ZERO ENERGY DESIGN® CUSTOM HOME SERVICES

 

Since 1979, Natural Energy Applied Research and Zero Energy Design® have developed HUNDREDS OF NEAR-ZERO ENERGY HOME DESIGNS that have been built across the U.S., Canada, and Australia, in every type of climatic zone. Each one is uniquely designed for its site-specific and owner-budget / lifestyle objectives.

30 years of Beautiful ZERO ENERGY HOME DESIGNS and HOME PLANS, Passive Solar Heating and Cooling Architecture. Free Fuel Abundant Energy Lifestyle in Complete Harmony with Nature.

No Petroleum, Gas, Coal, Alcohol, Biodiesel, Nuclear Waste Disposal Problems, or other man-made climate change Global Warming Greenhouse Gases.

Zero Energy Design ® (ZED) is a joyful, sustainable, bright-and-beautiful, cost-effective lifestyle - lived in complete harmony with nature. ZED’s ultimate goal is to live well, and contribute to the productivity of society, WITHOUT wasting any non-renewable, unhealthy, polluting resources, like burning petroleum (liquids or gas), coal, wood, or relying on risky nuclear power, with complex byproduct-disposal and negative environmental impacts. ZED offers a clear path to cost-effectively reduce Global Warming and eliminate the modern American Energy Crisis in only a few short years.

Since 1979, Natural Energy Applied Research and Zero Energy Design ® have developed HUNDREDS OF NEAR-ZERO ENERGY HOME DESIGNS and HOME PLANS that have been built across the U.S., Canada, and Australia, in every type of climatic zone. Each one is uniquely designed for its site-specific and owner-budget / lifestyle objectives.

 

 

ZED Experience Counts!   Questions for Your Architect/Builder

Here are a few questions to ask architects and builders, to help you discover how well informed, or totally clueless they really are. All of the answers are described in detail in our ZED book.

For the location where you want to build a new home:
What are the primary mechanisms of heat transfer? How do they apply to a home?
What types of insulation work best? (conduction, convection, radiation) Where and why?
What is the sun’s azimuth at sunrise and sunset, summer and winter?
What is the sun’s peak altitude summer and winter? (47o difference) Why is this critical?
What are the annual degree-days of heating and cooling requirement?
What is the role of enthalpy in residential human comfort control? (sensible temp. + humidity)
How large should the window overhangs be on the four sides of a Zero Energy Home?
What is the annual average BTU/sq .ft./day solar gain potential?
What are the typical monthly insulation levels?
What is the monthly diurnal relative humidity? Why are each of the 4 seasons important?
What is the optimum solar collector angle for photovoltaic panels?
What is the optimum solar collector angle for domestic hot water panels?
What is the optimum solar collector angle for 12-month swimming pool panels?
What is the optimum angle and orientation for passive solar glass?
What is the optimum angle and orientation for a skylight? (Trick question – NEVER USE!)
How can you heat the north walls of a house in the winter without fans or electricity?
Where should the laundry room be located? How should it be designed? Why?
How does a thermo siphon work? Where or when should it be used? (solar hot water)
What are the lowest and highest priced walls of a Zero Energy Home?
What is the ambient temperature of the earth? How is this useful?
Is it acceptable to run plumbing or electric wiring in exterior walls? (NEVER!)
List the PRIORITIES of energy consumption that must be reduced in a Zero Energy Home.
HOW do you reduce each of the higher energy consumption priorities?
What are the fundamentals of passive solar cooling? Do they work in Florida? (YES!)
What are the essential elements of a Zero Energy Home roof in a hot humid climate?
How should a ceiling fan be operated? When and why? (Only when people are in the room!)
How did they make ice in the summer in the 1800’s, before Edison electrified America?
List the advantages of a thermal buffer zone over a conventional single shell house. (MANY!)
What forms of lighting are the most flexible, with the lowest total cost of ownership?
How would digital sensors and a $1 microprocessor be useful for room lighting?
What is the best way to bring abundant daylight into a cheery home? (south glass)
When was solar city community planning originated? Why and where? (2400 years ago)
What culture invented glass? What were their earliest lessons learned? (NOT on west)
How do you protect against lightning? How do you protect against fire? (metal framing)
How can you eliminate termites and rot forever without using any toxins? (metal framing)
How do you reduce or eliminate allergens, toxins, and carcinogens in homes? (MANY!)
What is the primary trigger of asthma? How is it made much worse by your clothes dryer?
What is the most cost effective way to protect against hurricane damage? (several)
What is the difference between good windows and bad windows? (complex answer)
Where should the windows on a house be located? What alternatives do we have?
How large should windows in different locations be? (big, small, or not at all)
How would digital sensors and a $1 microprocessor be useful around windows?
How many ways do you know to reduce heat flow through windows? (ZED has well over 100)
How many ways do you know to use sunshine to cool a house in a hot humid climate?
How do you cool and dehumidify a house with no energy bills when the sun is not shining?
What is the primary source of Global Warming? (CO2) Will your new home make it worse?
What is it like living in a Zero Energy Home?  When did you build YOUR first one? (1979)
List the Zero Energy Home incentive programs available to ME. (http://www.dsireusa.org/)
If the person you are talking to says: “I’ll get back to you later” or “It doesn’t matter” then don’t waste your time talking to them ever again – THEY ARE A CLUELESS LATECOMER. An experienced ZED expert should be able to give you a half hour explanation about each of the above, and show you the answers in the book they wrote years ago.

