Boulderspace

Net zero energy homes are all the rage today in the green building world. The challenge is to build a house that will produce as much renewable energy as the house and it’s occupants will be using. But not all net zero energy (NZE) houses achieve the goal the same way. Many still burn natural gas for cooking and fireplaces. Others will even heat with natural gas, and overproduce enough PV generated electricity to offset the carbon generated by the gas.

The future will require houses that don’t burn fossil fuels at all. After all, there will come a time when the grid will be entirely green, in Boulder probably sooner rather than later, and at that point if one had decided to heat or cook with gas then there would still be a 19th century style fossil fuel burner in those houses, and the offsets would have no effect.

The NZE House will meet the NZE goal without offsets. Designed and presently being built by Architropic, in collaboration with Morningstar Homes, the house is scheduled for completion for early fall. It goes without saying that an NZE house should have a high performance, well-insulated air-tight envelope, with great windows. To generate power and heat, the NZE House will have a 7.2 KW PV array for electrical needs, and a 140 tube array of solar thermal evacuated tubes for space heating and domestic hot water. Instead of gas, there will be a magnetic induction cook top and an EPA certified wood burning fireplace (not needed for heating, but for lifestyle). The backup for heating and domestic hot water will be achieved with efficient state of the art electrical devices during extended cold snaps.

The other major goal for the house was to show that a very high performance house could also be architecturally distinctive. All the features that make it NZE have been integrated into a richly complex, modern design. And yet this is achieved without hiding the technology- all the solar panels are proudly displayed and integrated into the most visible elevation of the house. In addition, the passive solar south elevation overhangs are also carefully designed into the modern composition of the house. And even though the envelope of the house functions like a thermos, there is a generous amount of glass to bring in light and views.

In the relatively near future, all houses will be net zero energy. The NZE House will help define the model for that future in our climate zone. It will be on the CRC Boulder Tour of Solar and Green Homes on Sunday October 5th.

Tags: Architropic, CRC Boulder Tour of Solar and Green Homes, Morningstar Homes, net zero energy, THE NZE HOUSE