Let me begin by saying this - I love the GM Volt. I think the innovation of being able to create a vehicle that runs primarily off stored electrical power with zero emissions for the majority of it's use is tremendous. Add to that the back-up gas engine to generate additional power when needed and not necessarily restrict the quality of living and independence that we are all used to. Add to that the fact that it is priced competitively with a mid-range sedan - I'm sold.

I am a homebuilder in Minnesota. Building houses is where my expertise and passions primarily lie. What is happening in the building industry is an increased focus on green building techniques, products, practices and standards. This has builders struggling to catch up with emerging technologies and standards of practice while home buyers are also struggling to understand what their own definition of "green" is.

There are several approaches - one is the approach of constructing the home with materials that are either made from recycled materials or are produced in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner (i.e. window manufacturer uses hydroelectric power). Virtually every single line item and component that goes into building a new home can be modified to ensure responsible practices are being used.

While these are responsible and definitely interesting, it becomes more of a boutique option than one that works for the general public. The return on investment is hard to fathom for most since spending more on a product that will not save you any $$ from a monthly expense point of view is not feasible for most buyers entering into their new home purchase and design. A responsible builder will make choices that do not cost any more to the home buyer but are environmentally friendly. Some examples might be low-VOC paints, formeldahyde-free insulation, etc. These conclusions and decisions are easily reached while some of the others may become cost-prohibitive. Green homes are by no means a one size fits all scenario. A good builder will spend time in the design process educating the buyer on the best values for the best options based on what the homeowner is interested in creating.

Another approach to green building is to focus on the energy usage of the building so that it would use less energy and therefore cost less to operate on a monthly basis. The advances in building theory and products available are becoming so much more mainstream and available that builders can build a high-performance home for a minimal cost difference. If a builder can create a home that does not have the heat loss or low efficiency mechanical systems that are typical even among newer homes, the payback on a monthly budget is substantial.

I would compare the progression and advancement of building science to the history of the internal combustion engine. ICE's have been refined and refined to the point of creating more power using fuel more efficiently. In the same way, residential codes have advanced tremendously. Virtually any home built today that has a permit pulled and has responsible inspectors verifying the different stages of completion could easily outperform homes of similar sizes from generations past with regards to structural integrity and well-insulated building envelopes.

However, like the ICE, homes are still dependent on outside power to run them such as gas/propane and electricity. Stay with me, I'm going somewhere great...

Alternative energy sources for an individual home are nothing new. Some of the front runners are wind and/or solar, ground source heat pumps, etc. These technologies in the past were not efficient, expensive, and somewhat unreliable. The systems that are available today are worlds better, and more attainable as it is now becoming possible to include the costs of these systems with the mortgage for the home. While these technologies have struggled in the past to put out enough energy to keep up with today's family, lowering the actual building's energy usage makes these options a reality.

For example, a typical home in the US uses anywhere from 15 - 30 kwh's per day. By using the building structure technologies and packages we have now, we can lower the typical usage of a home to literally 1/2 that figure per day. Yes. There are so many examples of homeowners that have brought in their gas and electric bills for January - you would think they lived in TX, not MN! Now when the house is not using as much energy to heat the air, the hot water, and power electronics and appliances, etc - an alternative power source like solar or wind becomes substantial enough in capacity to handle virtually all the needs of the home plus some. Still attached to the grid for electricity, tank for LP storage, but using these only when needed, i.e. extreme cold, dark and no wind, etc.

Now add Volt. Add 2!! Electrical circuit in the garage on an off-peak circuit from utility company (here in MN are around $0.08/kwh) = pocket change to drive to and from work with zero emissions. If the home's energy systems are putting out enough electricity to charge the Volt while the family sleeps in a home that is not using the furnace or heat pump because there is virtually no heat loss through it's walls, then all the better!

I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch, but imagine being able to live and drive (our 2 major uses of energy) without reliance on outside power. I was not around for the gas lines of the 70's but what if rationing happened again in the future? Chevy Volt puts within reach a level of energy independence that formerly was never possible when that automobile technology is combined with emerging home technology.

So here we are, within a year or two of being able to convert our own families to complete energy independence with virtually no emissions for virtually the same costs as our current home and current vehicles. That future would not have been possible without the advances of extended range EV's like GM Volt. The fact that this is going to be produced relatively locally? Even better.