In its 2006 “Energy Pulse” survey, the Shelton Group found that 86% of Americans would choose one home over another based on its energy efficiency, said Suzanne Shelton, president of the research and marketing company. Yet 78% of home buyers reported that nobody talked to them about energy efficiency during the buying process.

It is long overdue for YOU (builders) to learn “why” and “how” to build more-beautiful homes that sell well, appreciate faster, and require NO monthly utility bills. The 86% MAJORITY of Americans clearly want them, but can’t find them. ZED is constantly being asked where to find local Zero Energy Home builders.

 

One of Our Florida Style Designed Homes, from House Plan to Reality

Every one of our ZED house plans includes passive solar heating and cooling technology, integrated into the comprehensive Holistic Systems Engineering of the overall whole-house thermal performance of the building. We NEVER have done any conventional energy wasting building designs. Our very first 1979 home design was a Zero Energy Home, and today we can say we use those same techniques but with modern technology at our command.

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Most of our Zero Energy house Plans, include active solar technology, like hot water heating or photovoltaic solar electric power production systems. We work closely with what your objectives are, from simply lowering utility by about two thirds, down to completely off-the-grid rural homes that have no public utility connections at all.

The design of a grid-connected Net Zero Energy Home is less complex than an off-the-grid home. A grid-connected home can run its electric meter backward during the spring and fall, and then consume less energy from the grid during the peak months than it put into the grid during the moderate spring and fall months. This result in a NET Zero Energy Home Design, with zero utility bills on an annual basis.

Off-the-grid homes require battery systems to handle peak loads, and a long period of cloudy days. For safety, they also need some type of other local power backup system.

House plans designed for a home in a colder climate are NOT appropriate for Florida, and a Florida house will not work well in Chicago or Canada. Australian homes are turned to face the north, instead of the south, as in the northern hemisphere. If you used northern hemisphere house plans in Australia, the east (morning) side would face west into the hot afternoon sun – and would NOT work as it was designed for the northern hemisphere, A mirror image southern hemisphere house is required for hot northern Australian climatic zones

Zero Energy House Plans are NOT “one size fits all.” We much prefer to get involved with the prospective home owner, to make sure that their investment is well worth the time, effort, and money they will put into their innovative new home. We do not EVER want anyone to say that they built a house according to our plans, and it did not work as they had hoped.

Even if you are building a home that is similar to one of our nearby homes, each owner may have a slightly different budget or lifestyle objective. We would like to get to know YOU, so we can accommodate your diverse desires. The purchase of a new Zero Energy Home is often the very best investment that people make in a lifetime. We want you to receive the maximum value that you can for your precious investment. You do NOT want an inexperienced architect or builder to experiment with your money, without being trained, mentored, coached, and monitored by someone with decades of valuable Zero Energy Home Design experience.

Our Zero Energy Homes generate a lot of public interest when they are introduced in a new community. We want each one to have our very-latest, most-cost-effective technology in it, so all media coverage will be the very best that it can be, all things considered.

