Page 23 - Green Builder Sept-Oct 2020 Issue

structure called a “prepaid power purchase agreement.” Not only do we course of a year, all the electricity we consume will be produced on
get our initial investment back in state tax credits but we also receive our property. Our story demonstrates that a normal, middle-class
free solar power for years, which is about $ , in free electricity! family can achieve a carbon neutral home relatively easily, while
Incentives and price structures change all the time, so I don’t think saving money and relishing in the satisfaction that we are doing
we’ll be able to take part in something so lucrative this time, but our part to €ght climate change through these normally overlooked
whatever the cost structure looks like, we’ll be thrilled to increase household systems. GB
our personal energy generation and have it power our electric home.
Our home will, at long last, be “net zero.” We produce more energy Joe Wachunas lives in Portland, Oregon, and works for the nonpro t
than we can consume in the summer and get credit for it in the Forth, which promotes electric transportation. He is also involved with
winter when we aren’t producing as much as we need. Over the Electrify Now, which o ers educational resources on electri cation.

A thick wall. When it comes to
temperature control and household
comfort, installing insulation throughout Making Electricity
the house—such as this product from
Owens Corning—is a no-brainer.
CREDIT: OWENS CORNING Truly Efficient
Y OU CAN ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING and still squander it away like

tokens at Chuck E Cheese. Equally, if not more, important to
electrifying our homes are strategies to use energy wisely.
Well before our electrification campaign, we learned to identify
the electricity hogs in our home and either not use them or use them as
efficiently as possible. We have a whopping six people in three separate
units on our property. In addition to our family of three, we have a long-term
tenant in our garage rental apartment and [a rental] that accommodates
two guests. And still, our house uses only 51 percent of the energy of an
average home in the U.S. Per person, we consume only 22 percent.
Our key energy saving strategies:
HANG DRY CLOTHES. Dryers consume too much electricity. As a
former Italian exchange student, I noticed that only 3 percent of Italians
have clothes dryers. As I follow their lead, [I’m] saving approximately
10-12 percent in annual electricity use by hanging our clothes outdoors
in the summer and even indoors in the winter. For those who need a
backup plan during winter months, highly efficient heat pump dryers are
now available.
USE LOW FLOW SHOWER HEADS. I have a couple great ones that
use half the water of an average shower head but still provide a spa-like
showering experience. This saves oodles of energy from reduced hot
water usage.
INSTALL LEDS AND TURN OFF THE LIGHTS. [This is] the original, and
perhaps easiest, of all energy efficiency measures.
Use natural ventilation. Cross breezes in the summer cool our house and
we use air conditioning—from the ductless heat pumps—very sparingly.
WASH CLOTHES WITH COLD WATER. Even Consumer Reports says
it’s not necessary to use hot water.
INSULATE EVERYTHING. Houses that hold heat and cold when they’re
meant to mean way less energy for space conditioning. We added more
attic insulation, air sealed penetrations in walls, and any new construction
on our house went way over code with how we insulated.
These strategies may sound insignificant and/or cumbersome, but
they are impactful ways to substantially reduce energy consumption and
the climate impacts caused by it. Combined with our [other] efficient
electric technologies, “Tenet Three”—myself, my wife and our daughter—
becomes possible.

www.greenbuildermedia.com September/October 2020 GREEN BUILDER 21

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