With apologies to all the Solar Professionals like Terry Shelton who really believe the "Fix The House First" gospel. We need more like you!

I’m sure you’ve noticed there are two poles of belief about what’s important in Residential Energy Conservation … Basically Conservation or Renewables.   The Conservation Camp says, “Design it right, Build it tight, Vent it right, Insulate the heck out of it, and your heating and cooling costs will be so low that you wont really need Renewables (solar, wind, etc).     This is the mantra of most Home Performance groups and it makes a lot of sense … especially in new construction.   It’s a little more difficult to go “all the way” in retrofit situations where the initial poor design was poured in concrete.

The Renewables Camp promotes renewable sources of energy, Solar, Wind, etc.  usually giving only a nod to Conservation, with most of the promotion and marketing directed toward whatever renewable product they happen to be selling.

It should be clear that we need both Conservation and Renewables to achieve our Energy and Climate goals.   The questions then, are ones of priority and balance.   It’s obvious to me and I hope to you that we should first conserve everything we can as cheaply as we can.  Especially in new construction, the added cost of a really tight, well insulated structure is so small that it should always be a first priority.   Building “to code minimums” is almost criminal when it would cost so little to do so much better.   Did I mention that I support stronger energy standards?

After we’ve done everything practical to improve our Home Performance, it’s time to direct our attention toward renewables.

But before we go there, let me take a stab at defining “everything practical.”    The “Energy Package” that I refer to on this site and in my classes is designed for renovation of foreclosed homes of 1000 to 1500 square feet and of 25 to 50 years of age.    Older and larger will cost more, this is offered only as a starting point.   It is a package that can be “slipped in” to a renovation of a foreclosed home with little or no stimulus or utility incentives and be sold for a profit in just the plain old American Free Enterprise System.   Here’s the package, in some semblance of order … dont try to pick and choose.  Complete systems are needed for complete solutions.

1.  Shell Seal of the whole house, especially the attic and the floor.

2.  A newly designed and well sealed and insulated duct system.

3.  A well tuned HVAC system, designed for the lower load.

4.  Lo E Windows,

5.  R-50+ Ceiling Insulation.

6.  Wall insulation.

7.  Energy Star Lights and Appliances.

8.  Efficient water use and heating,

9.  and a few other items …..

That usually costs $20 – $25,000 in houses of this size and age.   If you’re greening up a Mc Mansion, you can spend double that or more.  (Historical Homes and Architectural Wonders also add to the cost)

So the point is that this is the amount of money that should be spent on Conservation before we turn our attention to Renewables.    Until these items are addressed, it just doesn’t make sense to add renewables … it would be more cost effective to finish up this basic energy package before adding Solar or Wind or ?

I’ve spent most of my life and most of my blogging and teaching on Fixing The House First.   But I’ve recently come to two places where it’s time to move on to renewables:

1.  All the GreenEarthEquities homes have the Energy Package mentioned above.   They are saving 30% to 50% and are all sold, leased or rented at above “market rates” with no federal or utility stimulus — just free enterprise in America.    So, practicing what we preach, it seems like it’s time to push the envelope a little bit more and start adding renewables.    We’ve installed our first Solar PV system on one of our renovation projects and are considering ways to include them on every project.  … More in future posts.

2.  I just moved into a brand new home (in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia — cheap kilowatts and 4000 Heating Degree Days)   Being built by a production builder, it’s not exactly what I would have done … but other than a few items to finish up, Luelle is not ready for me to start tearing out the brand new stuff.    So, here also, I’m turning my attention to renewables.   I’ll be blogging about Solar, (both kinds)  wind, and Bio-Mass Gasification and residential power generation in future posts.

Luelle says, "No way is it time to start demolition. We just moved in! This is on a "Cruise to Nowhere" Travel agents need to check out these new ships. I'm doing my part, protecting her from pirates! Dont laugh. You haven't heard of any pirate attacks on cruise ships. So my work must be working!

That's the Miami skyline on this trip to nowhere. The cruise line wants the travel agents to experience the ship ... so we are not distracted by destinations ... we just do laps about 20 miles off the coast. And it gives me a chance to catch up on my blogging....

This "Zero Energy House" got an award from the California Senate, But it turns out that their definition of Zero only referred to the Electricity. Natural Gas still handled the space heating, quite a big chunk. If they had used Heat Pumps and delivered Net Zero.... Now that would be more impressive!

This is exactly the type of press that we dont need in our emerging industry.  What can we do to prevent it?   See my previous post HERE, agreeing with Henry Gifford that checklist based renovations can miss a few seemingly small pieces of the “House As A System” puzzle and fail miserably.   These failures are worse if grandiose claims have been made and awards accepted, like in LEED buildings or this State Senate awarded Net Zero house that isn’t.

There is always something to be learned from any venture, even if it’s what to not do in the future.   What can we learn from this Zero Energy House that Isn’t?

1.  ”Net Zero” is the new marketing darling.    I’ll even be using it myself.   But we can expect Marketeers and GreenWashers to twist and abuse the term.

