are we're in a couple different stages. We have right now, no exaggeration, probably over 10 pieces of land, but that we're not directly working into, but that there are potentials. As far as we're working, we're at least working with three of those properties right now that are, um I guess, in due diligence project.
00:29:44
Speaker
We have a 96 acre in the north of Atlanta. It's a city called Ball Ground. Ball Ground, one word. And it's an indigenous sport that was played there.
00:29:55
Speaker
We're bringing this community there. It's actually closest to the um ah closest winery to Atlanta. So it's going to be a very cool spot. um and seeing nature and we're trying to allow more screen space so the community has more of ah a different type of setup. There's almost like a little gardening space you can walk around and enjoy nature.
00:30:20
Speaker
ah And so that that one is under contract. We're looking to close here within 30 to 60 days and that we would start that project immediately. The first four homes. And that's 72 acres yeah um in that particular land.
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's 72 acres plus 24, which in their they're adjacent adjacent to one another. And ah the other piece of land, which is exciting to hear, is that Zero Energy Developments would probably be doing there our first boutique hotel.
00:30:52
Speaker
Oh, cool. and he's going she was hospital yeah And it's going to include this same technology. So again, it brings that health factor benefits to the people living in in so inside of these residences. well I love that. That's a brilliant idea to add that because maybe when people, well, I'm pretty sure if they come there, you could have some like, well, people will feel that it's a different hotel and then they might get interested and they they'll contact you to build their home wherever they are in the world to do more.
00:31:22
Speaker
Yeah, so that's one of the projects, and we have some in Atlanta. um We have a nine-acre project that will yield about 50 homes. And that project there, it's ah a little bit different because it's a little bit more closer to the city. So what the city allows you to do there um shifts, but we still implement zero energy development concepts. The technology in the concept. Yeah, everything that we're doing there so people get the benefits of the health factor as well.
00:31:50
Speaker
Nice. And then that was actually one of my questions. Do do you, especially probably in that bigger scale project, have you thought of incorporating other ah businesses is like, you okay, you said already hotel, but are you looking at other ways to to diversify the the financial return? Because oftentimes that can be challenging as well when you only focus on housing and then let's say something happens with the housing, you have a housing crisis for three years, then that becomes really difficult. So just like in nature, have you found ways to diversify the the the services that the the developments and the communities are going to provide?
00:32:27
Speaker
Yeah, so um right now the vision is single-family homes, but we are going to be expanding outside of that. Like I said, a boutique hotel, smaller residences where people can actually find affordable housing. That's one of our visions because um that's a huge need, right? People that that need affordable housing.
00:32:46
Speaker
And we can build these you know smaller as well. We're just right now focused on the um on those family the first nucleus, right? The family nucleus of people that are... um Our biggest testimony, people though with the kids, as Anita said, this is really important.
00:33:01
Speaker
and And to go back to your question, um we're always raising capital, um so we want to continue to purchase land. So if you care to be a part of it, please just... um Let us know how and we will get you involved with of that aspect of it. um It's another area that we've learned um to raise capital and to build these type of developments. We don't we dont don't come from this knowledge or from wealth. We're actually creating, we're pioneers.
00:33:29
Speaker
in doing this. And so we invite anybody that's looking to invest into something that is sustainable and meaningful to contact us because you will be part of something that's going to change the world.
00:33:42
Speaker
And quite honestly, you'll get very um financially stable from what we're doing just because our vision is scale, is scalability. It's a scalable vision. And that's exactly where we will be
Future Aspirations and Team Building
00:33:55
Speaker
going.
00:33:55
Speaker
Nice, that's great. So what are some of the biggest problems that are that you're currently facing with or that you foresee to happen in in the future, the bigger roadblocks? Because I'm assuming it's not going to be a straight line to the finish line. There there are going to be some challenges. Have you already come across some and um foresee others to happen?
00:34:18
Speaker
You know, i think the breathing, you know, and and being alive, sometimes people say it's like, you know, ah they're are scared of things. ah we don't We don't get scared of challenges. Like to me, challenges are your classroom.
