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website 22 Sep 05 Super Solar Homes Everyone Can Afford From Mother Earth News magazine, by Amanda Griscom Little The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is making super-efficient solar homes affordable for everyone through their Zero Energy Homes project. Lew Pratsch, the project's manager, says that within the next decade, the price of a super-efficient solar home will be comparable to that of a conventional home. By 2020, he predicts, they could become the building industry standard. More than a third of total U.S. electrical use goes to heat and cool homes, and to power the appliances within. Solar homes reduce monthly energy bills 50 percent to 70 percent. But the trend-setting designers of these homes won't be satisfied until they've perfected "net-zero-energy" home designs. Net-zero-energy means the homes are super-efficient, with much of their electricity produced by rooftop solar panels; they draw electricity from utility companies at night or on cloudy days, but overall they generate at least as much energy as they consume each year. "My feeling is we - and the leaders in Washington - should put zero-energy living up there with putting a man on the moon," says Jeff Christian, director of the Building Technology Center for DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. VOLKSWAGENS & CADILLACS Net-zero-energy test homes have been built in dozens of cities along the East and West Coasts, where air pollution and electricity demands are the most intense in the country, and many states offer incentives for green building and renewable energy. Steven Winter Associates, an East Coast-based green-building consulting firm, is overseeing solar home developments in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Texas. In San Diego, more than 100 large homes in the city's San Angelo subdivision are rigged with a wide array of energy-efficient technologies. Just up the coast on the shores of Clear Lake, Calif., a development known as Grand View Estates - composed of 90 solar homes - is under construction. The four homes Jeff Christian has built, on Bethel Drive in Lenoir City, Tenn., are just 1,000 to 1,200 square feet, but they offer the most convincing evidence to date that the dream of affordable net-zero-energy homes is on a fast track to reality. Collectively dubbed "Harmony Heights," the homes were constructed for about $100,000 each. Each of these homes' total energy bills averages less than $25 per month! "What we're trying to do is come up with the Volkswagen of net-zero-energy homes," Christian says. "The typical solar home is something more akin to a customized Cadillac." Designing the "people's car" of solar homes, though, comes with challenges. "We have to ... work within the realm of financial reason that makes sense for our occupants." The houses are equipped with dozens of sensors that monitor electricity consumption, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and hot-water usage. HIGHER-QUALITY HOMES The Harmony Heights homes gain their ultra-low utility bills with the help of a long list of proven energy-saving features, including energy-efficient appliances, compact fluorescent light bulbs, passive solar principles and geothermal heating and cooling systems. The houses even have a ventilation system that maintains indoor air-quality to the high standards recently mandated by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. "The result is not just energy-efficient homes, but higher-quality homes," Christian says. "They are healthier and more durable, with fresher air and more stable thermal comfort. They also have more natural lighting than you find in conventional homes today." LEARNING TO CONSERVE Before Kim Charles moved into her net-zero-energy home in Harmony Heights, she had seen solar panels only once. "At first, when we were getting all this attention with the media, I'm going, 'What is the big deal?'" Charles says. "It took me a couple weeks to realize, 'Wow,' it's the first one of its kind." Another fantastic first for Charles was studying her utility meter. As gratifying as it was to see it spin backwards on sunny days, Charles says it was even more riveting when she saw it hurtle forwards, making her think about her family's energy usage. It made her realize that laundry is one of her most energy-intensive chores. "A certain amount of prudent practice in everyday habits is going to have to be a part of it," Christian says. "Lights being left on when nobody is home ... is sacrilege." And, he says, living in these homes will teach families to become more mindful of energy consumption. THE ZERO-ENERGY REVOLUTION The demand for electricity has grown faster than the utilities' capacity to produce it. The homes in Harmony Heights have rooftop solar electric panels that create electricity whenever the sun is shining. When resident Becky Clark received her first electricity bill there, it showed a credit of $35 in one month. "We got paid!" she says, beaming. According to Christian, if all goes well, we won't be moving toward energy independence just one home at a time - it will be one subdivision, one community, maybe even entire cities at a time. Excerpted from Mother Earth News magazine, the original guide to living wisely. Read the full story at www.motherearthnews.com or call 800-234-3368 to subscribe. Copyright 2005 by Ogden Publications, Inc. links Related articles on Global: general environmental issues |
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