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Article abstract • • •
| CASE HISTORY: Sungalow Shines |
This solar-powered, solar-heated bungalow demonstrates that building for low energy is all about efficient planning. |
By Alison Picher
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Dave Kreutzman of Next Generation Energy designed this house to receive solar warmth during the winter and avoid strong sun in the summer. The south-side windows have standard glazing to allow maximum solar heating in the wintertime. Window overhangs shade the south windows, minimizing summer heat gain. Photo by Seth Masia |
Imagine a sustainably built home whose selling price includes prepaid utilities for the life of the house. “Sungalow” — a bungalow powered by the sun — in Old Town Louisville, Colo., is that house. This near-zero-energy home is the latest realization of solar energy expert Dave Kreutzman’s lifelong work to demonstrate that net-zero-energy houses need not be complex or extravagant.
Kreutzman’s company, Colorado-based Next Generation Energy, built the three-bedroom home in conjunction with solar energy company Bella Energy, also in Colorado. The house relies on solar energy for its electricity and most of its heat and hot water. A GridPoint Connect Series appliance integrates balance of system components for the photovoltaic system with online energy management and backup energy storage. Gray water systems recycle up to 30 percent of water used in the house. The house is constructed almost entirely of sustainable wood products, many produced locally. And proof that a green house isn’t just for the extremely wealthy: The 1,500-square-foot home and 25- by 125-foot lot are valued at $599,000.
According to Kreutzman, building a near-zero-energy house primarily is about proper planning. “Solar energy systems are not something you attach onto a house like a limb; they have to be integrated seamlessly. The collection system, the distribution system and the storage system all have to work in unison. The passive and active solar designs have to balance.”
Despite advanced energy systems, the house is user-friendly. “It doesn’t have so many gadgets that the owner needs a 5-inch-thick manual to learn how to run the house,” says Kreutzman. “It runs automatically, with limited maintenance.”
One of Colorado’s original solar builders, Kreutzman has been promoting renewable energy since the oil crises of the 1970s. As the public’s interest in low-energy building renewed, he thought it was time to produce a house that would demonstrate his 30 years of experience in building energy-efficient homes.
“Ever since I was a kid, I envisioned [such] houses built conveniently in a factory, brought in by helicopter and dropped onto the lot,” Kreutzman recalls. “We wanted to show builders that you can modify a basic house plan and make it very, very energy efficient.”
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About the author: Alison Picher (apicher@mindspring.com) provides small companies with marketing communications including video, photography, market research and writing. She’s also a solar user, with photovoltaic panels producing 60 percent of her Boulder, Colo., home’s electricity.
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