This weekend, I attended the annual North / South Carolina AIBD conference in Myrtle Beach, SC. For the past several meetings and conferences, I have noticed a theme: Green Building Concepts. Love it or hate it, Green is here to stay. I have always tried to approach "Green" design and building from a simple approach; similar to how our past builders constructed homes over 100 years ago. They did not have all of the bells and whistles that we now have today, such as auto-sensing light fixtures, geothermal, solar voltaics, et cetera. While some of these new approaches can save the home owner money on a monthly basis, others are more for home owners who like the idea of going green and are willing to pay more to do so. I tend to focus on the former. I want to try and save the home owner money in the long run. Implementing green technology to a home that does not pay dividends, ultimately saving money over time, does not make sense to me. Also, the home owner has to look at the timespan the house will be occupied. If it is a starter home, and the plan is to live in it for a short amount of time (less than 10 years), then the home owner needs to look if the initial investment will be recouped once the house is sold. If not, then the up-front cost is not worth it.
Over several weeks, I will talk about Green design, and green technology. Some concepts are very simple and have been around for awhile, but seemed to have been lost over time. Other concepts are fairly new and promising. One such concept that is fairly new to the residential construction industry is geothermal heating and cooling. The concept is very easy and has been around for years in commercial applications. Rather than explain the process in this blog, I am providing a link produced by Water Furnace, which introduces the concept in a short five minute video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbiq_yd-znM&autoplay=1&fs=1
The reason that geothermal is so attractive is that there are Federal and NC incentives that make it affordable for new home construction. In North Carolina, up to 65% of the cost of the system can be recouped by the home owner. So for example, a geothermal system costing $25,000, will cost around $9,000. It is always good to check with a tax consultant to assess your actual savings. But considering a standard heating and cooling unit can run around $7000, the homeowner will be spending an additional $2,000 for the geothermal system. The primary energy cost of a home is the heating and cooling cost. A geothermal system can reduce a home's power bill by up to 60-70%. One home owner that I have talked to cut his monthly power bill from $200 to $70. For a conservative estimate, let's say a homeowner can reduce the power bill by $100 per month, on average. That is an annual savings of $1200. It will take the homeowner less than two years to recoup the additional $2000 investment. From that point on, it is money in the bank. Now realize, that this quick savings can only be done through the incentive programs offered by the Federal and NC government. Over time, as this technology gains a foothold, and becomes more mainstream, hopefully the cost of the system will decrease. Not all states offer incentives, so again, check with your tax consultant.
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