Thoughts?? I'd love to hear yours - Sam

Great post! I really enjoyed the perspective from a person in the homebuilding business. I

Those are great points Texas! Let me comment on each:
1) Yes! Our homes are ridiculously sized today. Thankfully many green certification programs have a table for points requirements which are based on the size efficiency of the home. For example, a 2000 square ft 3 bedroom home (pretty average) would require 530 points to qualify, while a 3000 square foot 3 bedroom home would require 620 points or so? So as the home gets more decadent in size, the rest of the house would need to seriously compensate with technologies and efficiencies to justify it. Interesting stat here: http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/us-home-size.html - if you cut and paste you'll see that average house size in the last 30 years has gone up approximately 65% in the US. yikes - that is out of control. I find that size many times overcompensates for poor design. An intelligent layout can accomplish a tremendous amount of comfort and function without huge size. The McMansion is finished.
2)Passive solar radiation is such an important concept. Site selection and the orientation of the building are critical elements. Standard rule of thumb is to have your long wall on the home to be within 20 - 30% of due south. On your east and west walls orient window placements so you can also allow for passive cooling or cross-ventilation. On a summer day that is not ridiculously hot out, I would prefer a breeze through the home any day over stifled and still air-conditioned space.
3) We may differ on this opinion. Not because I agree with the concept of wasting energy in unused spaces, but because green technology in homes should create a more comfortable indoor air quality and living environment. I believe that most people would like to live more efficiently provided it does not require a tremendous shift in their habits or comfort. I know for a fact that the best of both worlds are now available. For that matter the GM Volt engineers could overcome a huge electrical draw by simply asking the public to wear warm clothing when they get in their vehicle and allow it to warm up at a much slower pace as it gets going, but I believe the people willing to do that are few and far between unless, like in Japan, they've been raised accustomed to that standard.
2nd 3) Smart controls, or integrated total home controls are essential to remote power systems as well as advanced HVAC technologies. A buyer can spend a fortune on smart systems ($60k!!), but there are some excellent control systems that allow a person to adjust for peak shaving, off-peak usage, even put priority levels on certain circuits for a fairly reasonable price. Storage is where I really would like to see some new technologies. The existing storage units are way way too expensive and rather limited. Some of them are designed to store cheaper off-peak energy and supply the home during more expensive times, but at least in MN, the power company will do that for us if we're on their off-peak system. They control those circuits remotely - excellent value. I've been very excited to see what EEStor has coming up as well as AES for home storage options. See http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/07/25/altairnano-and-aes-collaborating-on-home-energy-storage/ - pretty amazing stuff coming up and for much more affordable prices.
4) guess I sort of covered that in last paragraph.

With regards to my house of the future, I'll have to describe that in another reply since I've run out of time... it is definitely a constant evolution but I've got 2 in design stages right now.

Sam G and Texas, thank you very much for the very informative and thoughtful posts. Unfortunately most people in NA think that cheap energy is a godsend right.

While we must keep improving energy efficiency of our homes and transportation means, there are bright starts in the horizon... Li-Ion batteries (A123) and high-efficiency solar cells (UoD/DuPont's 40%+). By putting them together we can keep our home off-grid most of time, if not all the time, especially in the sunshine states. Even to-day's 15% or so efficiency the combination of solar cells and a Li-Ion battery pack reduces the burden on the grid a lot during peak hours.

Texas, keeping our home off-grid is a much simpler solution to to-day's dumb (as opposed to intelligent), heavily burdened grid. Chances are your $50 worth of energy is just dumped into the ground most of the time.

All the best,

I want a Volt R-EV and a French Manor Net Zero home built to LEED Platinum standards. Is that too greedy?

Ha! Amen - zero energy is always the goal, and I've found that it is only truly possible in states without winter, unless you really are dropping some serious cash on the project, which we've not done to date in MN. The most cash folks are dropping are for total home controls and geothermal systems with ground source heat pump loops - they can get kinda spendy depending on your needs. The gentleman I'm thinking of wanted his ground source heat pump to radiate through a wirsbo floor heat system - through every room of his 4000 sq ft walkout rambler. That HVAC system combined with the plumbing ran about $65k.