00:34:30
Speaker
um We haven't had, you know, ah major challenges other than continue to assemble what is required to get a vision of this ah size, magnitude started.
00:34:43
Speaker
It creates... um a lot of relationships, it requires a lot of, you know, communication and and transacting and getting everybody in place. I think if if anything has been the challenge for us, it's been learning how to structure everything that we've never assembled, right? It's almost like when you have that puzzle and they like put this together, you know you know, if it has...
00:35:09
Speaker
10 pieces. Hey, okay, just come see me in 10 minutes or five minutes or two seconds, whoever. But if you have the 10,000 pieces, you're like, give some time. And so think... you know you're like ah give me some time and so i think um I see life like a puzzle.
00:35:26
Speaker
it's it's It's more like, oh, I found a piece. I don't know where it goes. Or I'm looking for a piece. I don't know where to find it. I just keep trying and in pivoting and shifting and not giving up until the right piece fits there.
00:35:44
Speaker
So for some people, this is ah a nightmare. But i you know again, being married for so long, That was the biggest challenge and and he's passing. So you're welcome. Anita has taught me all my business. I don i doubt that, Anita.
00:36:02
Speaker
That's funny. But yeah, I would say that the there hasn't been a challenge um that we haven't been able to over can't overcome. them Yeah.
00:36:14
Speaker
It's been more about having the patience to know that a project like this takes time and getting the people to be in it takes time. And it's about having the right team, the right people aligned with the same alignment, vision, and mission.
00:36:32
Speaker
And it makes it a little easier when you do have that team that's, you know, very, again, like a relationship. You have that team that's in it um together to make it happen. Yeah.
00:36:43
Speaker
And I think it's a great metaphor to compare it to making puzzles. and And it sounds like you guys enjoy making puzzles as a metaphor and maybe in real life, I don't know, or in in your free time.
00:36:54
Speaker
But what what are some of the puzzle pieces that you are looking for at the moment? So ah that you're like, oh, we need that puzzle. I don't know where to find it. Okay, I would say is funding. Yeah, funding is it's an ever resolving puzzle because it's like you get you you get ahead one step at a time.
00:37:14
Speaker
um You know, like one investor will get you from point A to point d Right. And then from there on, then you need to do it again and then get additional money.
00:37:25
Speaker
and stack that to get you to point, let's say, G and then be able to get all the way to T and then so on and so forth. ah Raising capital would be the one that we are always um learning about. And that raising capital brings you to the next thing, which is finding the right land to yield the right thing for our projects.
00:37:48
Speaker
So step one, get the money. Step two, let's buy the land so that we can make sure that we continue to scale. that would be the two things that's great so whoever is listening ah will be adding the all the details in the show notes so they can reach out um so what are you guys most excited about for the next five years oh my gosh um
00:38:13
Speaker
um Wow, what are we not excited about? I think it's... Most excited. Honestly, it's it's it's a grand vision in five years.
00:38:24
Speaker
In five years, um we would be already achieved our mission to a certain degree. um We have had already built multiple houses and I think we have had influence and impact. Yeah, neighborhood, sorry.
00:38:40
Speaker
Impact not only us, but other people. At that point, we have already satisfied um our existing investors and also expanded not only outside of our state, but potentially at that time, you know, start to go into international. International.
00:38:59
Speaker
We plan to go public in, you know, probably in the
Legacy and Community Impact
00:39:04
Speaker
five-year mark. So that's when we would potentially be scaling even higher. ah So in the next five years, our vision is going to be maybe halfway through what we want to accomplish, which is to be project.
00:39:20
Speaker
Excuse me, a brand that you can trust, a brand that you associate with health in houses, a brand that you say, this is actually the smartest and most intelligent, the healthiest, the vital, secure home.
00:39:34
Speaker
I'd rather buy one of those homes. I will pay, you know, a little extra extra money for my health. the value. Because I care more about my health than I do about money.
