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Why Build?
The first question is why not “just” refurbish an existing house. There are two parts to the answer of this question. First from a personal point of view, we didn’t believe we could find a house that met our family and personal needs that could become 100% solar and comfortable. We felt that there would be too many compromises and I really wanted to see just what we could do.
The second part has to do with the nation and world building scene. In the US it is estimated that of all houses in 2050, fully half of them will have been built after 2000! England estimates the percent will be 33%. This means that a lot of existing houses will not be satisfactory, primarily from an energy perspective. Housing will look and perform much differently in the future and I want to offer an option that is not too radical looking, uses conventional materials & techniques, and is 100% solar.
Related to the above conceptual decision there were a number of Business Goals and Family Needs that factored into building this home, but the over arching goal is to prove that we can build a comfortable and enduring home, in our upstate NY climate, that uses 100% Solar (no fossil fuels) for all its heating, cooling, domestic hot water, cooking, lighting, entertainment, etc. I am sharing here a lot of what I learn in hopes that others will build on this information, and we, one house at a time, will reduce America’s energy dependence. Beyond what I share here, it is part of my business to help others accomplish their energy conservation objectives.
When people look at my plans or the house, usually one of the first questions they ask is something like: “Is it cost effective?” “Does the increased insulation pay for itself?” or “Will you get your money back?”
There are four major cost components of a house: size, architectural detail, shell/mechanicals, and finish. If my priority is to build a super shell with solar mechanicals (no traditional heating system at all), then that is my choice, just like someone may want to build a house with costly finish, such as Italian tile, granite counter tops, and cherry cabinets & trim. Why should people ask me if my shell and solar mechanicals are cost effective any more than they ask the other guy when his counter tops and tile will pay for themselves?
But the interesting fact is that my design will save a lot of money in operating costs, and over the long run will probably save more than enough money to pay for the “extra” costs I incurred to have the great satisfaction of burning no fossil fuels. At this time, whether or not my solar design will pay for itself is not important to me and not the basis for my project.
As a matter of fact, I am probably building “too good a shell” in the sense that I won’t need to install as much solar collector as currently planned. The reason for this is that I want to be as certain as I can be that I will need no fossil fuels and that I will also meet my other primary objectives of comfort and durability.
I also must meet many secondary objectives related to the house being suitable for our family. Meeting all these goals makes being 100% solar even more challenging, but as you will see it is not impossible.
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Business Goals
Here is what I hope to accomplish as Home Energy Advisors:
- Build a house that is 100% Solar (NO fossil fuels), Comfortable and Enduring.
- Incorporate as many “Green Building” aspects into the building and process as practical.
- Build a house that meets our family needs.
- Share my design philosophy and the energy saving & solar aspects for building such a house.
- Share details on how I built the house and lessons learned.
- Share the thermal and energy results, as well as operational lessons learned.
- Assist others in designing more energy efficient homes that meet their specific family needs, budget and energy objectives.
- Assist others in finding a suitable builder, monitoring the building process, performing interim testing, and finally certifying their “Energy Star PLUS” home.
- Over time, through observation & data analysis, improved computer modeling, and researching better materials & building techniques improve the design to be more cost effective, more comfortable & quicker and easier to build.
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Family Needs
Every family has unique needs that must be considered in the design. Below are some of the key factors we considered when deciding to build and in designing our 100% Solar Home. Besides these, there were dozens of other activity and style issues considered as well.
- Reduce carbon footprint and dependency on purchased energy.
- Reduce operating expenses: taxes, utilities, insurance, maintenance and commuting.
- Reduce our overall financial liabilities (monthly mortgage amount and/or years).
- Reduce the number of steps/stairs for my deteriorating knees and back.
- Increase comfort, quiet, and privacy.
- Increase children space and play area.
- Provide an educational environment for our children, where they can experience and experiment with utilizing the sun and living within our resource means.
- Reduce house size to more accurately reflect what we actually need.
- Reduce property size to what we can better utilize.
- Increase ability to live independently: food, energy and technology.
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Size, Architectural Detail, Shell/mechanicals, and Finish
Here are the four main cost factors in building a house. While spec builders typically spend more money on the sizzle (size & finish) to get the highest “market value,” it may be more prudent for a family to spend more money on the shell and solar mechanicals as the world’s resources become scarcer and energy prices escalate.
Size: The bigger a house is the more it will cost – all other things being equal. Perhaps the biggest area where the average family can save is in taking a very hard look at what is needed and building “The Just Big Enough House” © 2008
Architectural Detail: The more dormers, bump outs, curves, interesting lines, etc., the more a house will cost.
Shell/mechanicals: The better the shell (walls, insulation, windows, roof) and mechanicals (heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems) the more expensive a house will be to build. Why not spend money for a situation where the sun will provide the energy for free and without tax?
Finish: The more elaborate the finish (flooring, trim, interior doors, cabinets, appliances, fixtures, curtains, drapes, etc.) the more expensive a house will be.
Another factor to consider is the cost and location of land. It will cost about the same to build a house anywhere in the greater Capital District, but the location will have significant impact in many items, including: general site development, building permits & inspections, property taxes, solar access, water, septic/sewer, potential fill, driveway building, and later in terms of commuting for work, family, friends, school, shopping, etc. So, location needs to be considered very carefully.
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