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Solar Coach Corner is a weekly column by Arizona SmartPower’s Solar Coach. These posts will go up every Tuesday and are meant to spark conversation about clean energy and energy efficiency topics, so join in by submitting your own comments below!
Rising energy costs pose a threat to our economic security and lifestyle, but you can combat this at home by being aware of your energy use and waste. You might be surprised to know that more energy leaks through your windows and roof than exits your tailpipe!
The U.S. Green Building Council developed LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification to improve building energy usage and environmental impact. Commercial builders have aggressively adopted the certification standards, helping the U.S. meet 1.65 billion square feet of LEED certified building space — a number that grows daily.
A LEED certified home
Residential builders have been slower to adopt LEED standards, but the movement is growing. Last week, I toured a carbon neutral home (net-zero positive electrical energy). The builder paid careful attention to details over 30 years of building and has learned where energy can be saved using creative design and building techniques.
So what does a carbon-footprint-free home look like?
It looks just like all the other houses in its neighborhood. There are no obvious differences, inside or out. The builder had to point out to me where, what appeared to be architectural details, were actually energy efficiency features.
What particular technologies do net-zero-impact homes contain?
It surprised me to learn that the house I toured was built using materials from the local home-improvement store. The most high-tech feature was the solar electric panels, which are now considered mainstream technology.
What’s more is the net-zero electricity demand wasn’t achieved by installing a huge solar array, but by eliminating energy waste. An additional $5,000 of insulation and caulking dramatically reduced heating and cooling losses. Passive solar design was used to improve solar heating in winter and solar shading in summer.
So a carbon-footprint-free home can be built at a relatively low cost using existing technology. All it takes is a commitment to reduce the amount of energy going right through your roof and windows, and who wouldn’t want to do that?
