More than ever before, the economic and environmental burdens of supporting our buildings presents a major challenge to each of us as individuals and to society at large... It is hard to imagine how any of us could have an impact on such large issues... Yet the management of our homes does present such an opportunity, because we can each reduce our energy consumption at home through careful planning and investment...

• Efficient homes are cheaper to operate... You'll save money, and you'll be less vulnerable to price fluctuations...

• Efficient homes have a smaller carbon footprint... You'll be doing your part to control climate change...

• Efficient homes are more comfortable... Your home will be less drafty and the temperature will be more even...

• Efficient homes are more valuable... You'll get top dollar at the time of sale for a well-designed home with small utility bills...

You can get a real warm, fuzzy, and highly self-righteous feeling from using renewable energy (RE), but what's it do for your wallet and well-being? A solar/wind electric system allows you to cover part, or all, of your electric needs yourself... Every watt-hour your system delivers is a watt-hour you don't have to buy from your utility company... Once installed and connected to the utility grid, your RE system will reliably shave your most expensive kilowatt-hours off the top of your bill every month... It offers shelter and protection from rising utility rates in the future... Your solar/wind system is going to last as long as your house, and it's going to reliably crank out watt-hours every day... Your house can have half the electric bill of your neighbors for it's entire life! What's that worth? If needed, your solar electric system can be configured to continue providing power to selected circuits during utility blackouts... This costs a little more, but in storm-battered locales, what are continually operating furnace, fridge, and lights worth to you?

Many states and utility companies are offering rebates, tax credits, or other incentives for installing solar and wind power... Some of these programs will cover more than 50 percent of the installed cost, which can bring simple payback periods well under ten years... Most folks will see longer payback periods, especially if you assume utility rates won't rise, which is unlikely... But every solar/wind electric system will eventually repay its installed costs, probably long before the warranties expire, and certainly decades before they wear out...

Solar water heating is a practical technology that has undergone several generations of development... These systems often have a lifespan of thirty years or more, depending on the quality of their components...

If you live in a climate where freezing temperatures are rare, a simple solar water-heating system backed up by your old storage water heater, may be your best water-heating choice... If you live in a cloudy or northern climate, solar water heating can still work for you, but it will cost more initially for a larger collector area, a design that includes freeze protection, and higher quality components....

To employ solar water heating successfully you need a good unshaded southern exposure on your house's roof to mount the solar collectors...

To get the best benefits of a solar water-heating system your home should be designed with a concentrated plumbing system, with the bathrooms and kitchen close to one another, and a central indoor location to install a solar storage tank... Solar water-heating system that are spread out (with too much distance among collectors, storage tank, and fixtures) tend to be less effective...

Solar water-heating systems are not inexpensive, and so are most economically viable if you live beyond the reach of natural gas lines... That's because households with gas water heat typically spend $200 to $300 per year on water heating, while households with electric water heat spend $400 to $600 per year... If electric heating is your only other option, your potential savings from solar water-heating will be much higher....

In 2012, plug-in electric vehicles will take major strides toward becoming a mature if small component of the overall vehicle fleet... The number of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles sold and the variety of options for consumers will rapidly expand... The fruits of the multi-billion dollar investment in recent years in lithium ion battery manufacturing facilities will provide abundance in capacity that could outpace demand, but any oversupply will not impact vehicle pricing...

Plug-in electric vehicles will begin to function as home appliances... In many households, the EV will be the device that consumes the most energy and power... In 2012, manufacturers of the vehicles - as well as charging equipment - will introduce technology that will enable EVs to interact with other home appliances... Automakers want EVs to good "citizens" in balancing their energy requirement with the rest of the building, which requires establishing communications with smart meters, home energy management devices, and other types of appliances... For example, an EV could coordinate with the clothes dryer or pool pump to make sure that the power consumption doesn't surpass a certain threshold... Other long term applications could include downloading music or movies to the vehicle... The first vehicles demonstrating this capability will likely be out in 2012, with commercialization soon to follow....

Certified Designers on Staff