Yes, I’m dreaming of a Zero Energy house.  Weird huh?  Okay maybe not a true Zero Energy, but a Energy Efficient house which would mean I could have a larger house that will use 25% of the energy of a normal house.  And with the ever increasing costs of Electricity and Gas, why not.  The expenses are now virtually the same as a standard home.

 What?  How?

I don’t have all the details yet, I am still collecting info.  But here are some odd things that are available.

1. SynBlue from www.SynLawn.com, which is a 10 year synthetic lawn and before you gasp in horror, this lawn was used at the Wynn Casino in Vegas.  Most people assume that it is a very manicured lawn. It will not be torn up by my Lab/Rott and won’t die from the shade trees, and won’t need water.

2. Recycled Glass Counter tops and floors from http://www.enviroglasproducts.com.  These counter tops have the look and feel of granite.  Made with pieces of glass that have been sorted into colors and a specific type of morter they can look however you like.  You can choose morter color and glass color and size. The floors are just as gorgeous.

3. www.trex.com porch or deck.  This porch will look like wood without the “greying” so I can have a beautiful red porch forever without having to repeatedly stain it.  These boards are actually stained recycled plastic, made to look like wood, and color dyed throughout.  This will last far longer than an average wood porch and because they actually are plastic there are more creative designs can be created. Like this leaf design:

4. A metal roof, like from www.muellerinc.com I actually have the copper roof right now.  A true 20 year roof unlike shingles.  If there is hail, the dents will pop out in the heat.  They are fire resistant, and reflective of the sun, very useful in Texas.

The rest I just know about, I haven’t researched yet

5. A geothermic heat/air unit.  This unit has about 20 feet of pipe 6 foot underground, to allow the ground to naturally heat and cool the air because 6 foot down maintains a standard temp. 

6. A tankless water heater, which instantly heats the water as it comes to you.  This technology still needs tweaking.  But it is basically just a heater that heats the water as it comes to you.

7. ICF Insulated Concrete Forms, these walls are specifically poured on site.  They are extremely efficent in retaining internal temperature.  And the exterior can be styled to look like adobo, rock (like a castle) brick and more.  These walls will be fire resistant for 3 hours. One home survived Katrina while the houses on either side were demolished.

8.  Vinyl Triple Glazed Double Low E windows, aluminum conduct heat and cold, so some benefits are lost.  Vinyl won’t need painting and lasts longer with better energy efficiency.

9.  Rubber Mulch, which looks like regular wood mulch but it is made from “chewed” up tires.  So the tires are then dyed to various wood shades, like red wood, oak, or colored mulch.  While it costs 2 to 3 times the price of regular mulch it lasts a lifetime. 

So far that is all the info I have.  Weird huh, back to the 70’s with the Mother Earth News.

Check out Dilbert’s zero energy house here: (Yes the comic strip) www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/duh/