For over 25 years, we’ve been gathering more knowledge on the subject of Zero Energy Home Design than anyone else we know, and making subtle iterative refinements to our many design principles and construction practices. The basic thermal design issues and the seasonal path of the sun have not changed, but the available innovative materials, products, tools and techniques have.

Even though the homes we designed and built in the 1980’s performed better than any others of their day, you would not want to exactly duplicate our older house plans, when we have better things that we can do at lower cost today.

For this reason, we do not offer stagnant house plans of work we did in previous years. It takes time to develop a portfolio of many house plans, and over those decades we have learned a great deal. It is OUR JOB to keep on top of everything that applies to Zero Energy Home Design today, and include it in every new set of specifications that we produce. Buying an old stock house plan would be a waste of your money, when newer and better things are emerging every year, and things (like photovoltaic solar cells) that did not used to be cost effective are now becoming an excellent economic decision to including in your new home mortgage. Energy efficient government incentive programs are also another modern influence on what is cost effective. Your tax bracket, the availability of Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM), etc. all add up to the need for customized, up-to-date home specifications and product selection decision support.

 

People who offer stock house plans may try to sell you work that was done years or decades ago by their architects, or by others, since conventional house designs have changed very little for a very long time, BUT WE DO NOT OFFER OBSOLETE HOUSE PLANS AT ANY PRICE, even though it would be very easy for us to just copy the excellent work we did long ago. We’ve had people in Australia ask us to sell them an existing house plan, but we simply refuse to do it, for reasons mentioned above.

Each of our house plans is CUSTOMIZED FOR THE LOCATION AND THE PEOPLE who plan to live in our Zero Energy Design® happy homes. Every time we design a new home, it is better than any home we have ever developed before (for the desires and constraints of the buyers we designed it for).

We have designed popular 1800 sq .ft., 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2-car garage Zero Energy Home Plans that were built years ago for only $60,000. We’ve designed million dollar homes with indoor swimming pools, spectacular hillside views, and exciting entertainment areas, using all of the latest solar energy equipment. We are currently voluntarily working on a Chamber of Commerce low-income housing project for people with disabilities. It will start at the low end with 1-bedroom, 1-bath units less than 700 sq .ft., costing well under $60/sq .ft., with state-of-the-art energy efficiency features to minimize the total cost of ownership. We have also designed innovative multi-million-dollar office buildings for medical professionals who are concerned about healthcare, impact on the environment, and minimizing escalating energy costs in a comfortable place to work and to be treated.

To Purchase Our $25, 800-page Zero Energy Design®
e-book pdf CD-ROM, Plus over 500 slides from our DOE / ORNL
“Three Decades of Lessons Learned” Workshop Click Here

Hill Side Home Design

Our methods apply to any size residential, commercial, government, military or industrial building. We offer comprehensive systems engineering and integration of total lifestyle design issues into a holistic solution that minimizes your investment, while maximizing abundant energy usability.

All that we need is to hear from you. What are you looking for? What do you hope to accomplish? Where would you like it to be? What kind of budget do you have to work with? Send us an email.

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We respond best to email, so we can schedule a time when we both are available to talk on the phone.

Your first phone call is free to discuss your objectives and possible solutions.

Once we get to know you, and earn your trust and respect, we can prepare possible suggestions for your approval. Our house plans come with detailed Specifications and Construction Details. Many of our designs include innovations that require careful supervision, if new subcontractors are doing them for the first time. We provide a Contractor’s Checklist that will help you negotiate precisely what needs to be done, and points where inspections will be required to ensure High Quality Control. These things are difficult to deal with after construction begins. You need our Construction Checklist so every detail is up front and agreed to BEFORE starting construction. This is a very valuable service that we offer, which many others overlook as an essential part of the innovation process. ZED has been introducing new ideas to the construction trades for so long that we have learned their points of resistance and quality control issues, and how to overcome them as smoothly as possible.

If you have a favorite architect or builder, we will be glad to train them in the new things that a Zero Energy Home Design requires.

If you’ve found a conventional home floor plan that you like, we may be able to use some of the ideas from it to determine the types of rooms, amenities and room sizes you would be satisfied with. In almost all case, we can significantly improve on the esthetics of another architect’s design, because we have so much more south facing glass that we can work with, and experience exploiting the views and natural day lighting that it provides. If you are shopping for just the right lot, please talk with us first. We can help you know what to look for, and what to avoid to take advantage of the most beautiful Zero Energy Home you can build.

