Stopping to Smell the Sustainable Roses

For me, this started about 15 years ago with a seemingly simple question: “How can a house be designed so that it doesn’t need fossil fuels?” I’ve been seeking to answer that question since. Having one’s head down, working hard, can make you completely focused on the next task or challenge and sometimes overlook the successes along the way. As I was preparing the slides for this presentation and analyzing the energy use data from the clients I realized something both obvious and profound - “This really works!”

The total utility bills for this remodeled high-performance house, INCLUDING charging two electric cars, were about $20/month for January, February and March, and April’s bill was -$67, meaning they’ve already paid off the first three months of the year. They should not see another positive energy bill until October, and surplus summer solar generation should easily zero this. The homeowners are using less than 1/3 of the energy that most Californians use, and their home is also amazingly comfortable and quiet, with outstanding indoor air quality. It’s a win, win, win that cost 10-15% more upfront than a typical low-performance remodel. It doesn’t involve a lot of exotic materials nor techniques, mainly careful and intentional design and construction.

To put this simply, this is THE SOLUTION to our climate change challenges, and a means for living well doing it. I believe we’re nearing a tipping point in architecture, as we are with electric vehicles, where the paradigm is shifting toward a bright, sustainable future. Please tune in for this introductory presentation (20 minutes, followed by Q&A) and share with anyone you think might find it of interest.