00:39:45
Speaker
who Yeah, very interesting. ah love that. So it's very clear your vision, your mission is clear, your guys are already moving ahead. um So I'm very excited to see where where all of this is going and where all of this is leading.
00:40:00
Speaker
Now, to the listeners, do you have some final, even people that might be thinking, oh, I'd love to do something like that or something else. you have some final words for people who are maybe not too happy like you were maybe, I don't know, when you were in that phase where you have everything, you feel good, but you're unsatisfied because because you like know there's so much more.
00:40:22
Speaker
what What is your best piece of advice from from both of you? um I'll let Anita go first. for me For me, it would be, you know, leave a legacy. Leave a legacy or join us.
00:40:34
Speaker
Our mission right now is to leave a legacy, like what we were saying about the eight years, looking eight years ahead, is to leave a legacy for our families, for other families, for our children, for our grandchildren.
00:40:46
Speaker
You know, um sometimes we were we weren't taught or ah we didn't see our own parents, right? thinking that way, having that progressive mentality.
00:40:56
Speaker
ah They were only looking at the now for whatever reasons, you know, um we're at the point where we're looking into the future. Armando is a visionary.
00:41:08
Speaker
He has always been a visionary. um He's helped me see that and become a visionary as well. And so trust, you know, trust in each other, trust in what you want to do. And we're here. we're That is what we're doing. That is our purpose.
00:41:25
Speaker
We have the vision. We have the mission. We have the team. And we are going to make an impact. we are going to leave a name for zero energy development.
00:41:36
Speaker
Once we're not here anymore on earth physically, we will leave that legacy for others to take that baton and continue running and fulfilling the mission that we are on.
00:41:47
Speaker
That's a beautiful thing. And is there some interest of some of your children? And maybe this is, ah we could talk about it off mic if you don't want to talk about it. Yeah. I'm just curious. About the children, like if they're on the same mission and vision. they want to join the family business. This is something that we all think about, you know, like being sustainable in creating our family.
00:42:08
Speaker
Raising a family, it's a challenge. And so it's getting the teenage mind to adapt to an adult mind and taking taking on a challenge that you will feel happy about.
00:42:21
Speaker
So to Anita's point, legacy is one of those things, but a lot of people don't get to know what even legacy means, right? Like they're still either they are there, or they might be so lost that they don't see beyond the next day sometimes. So i just want to inspire anybody listening right now.
00:42:39
Speaker
You are special. You're not here by coincidence. Your mistakes are equal to everybody else's. We are all imperfect and we make perfection out of our imper imperfect lives.
00:42:52
Speaker
You don't require perfection to make a difference in the world. You just require passion to love, to desire something. You have the power to make a change in somebody's life today.
00:43:07
Speaker
do it. It's a phone call, it's a text, it's a call, it's a gesture, it's helping somebody, it's bringing somebody a fruit, it's doing something for the environment, it's doing something even for yourself.
00:43:20
Speaker
It's seeing that the value starts with you. The value starts with you that's listening. You have the power to do and make that dream that was placed in your heart a reality.
00:43:33
Speaker
Now, hear it from somebody that is nobody. that has believed in myself to do something bigger than myself. So don't look at yourself and what you don't have.
00:43:45
Speaker
Look at yourself and say, anything that I dream can become a reality. And once you say that, The next day, wake up and say, I dreamt this and I know it's going to become real.
00:43:59
Speaker
And wake up every day and don't listen to the noise. The noise will always tell you you're not good enough. You don't have what it takes. You don't you you're not the person that you're not worthy. You know, you're not worthy. You don't know what that is.
00:44:15
Speaker
Don't worry about any of that. Dream, envision it, imagine it, and then say, i believe it. And I promise you, all things that you need will show up in your in your in your path.
00:44:29
Speaker
It may not be the way you want to, may not be the color you wanted, it may not be the way, but you know what? It will be in a way that it was supposed to happen because part of the doing this is your journey.
