DENVER -- Rob and Kelly Gettinger walked through their home Wednesday with much anticipation.

The house, which is only in the framing stage, is in the Hilltop neighborhood.

Not only bigger, but better, they said, compared to their last one which once stood in the same place.

"The house taking it's place is green from the ground up," said Rob Gettinger.

Underground, a geothermal heat pump is going in -- which puts Mother Earth in charge of heating and cooling.

Gettinger explained tubing will be placed in six to ten holes being drilled more than 200 feet down.

"They have to put a lot of tubing into the ground to cool a 5,000 square foot house,” said Gettinger, who is an investment banker.

In summer time, the closed loop geothermal pump system pulls warm air down and cools it.

The process is reversed in the winter, when warm air is brought up from the earth to heat the home.

Solar panels above will provide power.

"So the heating and cooling is 100 percent renewable energy," Gettinger said.

The project caught the attention of some 5th graders Wednesday. The Gettinger’s son Willie invited his science class over for an educational field trip,”

"What do you hope they're learning by visiting your house?” Kelly Gettinger was asked by 7NEWS.

“That maybe it will plant a seed for something for them to do in the future," Kelly replied.

Kelly added she recycled much of their previous home before it was torn down.

Kelly posted everything from sinks to doors were on Craig's List for free. The home was also used for fire fighter training before demolition, she said.

"I see the geothermal as a hedge against future energy price increases, and this puts a flat line and cap on what our exposure would be,” Rob Gettinger said, adding the heating and cooling system could pay itself off in 10 to 15 years.

The geothermal heat pump typically costs three to four times more than a standard home heating and cooling system, said J.D. Best, Project Engineer for Blue Valley Energy, the company installing the Gettinger’s system.

“We’ve had an explosion of interest in the past year and a half,” Best said, adding his company has installed similar systems in around 200 homes along the Front Range.

Business and home owners can cut energy costs by two-thirds, Best said.

Rob Gettinger told 7NEWS the geothermal system being installed in his home is expected to cost $70,000.

Gettinger said he hopes more government rebates will be made available in the future – much like what’s offered for solar energy systems now.

For Kelly, it’s about the future. “The future is being in harmony in the environment," she said.