Sustainable Design Update

Zombie Proof House? Is this worth more than net zero energy?

Seriously?!

I was just on the phone with my mortgage company. Rudy, the outstanding customer service rep, told me about people calling for appraisals on Zombie Proof Homes.

We are refinancing our net zero energy home and having a tough time getting the bank or the appraisers to accept the new approaches now approved by the Appraisal Institute to value sustainable properties.  Traditionally they’d rely only on comparable value of nearby homes.  Well . . . . there are roughly five true net zero retrofits in the country.  Where are the comps?

Sandia Labs and the Appraisal Institute now advocate that the better approach for renewable energy homes is the income capitalization approach.  Surely our elimination of utility bills for life plus the addition of a contract for approximately $20,000 in solar renewable energy credits over 20 years has value.  Considering that our home was consuming $2,800 per year prior to our energy retrofit and solar addition, over 25 years we have eliminated between $151,104.75 (assuming a drop in recent average energy inflation of 5.5%) to  $189,494.12 (assuming projected 7% energy inflation).

So somewhere between $0.00 and $210,000 ($190k + $20k for SRECs) is the amount someone would pay for the privilege of comfort, savings and energy security.

Do zombie proof houses provide the same risk to value ratio?  Maybe I should build a zombie proof net zero home.

Matt is honored as a 2012 Michigan Green Leader by the Detroit Free Press.  His home is the oldest in America to achieve net zero energy.  Come join the conversation on Matt’s fan page, Facebook page, Google+and Twitter

via Jetson Green; posted by Matt Grocoff

In the very near future, expect to be able to control devices, appliances, and lights in your home with the help of Google. That’s the information coming out of Google’s developer conference, Google I/O, where Android@Home was first announced. With the right app, an Android-powered smart device, and an intelligent LED replacement bulb from Lighting Science Group, a savvy homeowner could geek out a home without much effort.

read more

by Matt Grocoff, Esq. LEED

Soaking in a hot tub after a walk around one of the most beautiful lakes in America. Relaxing by the fire after a fine meal downtown. Slipping between soft sheets at the end of a perfect day. Welcome to your next “green” vacation.

This exceptionally ambitious venture boasts solar, wind, geothermal and an aerobic mound system.   Fritz Kreiss and his wife, Catherine McQueen are the creators of The Green Leaf Inn located in Delavan, Wisconsin and will have 19 luxurious rooms.  The 50kW wind turbine will help produce as much energy as the hotel’s occupants consume.  This may be the first hotel in North America to achieve net-zero energy.

http://www.thegreenleafinn.com/

Come join the conversation on Matt’s fan page, Facebook page, Google+ and Twitter

www.MattGrocoff.com

Every now and then a designer creates something that takes my breath away.  AnnMarie van Splunter has done just that with her design of a “Rubber Tree” for an installation in Mae Sot, Tak, Thailand.

The maxim is to “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” and we add that environmentally speaking reducing is preferred to reuse and reuse is better than recycling.  With about 220,000,000 tires being recycled annually in the United States alone we need more creative reuse of this waste stream.

The Open Architecture Network has a nice description of this project here.

Links:

Open Architecture Network

AnnMarie van Splunter

Rubber Tree

Related Posts:

Sony odo – Sustainable Design

Game over. LEDs win. Early in 2011 I wrote about the rapid ramp up of high-quality LED bulbs. Shortly afterwards, the big box stores started selling absolutely flawless bulbs at the eye-popping cost of $39.95. Even at that price the life-cycle payback still beat the old school incandescent bulbs for total cost. The problem was that it was about an 18 year break even.

That didn’t keep customers from grabbing these bulbs off the shelf. One big box store I visited said they were having a hard time keeping the LED bulbs in stock.

Now you can walk into a big box store and get a Philips Endura LED that uses only 12 watts for only $24.95. Today I was giddy over the sudden price plummet of these bulbs. You haven’t seen this kind of joy except from little Japanese girls finding Hello Kitty hats on sale. Please don’t judge me.

This is a game changer in lighting. Here’s why . . .

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT:  at Old House Web

Read about the DOE’s L-Prize for lighting: http://www.lightingprize.org/overview_60watt.stm

Here’s the 12W Philips bulb for $24.95

by Matt Grocoff, Esq. LEED

In a peer-reviewed study, James Hansen stated that “if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be . . . at most 350 ppm. (See Hansen’s paper here).

During the sweltering Summer of 2011 we reached 394 ppm.  If every nation that made pledges at Cophenhagen were to fulfill their carbon targets by 100%, where would that take us by 2100?  770 ppm.  Now that’s one of those “oh crap” numbers that keeps me up at night.  That is where we are headed within my 2 1/2 year-old daughter’s potential lifetime.

We’ve got our heads up our butts if we think creating net zero energy buildings and homes is not an essential goal.

A handful of states have set goals around net zero energy (NZE) buildings.  As expected, California has among the most aggressive goals:

100% new construction NZE by 2030

50% of existing building are NZE by 2030

If all new homes were built to NZE but we neglected existing homes we would still be heading toward that 770 number.  As Joe Romm said, “What then for coral? For glaciers? For corn?” Will we ask “did I do enough?”  Existing homes are the answer.

The Mission Zero House

We need a consolidated movement to retrofit every existing home in America and beyond.  The ambitiousness of this goal is matched only by the urgency of the task.

In the meantime, the NZE for new construction tide seems to be rising.  But, will it rise faster than ocean tides?  KB Homes recently announced a national rollout of a net-zero energy home.  This Spring US NEWS reported on ways that home builders are looking for affordable ways to deliver more energy efficient and net zero homes to consumers.

I’m speaking at the USGBC’s International Greenbuild Conference in a couple of weeks in Toronto.  We know that nearly half of green house gas emissions come from buildings – 22% from homes alone.  Yet over the ten year conference history with over 1,000 educational sessions and lectures existing homes have been the topic only 13 times.

If we fail to set our ships on a net zero course, it won’t be long before we need a bigger boat.

Come join the conversation on my fan page, Facebook page, and Twitter

www.MattGrocoff.com