Herons House is a Zero Energy Home 

1. Accept Mother Nature as an equal partner in all phases of the project. Use the resources provided, and let her guide your decisions.  Heating , lighting, and cooling can all be provided mostly, or entirely, by mother nature. This is the single most important energy saving item on this list.

 

2. Hire the best Architect and Landscape Architect you can find with an emphasis on your preferred style and environmental sustainability.  Insist that the owners, and the project team collaborate as equals rather than a subordinate hierarchal top down "chain of command".  Research sites such at the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

 

3. Solar site your home for, optimum solar thermal mass (heating and comfort), passive solar (heating and lighting) , and active solar photovoltaic, with  the longest part of the building having a southern or southwest exposure. Keep roof penetrations on north roof planes. Pre-solar wiring and conduit to south facing roof.

 

4. All Windows and doors manufactured from certified sustainable forested wood, or insulated frame vinyl or fiberglass, dual glazed, low emissive, argon or krypton filled. Fenestration designed to maximize airflow through an open floor plan thus negating or reducing the need for conditioned air.

 

5. Build with thicker walls and double or triple the insulation with a robust tight shell. Insulate between floors, caulk under plates and baseboards, avoid voluminous high spaces. 

 

6. Use a tank-less water heater, low flow faucets and toilets, and muti-zone programmable high efficiency heating units with oversized insulated sealed ducting.

 

7. Use compact fluorescent lighting, CFL’s,  dimmer switches, and dimmable CFL’s.  Where lights are on 10 hours or more a day,  use led lights for even higher efficiency.

 

8. Select only energy star appliances. Select certified sustainable forestry wood products for windows doors, cabinets, and floors.

 

9. It  is far cheaper to save energy than to make energy. Solar PV installation should only happen after conserving as much energy as possible.  75% to 80% of your utility bill can be saved by the top 8 items in this list at a fraction of the cost of Solar P.V.

 

10. Generate your own electricity with a solar generating facility sized appropriately to eliminate the last 20% to 25%.

As a general rule of thumb,  the average energy cost of home is approx. 9 cents a sq. ft per month.   Less for smaller, more for larger due to the added amenities in larger houses and the tiered rate structure.  For example, a 1000 sq ft house with four occupants, on average would have a total utility bill of $80 a month.   A 5000 sq ft home around $500 a month

From the total energy cost of a 5000 sq ft home of $500, you can save 15% just by the way you site your home using passive solar and natural light..  Save 20% by having a tight, well insulated and thick building envelope, 10% by using energy star appliances (40% more efficient than non energy star) 10% by tank-less water heater and efficient programmable heating units.  10% by using cfl’s (300% more efficient than incandescent lighting)   for a total of 70% or $360 a month reduction.  

The estimated construction cost of these improvements is approximately $15,000 or 2% of the construction cost. Solar electric PV to generate the remaining $140 a month would be approx 22k net to the homeowner.   

Herons House also provides the energy via its solar PV “Gas Station” on the roof to power the 2007 gem four passenger electric car.  The car is driven approximately 320 miles a month.  That is the equivalent of 20 gals of gas for a normal four seat car at $4.00 a gallon or $80 a month.  

The average electric use/bill for Herons’ House is $6

The average gas use/bill for Herons’ House is $20 

The total average monthly SDG&E  bill at Herons’ House is $26

The fuel savings, replaced by power "generated" by the house, for the electric car is $80 

Herons House is a net zero energy home, generating the same amount of energy or more than it uses.