If you want to be your own General Contractor, we highly recommend that you attend one of our classes, or allow us to visit your project at key points to inspect what has been done, BEFORE it becomes too expensive to correct later. You MUST learn the potential problems with today’s subcontractors – what to watch for, and how to get things done right (sometimes the second or third time).

Contracting you own home takes time and a LOT of patience. Many days can be very frustrating. We do NOT recommend being your own General Contractor, IF you already have a high-stress job, financial difficulties, or a marriage that has many unresolved family issues. Let a word to the wise be sufficient.

If you are familiar with the construction industry already and have several hours each day to manage an innovation project, then we will be only too glad to help you fill in the blanks correctly – We’ve done it many times.

Our evolving web site and other books and classroom materials will help you climb up the learning curve, or you can ask us to handle the entire construction project “turn key” from inception to move-in. the choice is yours. We are very flexible and anxious to share the zero energy knowledge we have accumulated over the last 25 years.

To Purchase Our $25, 800-page Zero Energy Design®
e-book pdf CD-ROM, Plus over 500 slides from our DOE / ORNL
“Three Decades of Lessons Learned” Workshop Click Here

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How Expensive Is a “Low-Cost” Conventional Home?

According to Niels Wolter, Sustainable Living Consultant: “The average single family home in Wisconsin (where winters are extreme) consumes 10,000 kWh per year of electricity, or about 1 kWh every hour of the year. That average home also consumes 100,000 cubic feet of natural gas – primarily for space and water heating. At current (2006) energy prices to heat and power the home would cost about $1,200/year for electricity and $1240/year for natural gas or $2440/year total.

At current rates, electricity and gas bills alone will cost the homeowner almost $50,000 over the home’s first twenty years (IF the price never increases in the future). If energy prices increase at 8 percent each year, the homeowner will pay over $120,000 for energy during the home’s first 20 years, and over $150,000 if energy prices increase at a rate of 10 percent per year.”

When you are looking at the price of a new home, be sure to add the amount you will spend for energy to the “total cost of ownership.” For perhaps $20,000 (+/-) more than the price of a conventional home, an intelligent Zero Energy Home buyer can essentially ELIMINATE utility bills for more than 25 years (until a far superior renewable energy technology becomes available at a much lower price).

There are federal and state tax credits, grants and incentive programs for the Zero Energy Designed® Home, to help defray the additional initial additional expense. The added mortgage payment will be much smaller than the utility bills that are eliminated. Special Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) programs now exist that recognize the higher initial investment required to eliminate ZEH monthly utility bills. Mortgage interest is tax deductible; energy bills are not. You will have periodic operating costs, like paint, landscaping, and battery replacement costs, but overall, the Zero Energy Home will be more comfortable, since energy austerity will NOT be required in the future. The Zero Energy Home Design will be a better investment, with a higher resale value than a conventional home. The shortsighted “low cost” home will be by far the most expensive “total cost of ownership.” Do not even consider a conventional high-energy inefficient home, when superior ZED homes can be built for only a slightly higher initial investment. Your total monthly payments will be less the very first month you move in. How difficult is that to understand?

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In A Nutshell – What is Zero Energy Design®, Inc.,
and what valuable services can we provide for you?

1. For over 30 years (since 1979) we have designed hundreds of outstanding homes and commercial buildings with nearly ZERO net annual energy bills. We have NEVER designed any other kind.

2. Some “off-the-grid” buildings do not even have to be connected to a utility company, where no public utility service is available (guaranteeing ZERO energy bills). Off-the-grid buildings do require extra energy storage systems, reliable backups, careful computer design, and owner education, but in many applications they are much more cost effective than bringing in public utility power connections (if you are more than a quarter mile away).

3. Zero Energy Design® Homes are currently heavily subsidized (up to $20,000+) by a different federal and state governments, and in some cases by power companies that want to minimize their peak power demands (to avoid building new multi-billion dollar power plants). Details of hundreds of significant financial incentive programs are described at Federal & State Incentive Programs <http://www.dsireusa.org/> Zero Energy Design®, Inc. can help you apply-for, and receive, grants, incentives, and tax credits that may be more than $20,000 per home, and $100,000 for commercial buildings. Why would any intelligent person pay MORE for a home with conventional escalating energy bills (going up nearly 8% per year)?