2.  We must clarify what we mean by Net Zero.   In fairness to the Los Angeles renovator, there are several definitions of the term.   They just chose the lowest and easiest to meet standard  and grabbed the marketing buzz.    (Dont count the natural gas for heating.   So only the electricity is Net Zero)   This should be called an Electric Net Zero Home.

3.  A stronger version of Net Zero is to convert the cost of Therms of Natural Gas to the equivalent number of kilowatts of Electricity.    Then Net Zero would really mean Net Zero.

4.  To avoid having to convert Therms to Kilowatts, we could build our renovations with Heat Pump technology (both the space heating-cooling and water heating) and eliminate gas altogether, go all electric.   Then if we hit Zero… It would really be Zero.   This is the type of Net Zero Houses that you will see on these pages from GreenEarthEquities soon.

Challenge & Quiz:

We know that houses must work “As A System” to work correctly and deliver the expected savings.    Sometimes the (seemingly) small things spoil the final results.    Check out this video from the Register Article.

You’ll see people you know.  Lot’s of pieces and parts of Home Performance are there.   But there are some missing.    What do you think may have been missed that would contribute to such a high heating bill in such a mild climate?

Put your thoughts in the comments section.   I’ll add mine in a week.

In the mean time, let’s be clear with our consumers and colleagues what we mean.    Net Zero is the hot new marketing buzz word that the public seems to understand.   Let’s use it for all its worth toward market transformation but let’s not abuse the public’s trust.

Of course it’s possible, especially if you have an unlimited budget. Maybe a research grant or some access to stimulus money or a “demonstration project”….

But on this site the question is always, How much can we do in the plain old free enterprise system? No unlimited budgets here. It’s true, that as an Energy-Wise Investor, I can do whatever I want to the home. That’s the part that makes me feel like a Home Performance Contractor who’s “died and gone to heaven” My only constraint is that the house has to sell at the end of the day. If I “over improve” the project for the market, I’ll be stuck with a break-even or even lose money. Not a good plan for marital peace…

So how low can you go as an Energy-Wise House Flipping Investor? Now that we’ve completed 10 homes, I’ve determined that Zero is possible, even with no stimulus funds or grants. We’ve found that with the improvements that we’ve been making on our typical packages, that our customers’ bills are so low that it wont take too much more to eliminate the remaining electric bill with Solar PV. Actually what we will be shooting for at GreenEarthEquities is “Near Net Zero” or NNZ for our homes. Our Utility Company charges 12 to 48 cents per kilowatt. The cheap kilowatts are called the lifeline allowance. The goal in the NNZ home is to never buy any but the cheapest kilowatts. And actually be at zero many months of the year.

I’m excited about our new goal. We are starting right now on a house that we will finish soon. It isn’t a perfect candidate because we kept some things that aren’t optimal. A 10 year old air conditioner, one ton oversized for our new load, and some metal framed dual pane windows. But we did put cellulose in the walls and sealed the shell so tight that we needed some “On Purpose” ventilation. (Panasonic ERV in this case) We’ll share the results here as we finish up the project, put it on the market, get it sold, and follow the new home owner’s experience and utility bills.

There’s been a lot of talk about “Really Green” vs “Greenwashing.”   The biggest hit has been taken by LEED with Henry Gifford’s blistering presentation in April this year.  (Skip to the last paragraph for Henry’s true feelings.)  Henry showed how LEED and other points-based rating programs can entice designers to specify gizmos that are currently popular at the expense of tried and true design concepts that dont garner as many points.

First Time Homebuyers, Juan, Corrin & their new son. Although they didn't receive a plaque or certificate or a computer prediction, they are happy about their new home and especially the low utility bills and the comfort of the home.

This results in many LEED buildings costing more to operate than the equivalent non-LEED buildings.    Henry suggests that simply monitoring the energy usage (and continuing to monitor it and publish it) is the best way to move us toward energy independence.

What a great idea, Henry!   That’s what we do here at GreenEarthEquities.   Today I stopped by to pick up the utility bills of one of our buyers participating in our “We Pay Half” program. That’s where we pay half of the Utility Bills for a period of time, usually 2 years.    It allows us to put our money where out mouth is and stand behind our claims of energy efficiency… and at the same time keeps the customer motivated toward efficiency because they are paying the other half.

Here are the first 6 months of bills,  May thru October.   The home is a 40 year old 1200 square foot tract home in Fresno where the summers are really hot.    Perhaps even more important is that the homeowner was pregnant with her first child and kept the thermostat at 70 degrees all thru the summer.

Month          Gas               Electric              Total

May               11.06             43.70                 55.62

June              5.20               40.36                 45.97

July               6.92               109.32               116.88

August          5.09              112.77                118.31

September    6.17               109.97               116.72

October        6.51                 71.15                  78.24

The home got  no certification or plaque.   No HERS rating required.   No third party testing or computer modeling.  The project was designed toward the main thing that counts = the bills.    And the bills are about half of what the rest of the neighborhood experiences.   Is the homeowner happy?  Ecstatic is more like it.   Sad that they didn’t get a rating or a plaque?   Dont think so.     So what’s to not like about that?    The deliverable was delivered.

