Posted on 11/09/2009 7:58:39 AM PST by raybbr
AVON — - Bernard Zahren is a homeowner on top of Avon Mountain who has a problem most of us can envy.
Zahren's property on the north end of Montevideo Road has to-die-for views — vistas east and west to Rhode Island and the Berkshires. But real estate agents told him that his drab, poorly insulated contemporary house, dating to 1961, didn't live up to the unique standards of the site, and would be considered a worthless tear-down if he chose to sell the property.
So, last year, Zahren decided to rebuild, but with a twist. An entrepreneur who made his money tapping methane from landfills throughout the country, Zahren is a self-taught renewable energy advocate, and he was determined to build a "sustainable McMansion."
"On the kind of beautiful, relatively expensive property that this is, I knew that I couldn't get away from the expectation that this site deserves a 5,000-square-foot McMansion," Zahren said.
"But what's a McMansion? It's just a big, cheaply built, energy guzzler. I decided to prove that we could build a big house with great views and all the amenities that was a net-zero energy structure."
"We could demonstrate that you can have the comfort of a McMansion without being a carbon hog."
The $1 million renovation underway around the gutted shell of Zahren's house will have floor-to-ceiling windows along the southern exposures to help generate winter warmth. It will have energy-efficient heat exchangers for heating and air conditioning, and solar roof panels for hot water.
(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...
How many more subsidies is this guy getting for his little project?
it’s not just the windmill, it’s the solar panels for hot water, energy exchange for heat/air, entire side of the house made of heat intense windows for heating by sunlight in the winter months. It seems the windmill is just one of the many things he has used and if you ask me, this is very cool. Not for carbon credits or anything, just being completely self sufficient! That is awesome to me!
Another rich elitist preaching to the peasants.
It those heat intense windows produce enough heat to keep the house warm in the winter, just think how hot they will make it in the summer.
If it is designed with a summer overhang, the sun should not reach it. Only in the winter months, when the sun is lower on the hoizon, will it be able to receive the full impact of the sun’s energy.
I wonder how efficient AlGore’s McMansion is(21,000 sq ft)
The average house requires a 200A panel which is 48Kw. Unless he plans to use very few lights and no AC his well pump will use at least 2.5 Kw. A refrigerator will use another 1.5Kw. That does not include lighting and, I bet, his big screen TV's, computers, etc. I don't buy this "neutral" bit at all.
“The average house requires a 200A panel which is 48Kw.”
Yeah, but that’s for the peak load. Go slap an amprobe on it and see. You usually draw a small fraction of that. I think I read somewhere the utilites figure a couple kw/home on average.
Every single time I read about one of these green, zero-net energy using houses, it costs between 1M and 3M. And the people wealthy enough to build it get tax credits for their luxury house.
Let me know when they come up with models under 200K.
Not true. You house must be wired to accommodate the maximum load which means #2 gauge wire or bigger.
When I wired my house I had to calculate loads based on maximums not what I intended to use. It's always possible that your ref., well pump, dryer, A/C, lighting, etc. will run at the same time. THAT's what you have to plan on.
Sorry, meant to say 2 00 (double "O") wire.
Another post Yuppie CT type with I've got the solution I am one of the annointed ones, and more money than brains worse than Jay Leno...
Do any of you get what a high rent district this is? I worked in the state for years, this isn't were some machinist workin his butt off as a supplier for Electric Boat or Pratt lives, and he can't swing a windmill like that, that is if that job still exist and wasn't farmed out to Puerto Rico.
Nevermind waiter bring me the check, how about a reality check here.....
BTW, working with the Building Inspectors in CT or MA, Ha! half the folks here on FR would loose their minds!
Bingo. However, you are talking wiring, and he's talking consumption. You're both correct.
I don’t buy this “neutral” bit at all
As the owner of a Catamaran that sleeps eight (I use some for room for storage), it’s TOUGH to be neutral. Solar panels charge some but not enough for refridgeration and lighting so I am going to add a windmill to take it over the top.
Hot water only when the engine is run. Air conditioning only when tied to shore power, it’s not worth it to run a generator for air conditioning.
If CAP AND TRADE goes through, you’ll be rationing AMP-HOURS like I do when on the boat as it will become too expensive to live like we’re used to. My “big screen” on the boat is 19 inches.
I understand that. That means this guy's planning to consume only 15KW for a 5200sq/ft house? I don't buy it. If he's truly energy neutral he won't need a feed, right?
Obviously it’s of no use solving the energy crisis, but more power to him if he is willing to spend the money to make his own energy.
As long as it is realized that these are just solutions around the edges, I think this is a good thing. It’s only when the global warming politicians use this to impose impossible demands on everyone else and decrease our country’s supply of energy that this turns into a bad thing.
I was going to say that it’s fine as long as he pays for it himself. But I suppose he has a right to make use of the subsidies as long as they are there, like anyone else. The subsidies are bad and distorting, but the answer to that is to eliminate them, not refuse to take them. And in any case, they would only pick up a small part of the cost.
Most families are no where near 48kW on average. Or even at a typical peak. And they never hit 48kW and blow all their breakers at once.
Be nice if the media would do their job and present the whole story
Whump! ... Whump! ... Whump! Whump...whump...whump..whump.whump!
The lights brighten. “Sounds like the wind is picking up, Maude.”
Whump.whumpwhumpwhumpwhump!
“Whump...whump...whump....GAKK!...whump....whump...”
Got another bird, Martha.
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