French manor - hip roofs, chimneys, tons of bumpouts, dormers, gables, love it love it. Also a great candidate for timber frame so you've got my vote, and with regards to LEED, an excellent program albeit expensive standards. In MN we have several to choose from, unless a buyer is really set on a certain qualification, we typically incorporate the standards they are interested from a combination of certifications without the official stamp. I think that will change to 100% certification in the next few years as the re-sale market begins to recognize them.

Your idea about getting into smaller homes is a good one.My electric bill at about 10 cents a kwh is $115 a month for a 1300 sq ft home.You don't necessarily have to have high tech devices to cut down on power usage. Be a lazy environmentalist. When you leave your empty house for the day turn down the thermostat and raise the blinds(passive solar). Replace all light bulbs with energy savers. Do close off unused rooms(but raise the blinds).The money we saved, we are using to replace some windows with energy efficient ones.On the dishwasher press ONE button(no heat dry). We replaced our old big water heater with a smaller high efficiency one(or buy a tankless, heat on demand water heater). I initially did this to save bucks for multiple college tuitions, but since all but one of my kids are done with school, I can use the additional house current for a new Volt.Oh, and don't forget to turn off the lights. And "Close the door, are you trying to heat the neighborhood?" as my parents used to say:) John M.

With all that is going on, our dependence on foreign oil, the imbalance of our trade (directly tied to oil), the falling dollar (tied to oil) and the middle east foreign policy (a total disaster tied to oil) it is easy for some to conclude America's glory days of global leadership are behind her.

I don't think it is, I think America's glory days are yet in front of her.

If everyone used half the oil they use today you would see the price of oil collapse to the point of where they would have trouble giving the stuff away.

The collapse of oil prices would tear the teeth out of those that would be America's enemies. Imagine for a moment if Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran didn't matter. Imagine for a moment if we didn't need their oil. In 5 years if 75% of the cars on the road had the capability to get 150 mpg imagine the impact that would have in the price of oil and our balance of trade.

When the volt becomes available I'm going to buy two of them. We have two vehicles in our family and I did a little study on what the combined fuel use would be and if gasoline were $5 a gallon I could pay for both from the fuel savings I would realize.

My wife might need two or three fills a years. Literally. I would need more maybe between one and two 10 gallon fills a month. Sure beats the 15 to 30 gallons a week I consume now.

With the collapse of the cost of oil farming would be much cheaper, tractors must have diesel, and OFEC "Organization of Food Exporting Countries" might replace OPEC.

Let OPEC countries deal with us when they are hungry.

The only thing stopping us is the courage to make the switch on a national level.

If everyone used half the oil they use today you would see the price of oil collapse to the point of where they would have trouble giving the stuff away.


Nice speech Art. Makes me want to join a parade. This one comment you made however got me thinking. Don’t you think this is exactly what we DON'T want. Why? Oil is such a beautiful drug. It's like cocaine. Pure energy. The only way to keep people from using oil is to keep it expensive. If the price dropped back down we addicts would go right back to using it. We need help. We need intervention. It will take a long time for us to get off of oil. Almost like an overweight person trying not to eat all those delicious foods. They’re everywhere and they’re cheap. That's why such a small percentage of drug addicts and an even smaller percentage of overweight people break the habit. That’s why I also support the idea to keep the price of oil high, even if it’s artificial. Look what has happened:

1) People are talking about our energy problems and the options. People are becoming educated.

2) People are wanting to do something. Forums around the world are heating up.

3) People are buying smaller cars. Check out last months sales figures. One dealer said it was the biggest change in his 31 years as a salesman.



The situation is similar to the Middle East oil embargo the US experienced all those years ago. Afterward, people used less energy. Unfortunately, the price fell and we quickly got right back to the same condition.

I watched a YouTube video a while back where the speaker likened us to yeast. We multiply until either our energy source is gone or that we pollute our environment until we are all dead. That same speaker then asked the question, “Are we smarter than yeast? I guess we’ll find out.”

Alternative energy sources for an individual home are nothing new. Some of the front runners are wind and/or solar, ground source heat pumps, etc. These technologies in the past were not efficient, expensive, and somewhat unreliable. The systems that are available today are worlds better, and more attainable as it is now becoming possible to include the costs of these systems with the mortgage for the home. While these technologies have struggled in the past to put out enough energy to keep up with today's family, lowering the actual building's energy usage makes these options a reality.


