Zero-Energy Housing in Lubbock
I am one of those people who likes to arrive at a movie theater right as the trailers are finishing and the regular movie starts. My girlfriend is just the opposite: she enjoys waiting in line to be the first inside to pick the very best seats in the whole theater. Last night, we saw “I am Legend,” which is brand-new, so we had to do it her way. And I’m glad we did, because I saw an ad on the big screen for a local architectural firm that specializes in zero-energy homes.
The Lubbock-based Universal Design Consortium confirms what I have believed for years: there is a strong business case for sustainability. The folks at UDC can design you a zero-energy home that may even make you money each month. From their website:
WHY PAY FOR ELECTRICITY WHEN YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN?
The series 007 Zero-Energy House is designed specifically to reduce or completely eliminate the home owners utility bills, provide handicap accessibility, provide emergency protection from storms or terrorist attack, and produce a high resale return to the home owner.
The series 007 Zero-Energy Prototype takes the nations best selling residential floor plan and makes it a zero-energy home. Want to customize your house plan- No problem, virtually any house plan can be adopted to be a zero-energy home if the architect addresses energy conservation and energy production at the design stage.
How is this done? The architect must address the geographic location of the project, soil conditions, average environmental effects, energy needs of the client and the budget of the client. It may be possible to advance beyond zero-energy to a point where your home actually makes you money each month by producing more electricity than you can consume.
Their zero-energy housing page is a great place to start learning about all the technologies available today that can lower your energy costs and decrease your carbon footprint: insulated concrete forms, geothermal heating/cooling, grey water return system, automatic irrigation, solar panels, and energy-efficient lighting are covered. Their most popular design even includes a shelter room that can withstand an F3 tornado.
If you or someone you know in the Lubbock area is in the market to build a new home, be sure to check out UDC and consider the zero-energy approach!
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