Re: Cost of Building Green & payback when savings
From: Robert Heinich (robertenocommons.org)
Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 08:26:51 -0700 (PDT)
>>> Robert Heinich can probably remember the consultant's name.? 
I believe Jessie is referring to 
   Arnie Katz
   Advanced Energy Corporation
   www.advancedenergy.org
   909 Capability Drive
   Suite 2100
   Raleigh NC 27606
   (919) 857-9000

BTW, here is a link on the economic analysis of geothermal heat pumps:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/rea_issues/html/geotsurv.html

-Robert Heinich
 Eno Commons Cohousing
 www.enocommons.org
 Durham, NC
 where we had a herpetologist come out to talk about snakes and on our
 search to find snakes on our property, we found turtles!  (I will post
 pictures soon.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <dahako [at] aol.com>
To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 7:15 AM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Cost of Building Green & payback when savings


> 
> Hi-
> 
> At both Eno Commons and Eastern Village, we employed professionals who gave 
> us that information based on our site, climate, house design, etc.? (Plus, I 
> think your HVAC choices may have payback over time based on lower power 
> bills, but the concept does not apply the same way to counter tops.)
> 
> In both cohousings mentioned, we used geothermal heating/cooling.? Eno 
> Commons is a mix of single stand-alone homes and paired townhomes.? Each unit 
> has its own well and its own indoor WaterFurnace heat pump.? The homes are 
> well insulated, have windows and window films designed to take advantage of 
> their location on a long southern slope, high thermal mass in the floors and 
> siding, metal roofs with ventilation that draws from the under-eave soffits 
> out through a ridge vent, and good thermal isolation between the roof and 
> indoor ceilings.? Robert Heinich can probably remember the consultant's 
> name.? He was very helpful, and he has also done work elsewhere in North 
> Carolina figuring out how to "green" affordable housing for not too much 
> money.? We paid some attention to indoor air quality (mostly be picking low 
> off-gassing finishes), but we stuck to mainstream market stuff for the most 
> part because we wanted to control costs (though green costs are coming down 
> now).? Oh, and we ultimately picked geothermal not for its energy savings, 
> but because it meant a much quieter neighborhood, without air conditioning 
> condensors or heat pumps outside each home.
> 
> Eastern Village is a bunch of condo apartments in a single building.? We have 
> geothermal here on a shared loop(s?) with each unit having its own heat pump 
> and controls.? I don't know what brand our units are here, but they are 
> definitely louder than our Water Furnace was.? Work OK though.? We are LEED 
> Silver certified, just a couple points off LEED Gold.? We have an extremely 
> high efficiency hot water system, lots of insulation, fancy windows, low VOC 
> paint, real linoleum and bamboo flooring, a green roof (with gazebo and 
> playground), and lots more I can't remember. Our construction advocate (aka 
> owners' rep) was Stan Serson, and he also handled the set-up for LEED 
> certification along with my neighbor Kara Strong and the green architecture 
> team she works with (offices in the commercial side of Eastern Village.
> 
> Jessie Handforth Kome
> Eastern Village Cohousing
> Silver Spring, Maryland
> "Where the flower boxes overflow with blooms and the courtyard is a green 
> oasis full of kids and cats and neighbors."

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