Henry Gifford’s critique was directed at LEED, primarily for commercial buildings.   But Residential Programs are not far behind.  How much non performance from Home Performance programs will the tax payer allow?     Is there political will to demand transparency and performance?

Would the real efficiency of Energy Efficiency Programs improve  if the following were implemented:

1.  ”We Pay Half”  where contractors & developers paid half the utility bill for two years.   OR

2.  Contractors & Developers wait a year for 50% of their incentive payment and receive it only if the promised deliverable was really delivered.

3.  Allow rate payers to see the “Neighborhood Average” along with their bill every month.

Pretty simple stuff really.    Please comment in the comments section below.      Do you think it’s too simple?   Would it work to deliver more energy independence?    Or is there too much investment in the testing and modeling and certifying industry that is providing so many of the good new Green Jobs that dont always deliver what the programs promise?

After some good pizza and Q&A we will visit our second Unique attraction.   The most recently completed GreenEarthEquities Energy-Wise Renovation features a totally new type of Air Conditioning and Heating System, a rarely seen Heat Recovery Ventilator system and the adaptation of a New Constructions technique rarely seen in Renovation.

The home is featured on the front cover of Home Energy Magazine. The cover photo shows the Mini Split Heat Pump but the article is mainly about the whole concept of Energy Wise Renovation.

Finally, (for this stop on the tour) we’ll reveal the reason that all this Energy Efficiency sells so easily in what most people call a depressed market.   I’ll also talk about the current sales efforts to sell this home with some new techniques that we are developing right now.

Then we’ll visit the house referred to in previous blogposts as the “Ugliest House In The County”   It is about 50% complete and not really ugly anymore…. just in the middle of renovation.

Then we’ll finish with another project that we just started last week.   You’ll see it in full demolition mode.

I hope you’ll be able to join us.  Please RSVP in the Comments section.  And bring all your questions about Energy-Wise Renovation.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll be the next to jump into the business of Saving The Planet, One (foreclosed) House At A Time

Abigail staying hydrated...

Wow, was it hot.   Over 90 on both temperature and humidity.   So I got to see first hand the “Other Reason For Air Conditioning”  taking moisture out of the air.    Water condensed on the Outside of bus windows when air conditioning was turned on in the bus.    And the cold tile floors in our room condensed pools of water near the door way.  (Sweep or door bottom not existent)

Condensation is a real concern for Energy Wise Renovators, especially for some of you who live in more humid areas than Fresno, where GreenEarthEquities renovates foreclosed homes.   But it’s important even here with our tighter homes.   I’ll share two examples and the solutions in upcoming posts.

In the mean time, Luelle will be recommending her travel clients schedule Cancun for a December – February vacation.

Granite, Travertine, Stainless Steel and Real Wood enhance the kitchen's perfect work triangle.

This beautiful 4 bedroom, 2 Bath home in the Clovis School District has been completely renovated with a focus on LOW UTILITY BILLS! The WOW! Package and the Move-in Ready DONE Package make this home stand out above the competition!

The “Energy Package” includes a new Trane Air Conditioner with all new engineered ductwork and register, (R-8) tightly sealed and covered with more insulation (R-50+) over a tight shell seal of the attic floor. Low E2 Dual Pane windows are throughout, even at the garden window at the kitchen sink. Long overhangs on the Western Exposure along with deciduous trees reduce the cooling load.

Crown Molding, Custom Fireplace and Ceiling Fans

Ceiling Fans are everywhere along with Energy Saving Motion Sensors and Photo Sensor Controls. Energy Efficient Lighting and Energy Star Appliances along with Gas Lines for the Stove and the Dryer complete the Energy Package.

Imported glass accent tiles with built in shampoo space are one of many "little extras."

The “Wow!” Package includes new cabinets and granite counters throughout, a deep stainless sink with tall GooseNeck faucet with sprayer, Stainless Energy Star Appliances, energy efficient designer light fixtures, travertine floors, glass tile backsplash, custom tile artistry at both bathrooms, upgraded fixtures throughout, oil rubbed bronze hardware on new colonial doors, taller baseboards, chair rail and crown molding, two and three tone paint, as well as upgraded 32 oz Smart Fiber carpet over heavy 6 lb pad.

Glass Bowl and Euro Styled faucet at the master bath

The “Done” Package means you wont have a lot of projects to finish when you move in. New Lawn has been planted front and back along with complete sprinklers and automatic controllers. The new front door has a leaded glass panel and a new entry handle and dead bolts. There is a brand new roll up garage door and a new opener with controllers. All switches, plugs and receptacles have been replaced along with a new 200 amp service.

Custom stucco trim at windows, doors and corners accents the new dash and the 30 year roof.

The roof is 30 year rated and the water heater has been re-located outside the building to gain usable space and add a safety factor. The windows, doors and building corners had a designer trim installed before the entire home was dash coated for a brand new look.

Ducks make some of the best neighbors!

With everything renovated, you’ll have no maintenance worries for a LOOONNG Time! You’ll also have no back yard neighbors except the Canadian Geese and Mallard Ducks that live in a year round ponding basin that provides the “waterfront view.”

For a Printable Brochure click here 3332 N Ezie

Printable Flyer for 5741 Bernadine