00:44:41
Speaker
Smile, breathe, and enjoy your cup of coffee or tea and say, I'm thankful to be alive and now I can make a difference just because just because you have that power. So I hope you that that are listening, um you take this to your heart and you say, I can do this because this guy here,
00:45:01
Speaker
i I could have done nothing. yeah or not been We're not special. We're not any different. yeah we're all you know We have more mistakes and more problems maybe than you do. So don't let anything in your mind stop you from making your dreams a reality.
00:45:16
Speaker
This is so brilliant. And it's in a way also so simple and accessible. And I think you just gave like a small masterclass on how to make a ah a life worth living.
00:45:26
Speaker
And I think it all starts with what you said earlier. Because it sometimes feels like, oh, it's easy to do those small things and then you'll become successful, but it's really important to start with where you are today.
00:45:37
Speaker
Do something small by helping someone across the street, do something that is that is small. And then the next day it becomes easier to so to do something a little bit bigger. And then you build momentum. And when you have momentum in all of my career, when I have momentum, like that's when all the crazy things happen and like everything falls into your lap and God is on your side. Yeah, we have
Closing and Call to Action
00:46:00
Speaker
start somewhere. But you start with something small and something...
00:46:02
Speaker
And there's always something you can do. And for me, honestly, it starts with with my morning. I make my bed. It's like small, it may seem insignificant, but it gives me a great feeling like I've accomplished something.
00:46:14
Speaker
And then and then it's the rest of the day is easy. and And I start my day with a half an hour of of doing something like to to keep your mind sane because there's so much noise, like you guys said, that even from your own mind. There's so much noise. Then you put on the TV, which I don't recommend watching. it There's so much. And then you open your emails. There's problems that you have to solve throughout the day.
00:46:37
Speaker
But taking that half an hour to to do something, journaling, read a book, Do meditation, do yoga, whatever works for you. Like it's different for everyone. Pray, but whatever it is, and try out different things. it's like trying on the different exactly pants and different clothes. Like you have to try it on.
00:46:53
Speaker
yeah And then if you found your thing, this is like the most beautiful thing. Like I find if I nail my first 1% of my day, when I do it well, the 99% becomes super easy.
00:47:05
Speaker
So it's something that I've worked on now recently. And it aligns with what you said, I think. That is 100%. And I want to add to what you said. So whoever wants to ah ah like interpret it this way, there's not enough time for you to do everything that you're supposed to do.
00:47:23
Speaker
If you had to do everything that you're supposed to do as a human, that we have responsibilities, there's not enough time to do everything perfect. And so you have to focus on what you know will yield Fruit in your life.
00:47:38
Speaker
Spend time in the garden of your mind that you know will yield fruit. So that way you can have seeds to plant again, some to share, some to eat, and some to replant.
00:47:49
Speaker
So don't get frustrated with yourself. Life is already um full of items. Don't beat yourself up for not being able to do things. We're all in the same situation.
00:48:02
Speaker
crunch and we need to create a space around us where the pressure of time, responsibility and all of these things press you down and don't let you feel like I can do this.
00:48:15
Speaker
So just take a deep breather and say it doesn't matter that circumstances are not perfect. You know, let your eyes of your heart guide you, not the eyes of your face.
00:48:28
Speaker
Because they might they might confuse you. But inside of you, each of us know that we have something to give. Follow that intuition and it will happen.
00:48:40
Speaker
So nice. I think on that beautiful note, it's time to end this show. Thank you very much, Anita and Armando, for coming on the show. This was brilliant. so much. and Just a final question. If people are excited, they want to ah connect, network, collaborate, how can they best find you?
00:48:58
Speaker
ah They can reach us. um Visit our website, www.zendevhomes.com. Our emails are on there, Anita at zeroenergydev.com and Armando at zeroenergydev.com.
00:49:16
Speaker
Reach out, visit our website. You'll have all the information and we would love to connect and give you more ah if you are interested in collaborating and aligning with the vision of creating an impact and leaving a legacy.
00:49:32
Speaker
Thank you very much. Have a beautiful day. Thank you. Thank you. Be blessed. Take care.