Investigation of a New Zero-Energy Community

Today I went into Contra Costa County to investigate an infill community within a long-established neighborhood in the East Bay. The new development features 10 Zero-Energy Homes all priced around $2 million dollars. The majority of the homes are under construction still, and none are occupied yet although 5 have been sold already.
The homes include:

• Power: Passive solar, with a solar forced-air system (which uses water instead of gas to heat the air) and separate solar panels for water heating and electricity
  
• Interior: Bamboo and concrete flooring, double pane windows, aluminum backed plywood in the roof (for insulations, solar tubing in most rooms and closets (skylights) and Styrofoam-insulated walls
• Appliances: All appliances are energy-star certified.
• Water Use: Home features low-flow toilets and all drought tolerant plants.
  
• A Brand New Prius! (That's right. The home comes with a Prius!)
  

According to two contractors I spoke with, the community has been Gold Sealed by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which is their second highest approval rating.

I observed some of the on-site construction practices and was overall very impressed. The power-tools on site were all (apparently) using power from the solar panels on the existing homes, and nearly all the waste on site was recyclable.

(A power-saw drawing power from a solar home)

I was able to go into the attics of one of the homes and it was (due to efficient insulation) around 70 degrees, even though it was at least 90 outside.

My biggest question after observing the site was the impact of using Styrofoam insulation for so many different aspects of construction - not only was it used as insulation for the homes, but also for many of the molding-details, such as on fireplaces. Even though the homes are permanent structures, how was excess insulation or molding disposed of? While visiting the site, I found several pieces of discarded molding lying around, and even though they were not huge I questioned what the site looked like when the interior walls were being insulated. I will have to look further into this topic in a future post.

The contractors I spoke with said the developer was initially somewhat concerned with being able to sell these homes, since they were a noticeably higher price-point than the existing homes in the neighborhood, but these homes were newer and many of the buyers were convinced they would save exponentially in the long run (especially by being able to sell unused energy units back to PG&E). All things considered, in the current economy it is amazing that over half of these homes have sold already - something that CXP will definitely recognize.

If you would like to see other images from my visit to this new Community, click here:

Photo Gallery


Also, the home-builder's website is below:
http://www.clarum.com/HLE.html