I live in a rural area in the Northeast, and my furnace uses heating oil (basically diesel fuel). I burn 180 gallons per month in the winter. This is already the vast majority of fuel that I burn, and with my Volt, it will just be a bigger fraction of the problem. I'm looking at trying to reduce this by burning more wood and perhaps other biomass. Can you recommend a ground source heat pump system? We have a very reliable high volume aquifer that we already use for drinking water. Thanks in advance.

I argee with Texas 100%. I says we are smarter then yeast. I can't see people have a one track mind when it come with value. It got to the point where we are searching a better way to get energy. Once that ball moving, there is no way to back off. Even if the oil did drop up to the point. I'm sure many are now to the point of "green" thinking regardless of the value. It may slow down the moving ball cause of the oil drop, but not stopping the ball. As long people are still addicts to oil, It will stay high. The smarter and rich country do the first move into green. Hopefully help the poor and not as smart country to get into the green thinking down the road.

Joshua,

The current generation of ground-source heat pumps are about the most efficient way on earth to heat/cool using only electricity. They're incredibly quiet, reliable, etc. If you have a well, you will need at least 2-2.5 gpm for every ton of nominal capacity and you must have a way to dump the water continuously. Given today's oil prices, it would easily pencil out, especially if you add in the air conditoning savings, too. If your well isn't big enough and you have to use the "vertical bore" method, it depends on what the bore contractor will charge. A lot of them are off drilling gas and oil exploration holes, so the price has gone up.

A few things - First, I recommend investing heavily on tightening up your existing home envelope. Replace windows with low-e dual pane, beef up insulation throughout, caulk, weatherstrip, etc. GSHP's are expensive per ton capacity and you want to connect as few tons as possible.

Second - have your HVAC contractor do an actual heating/cooling load calculation based on window areas, U values, R-values, etc. A lot of the old-school residential HVAC contractors just use rules of thumb and end up oversizing. That worked OK in the fossil-fuel era, but not for GSHP systems. For a comfortable and economic system, they have to right-sized using actual engineering principles.

Finally, if you have an existing oil furnace hooked up to duct work and you want to re-use the ductwork, you will want to have an HVAC contractor test the ductwork for leaks and seal up all the ductwork to 6% leakage. It may need additional duct insulation, at least R-8, if in an uninsulated space. Because cooling frequently requires more air than heating, make sure the contractor checks all your duct sizes. You can get away with small ducts and low air flow if you have an oil furnace pumping out 140 degree air, but GSHP's only make 100 degree air. You have to have big enough ducts to allow enough air to keep the place warm with the cooler supply air.

FYI, you can get a feature called a "desuperheater" which captures waste heat during the cooling season to pre-heat your domestic hot water. It can also help heat your hot water in the winter, but it removes some of the unit's heating capacity. It is not free during the winter.

I'm convinced that GSHP's will become the dominant heating/cooling platform in the post-fossil fuel era, as they are 100% electric and in heating mode, multiply one electric input energy into 5 units of heat energy. In cooling mode, they can provide up to 30 BTU's/hour of cooling per watt of power. Conventional new AC units are in the 10-11 BTU/watt-hour range.

[QUOTE=Sam G;654]
I am a homebuilder in Minnesota.


hastings! i’ve been in fl for the past 23 yrs, but i lived in mn for 15 yrs prior. mostly in brooklyn park. once in awhile i stick my head in the freezer just to reminisce :-) (don’t let it get around, but i actually kind of miss it up there, especially the BWCA)

Finally, if you have an existing oil furnace hooked up to duct work and you want to re-use the ductwork, you will want to have an HVAC contractor test the ductwork for leaks...

I'm convinced that GSHP's will become the dominant heating/cooling platform in the post-fossil fuel era, as they are 100% electric and in heating mode, multiply one electric input energy into 5 units of heat energy.

Right now, my house has hot water baseboard heating. Are GSHPs only good with forced air? I'm thinking about keeping my oil furnace as a backup or to supplement the GSHP. I already have a well for drinking water. Can this well serve a dual purpose - drinking water and heating water?

Converting from my Honda Civic to the Volt is going to cost ~15k and save me ~300 gallons per year. I currently burn 1000 gallons per year to heat my house. I think that electrifying the furnace is not as sexy as electrifying the automobile, but it makes just as much sense.

There are already RAV4 EV owners who are driving off grid, and perhaps close to living off grid.

http://www.evnut.com/rav_owner_gallery.htm