4. Larry Hartweg is a Second Generation Energy Research Scientist. When OPEC caused energy prices to jump nearly 600% in six years, Hartweg built his own first Zero Energy Design® residence in 1979 (featured in the ZED Book) under Jimmy Carter’s innovative 1978 Solar Energy Tax Credit program. With extensive media coverage of his uniquely attractive accomplishment, Larry rapidly became the World’s Foremost Authority on Zero Energy Building Design, with large-and-small homes that in some cases cost LESS per square foot than a conventional home to build. Hartweg became the largest exhibitor, and the most popular speaker, at the huge National Energy Expositions. He built Full-Size Zero Energy Homes INSIDE the largest exposition buildings to show tens of thousands of home buyers, homebuilders, architects, and legislators his beautiful, comfortable, cost-effective, easy-to-build homes. If Architects and Builders had learned what Hartweg clearly taught three decades ago, Americans would be spending over $200 BILLION LESS EACH YEAR on building energy today. Changing the antiquated building industry is extremely hard to do, even when it means more free publicity and profit for struggling builders. Hartweg is The Leading Champion of Zero Energy Design®, who can help YOU overcome the industry-wide Resistance To Change.

5. Zero Energy Design®, Inc. is primarily focused on all energy aspects of all types of buildings (and to some degree how home energy generation can supply fuel for innovative vehicles). We can do most building design processes better than anyone else, but due to the widespread international nature of our services, you will have to work with local people to assist with building permits and construction. We do the Zero Energy Design® Holistic Systems Engineering, but not the construction management. We do NOT sell any building products, or accept payments from any vendors that might bias our recommendations to you. We are free to choose rapidly-evolving “best of breed” without the bias of obsolete vested interests (common among others).

6. Constructing a Zero Energy Building is NOT particularly difficult, it is just VERY DIFFERENT than Conventional Careless Construction, which pays little attention to very significant energy issues. Zero Energy Construction is NOT intuitive to non-learning Architects, Builders, or Subcontractors. Contracting your first Zero Energy Building requires significant EDUCATION, MONITORING and SUPERVISION. Zero Energy Design®, Inc. can act as your MENTOR to help ensure success and AVOID reinventing square wheels, and making the mistakes that naive solar-energy Johnny-Come-Lately Zero Energy Home EXPERIMENTERS make most of the time (as described in detail in our ZED Book). Much of our Mentoring Service is done through Telecommuting, but for large projects, we are prepared to travel internationally, as needed.

7. Architectural Plans and Specifications – If you have already selected a basic floor plan and exterior facade, we can work with it as a starting point, BUT you need to understand that VERY FEW ARCHITECTS HAVE A CLUE about Zero Energy Design® Holistic Systems Engineering - heuristic energy-efficiency design principles and practices. As described in our ZED Book, they consistently make MANY serious energy architecture errors, such as: (a) ignoring / inefficient shape and orientation, (b) too many corners that can double heat transfer surface area and undesirable points of infiltration, (c) indiscriminate window / door placement and type, (d) complete ignorance of the cost / benefits / design of integrated solarium / thermal buffer zones, (e) failure to exploit solarium panoramic views and day lighting in every room, (f) very poor roof design that results in attics that are HOTTER than the peak summer outside air temperature, (g) air conditioner equipment and duct placement in the WORST possible unconditioned location, (h) failure to isolate clothes dryer closet from conditioned air space – resulting in high forced infiltration energy loss and allergens, (i) open staircases that make it too hot upstairs, and too cold downstairs year round, and many other common STUPID ARCHITECTURAL ERRORS and OMISSIONS (discussed in more detail throughout our Zero Energy Home Design Book).

8. It is usually easier for us to start with Basic Functional Requirements for a building, like square footage, occupants, bedrooms, baths, living areas, garage, commercial building goals, etc. We need to be intimately familiar with climate conditions, views, sloping lot, trees, and other site-specific issues, restrictions, and objectives. We recommend that you have a nice view toward the equator (South in the Northern Hemisphere, North in the Southern Hemisphere). We go through a multiple iterative design process, interacting with you to cost-effectively accomplish your goals, in creative new ways that you may never have heard about before.

