GREG'S TROY GARDENS BLOG
Green-fordability
Thu, Jan 17 2008 07:49 | Sustainable Living Education Center
Green is great -- but when it comes to constructing super energy-efficient buildings, green can be very expensive. Solar PV panels, geothermal systems, LED lighting, etc -- are fantastic technologies, but at present they are very, very expensive.
Our next project for Troy Gardens is pretty ambitious -- we're going for a net zero energy community center -- and we want to do it using conventional materials and technologies as much as possible. Part of this is that our finances are limited. But mostly, we are interested in doing a demonstration project that other builders can borrow from -- and that means avoiding the super-expensive stuff.
One thing we are beginning to look at is Passivhaus, a cost-effective approach to building ultra-low energy buildings that work in cold climates like ours. Here's the link to the Wikipedia entry
The better you insulate the building -- and the better you daylight it -- the less you need to depend on expensive cutting-edge technologies to reduce energy consumption. Of course, you still need to balance esthetics in there -- which creates some trade-offs that can be challenging at times.
The other new element for us with this building is that we are going for LEED-certification. LEED is starting to catch on in this area, which is a great trend to see, and we want to go for LEED certification for our projects wherever we can. Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry about the US Green Building Council, which created the LEED system.
Our next project for Troy Gardens is pretty ambitious -- we're going for a net zero energy community center -- and we want to do it using conventional materials and technologies as much as possible. Part of this is that our finances are limited. But mostly, we are interested in doing a demonstration project that other builders can borrow from -- and that means avoiding the super-expensive stuff.
One thing we are beginning to look at is Passivhaus, a cost-effective approach to building ultra-low energy buildings that work in cold climates like ours. Here's the link to the Wikipedia entry
The better you insulate the building -- and the better you daylight it -- the less you need to depend on expensive cutting-edge technologies to reduce energy consumption. Of course, you still need to balance esthetics in there -- which creates some trade-offs that can be challenging at times.
The other new element for us with this building is that we are going for LEED-certification. LEED is starting to catch on in this area, which is a great trend to see, and we want to go for LEED certification for our projects wherever we can. Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry about the US Green Building Council, which created the LEED system.
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