Aiming for Zero: How to Build a Zero-Carbon Home
(Page 4 of 5)
January/February 2009
By Mindy Pantiel
2. Reduce your plug loads. Most people aren’t aware that their TVs, computers and cable boxes, even if they are turned off, keep running and can literally use as much electricity as a refrigerator while in standby mode. The solution is as simple as plugging those items into a power strip that, when turned off, totally cuts power to the appliances. “That way when you’re asleep or at work, it’s not costing you money and it’s not costing the planet CO2 emissions,” Logan says.
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3. Find an audit or weatherization contractor. A one-day audit measures things like how much air blows through your house and offers solutions for adding insulation, caulking and sealing windows and doors, and using weather-stripping. “It’s not uncommon in an older, poorly constructed home to save half the heating energy with a simple one-day weatherization, insulation, and caulk and seal,” Logan says. “Your local utility company is a good resource for finding someone to perform this service, or go to the Energy Star website and look for information on home audits.”
Getting to Zero: Efficient Building Projects Come In a Range of Styles.
Wild Sage Cohousing Apartment Complex
Boulder, Colorado
Apartment systems are inherently more efficient than single-family homes, partly because of size—these units are 800 to 1,600 square feet—and partly because of shared resources. In this case, shared sidewalls and a common hydronic heating system reduce heat loss and minimize mechanical redundancy. The buildings face north and south, which allows significant heat gain through southern windows in winter. Minimal west-facing windows help avoid summer heat gain. Solar collectors warm a shared hot water tank. Walls are insulated with standard blown cellulose, roofs with fiberglass batt and windows with double low-E coatings. These innovations, along with conservation, mean residents use about 300 kilowatt hours (kwh) per unit per month, compared with 700 kwh or more for an average family (2.6 people).
Habitat for Humanity House
Wheat Ridge, Colorado
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden,
Colorado, sponsored this 1,200-square-foot home for
Habitat for Humanity, seeking a building system that
was cost-effective, replicable and familiar to Habitat for Humanity’s volunteer builders. The simple design features a long axis that faces south, with enough windows to gain some passive solar heat. The project formed a snug envelope using standard construction techniques, packing the double-stud walls (two walls set an inch apart are both filled with insulation), the floor and the roof with typical fiberglass batts. Low-E windows reduce heat loss, and two solar collectors on the roof supply hot water. An efficient natural gas heater warms the main space, while bedrooms are warmed by 4 kilowatts of photovoltaics on the roof. In its first year, with the help of its energy-conscious inhabitants, the house distinguished itself as a net energy producer.
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