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A Green Building Company
Energy Star Partner
Passive solar energy efficient home
What does that mean?
That this 1,976 sq/ft house is designed to use less $1,500 annually to heat and cool this home. This house is designed to capture the suns heat to assist in heating the house during the winter months. With design features that minimize heat and cooling design losses to about 1/2 that of a normal house. With the large reduction of heat losses, the heat system for the house is reduced in size accordingly. In the case of this house the extra money was allocated to upgrade to one of the best available heat source, a geothermal heat pump.
The Earth is a solar battery, which has a very large capacity for storing the Sun's energy. Capturing that stored energy and then transferring it into your home is what a geothermal system does.
This project has been chronicled on
my blog with pictures and updates as work progresses. The building permit has been applied for and construction is scheduled to begin on 8/11/08
Passive solar home
Design features
Solar orientation- for maximum passive solar gains
Insulated slab on grade foundation system with integrated radiant floor heating and cooling
Finished slab to be the finished floor (stained)
Structural Insulated panels for the walls and ceiling of the envelope system
Geothermal heating and cooling system with a minimum 300% COP
specialized glazing with water to store the suns energy in your window.
150 sqft along south side
exterior shading to control heat loss and overheating
Air lock type entry system to reduce heat loss and gains in both summer and winter
Ready for Photovoltaic's PV ( solar electricity)
the roof is designed for maximum solar angles and orientation. This house is ready to be a net zero energy home. at this time the cost of PV is still to high and the efficiencies are to low. Once the economics for PV are in place the leap can be made to zero energy and zero pollution with very little effort.
Video's of the project
Dimensions
69' longfacing due south
30' wide on average facing east and west
This project was completed in March of 2009 and the energy bills are starting to roll in and the results are showing. The house is an all electric house with no fossil fuels being burnt on site within the home. While passive solar design and the thermal mass windows have had an impact on the heating loads for the house, there is still a need for a heating system. For this house we used a geothermal heat pump tp supply the heating and cooling for the house. A solar hot water system will be added this summer but for now the hot water is supplied with electricity, not very efficient yet. I will continue to post updates on the total energy usage for this house. This house is design to go to zero energy through the use of PV panels to be installed some time in the future. Having the real energy bills to design the Pv system is the best way to determine actual usage.
Energy costs to date
February 15th 2009 - March 17th 2009 $157 Heating system up and running, still tweeking
March 18th 2009- April 20th 2009 $156 Very cold March and April
April 21st 2009- May 20th 2009 $102 Homeowner's first full month in the house