9. Zero Energy Design® House Plans and specifications are very place-based and location-specific. A house designed for Chicago would be terrible in Florida. We may begin with something similar to a previous design, or a photo of a facade that you like, BUT significant Holistic Systems Engineering, and site tailoring, is almost always required. WE DO NOT SELL “STOCK” HOUSE PLANS. We will NOT allow anyone to say that they built one of our designs and it did not perform as well as they hoped. Others have ineptly imitated part of our Zero Energy Designs® and created some terrible, avoidable energy disasters (like a solar furnace in the summer). We are NOT like a cheap house plans factory that turns out indiscriminate, inefficient plans for a few dollars that can be oriented any direction you want, and do NOT work well ANYWHERE. Each of our Zero Energy Home Designs is uniquely meant for YOU. Nearly three decades of successes testify to the high value of the UNIQUE service that we alone can provide.

10. Since Zero Energy Home Designs are DIFFERENT from conventional careless construction, we provide “pilot’s checklists” before you take off. There are checklists for the home buyer, general contractor, and some of the subcontractors. Each checklist is unique to YOUR new ZED building. Telephone interaction (and email text, photos and diagrams) help in our telecommuting mentoring, monitoring, and supervision of mission-critical checklist items that are NOT part of conventional construction practices. This is a major portion of the value-add that Zero Energy Design®, Inc. provides for you.

We also offer energy-and-aesthetic “retrofit” design services for buildings both large and small. The problem is that retrofits always ADD cost. When we design new construction, it can in some cases cost LESS than conventional construction, due to things and capacities that you do NOT need in a Holistic System Engineered Zero Energy Home Design. The added cost of energy retrofits may have a longer payback period than just selling your conventional building and constructing a new much better one from the ground up (in a more desirable location). This is certainly true as families and incomes grow, or during the “empty nest” retirement years. Many people work in crowded stressful unhealthy areas to maximized income, but prefer a “back to nature” approach later to improve their mental and physical health. Zero Energy Design’s® “Abundant Energy In Harmony With Nature®” is the most excellent choice for people who have become aware of the need for Ecological Sustainability.

Zero Energy Design® Inc. offers Community Planning Consulting Services, in line with our Energy Prototype Community Of Tomorrow fulfillment of Walt Disney’s original 1966 EPCOT dream, as discussed in the VISION section of our ZED Book.

The choice is yours. We will be glad help you accomplish your goals.

The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE ) and DOE’s Oakridge National Labs ( ORNL) have selected Hartweg to lead the “Three Decades of Lessons Learned” Workshop at their prestigious 2007 International Buildings Conference in Clearwater Florida.
Enroll in the December 2, 2007 DOE / ORNL“Three Decades of Lessons Learned” Workshop www.ornl.gov/sci/buildings/Workshops_07.html#14

This conference only meets once every three years, and December 2007 is the first one since the revolutionary 2005 Energy Policy Act, and the 2007 Energy Bill.

Larry Hartweg is perhaps the ONLY person in the world qualified to present “Three Decades of Lessons Learned” from direct personal consistent successes and living experience.

To Purchase Our $25, 800-page Zero Energy Design®
e-book pdf CD-ROM, Plus over 500 slides from our DOE / ORNL
“Three Decades of Lessons Learned” Workshop Click Here

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What About Zero Energy Home Construction Costs?

Obviously, there is no simple answer to this question. Take a look at the new homes in your area. Find the type of amenities you would like in your new home, and discover the going cost per square foot for the quality you desire. That is a baseline starting point for a rough estimate of a new ZED home..

Since the war in Iraq began, the price for materials like plywood has more than doubled, due in part to sending much of what we produce in American to help rebuild Iraq. Concrete, electrical, plumbing, roofing, paint, etc. have all seen significant price increases since 9/11/2001. If a builder can profitably sell nice new homes in your area for $150 to $250 per square foot (or whatever), then a new ZED home should be similarly priced. If you live in a low cost of living area, it should be less. If you lot cost a million dollars, then a home built on it will cost a lot more.

Here are some things that will be differently priced on a new Zero Energy Designed® Home. If you would like a passive solar greenhouse on the south side, you need a good view to the south (preferably the back yard, or front of the house). A solarium can cost MUCH less per square foot than the interior living quarters of your home. Empty square footage costs much less than kitchens and bathrooms. I like large comfortable rooms, when a home buyer can afford them. Large rooms can make the AVERAGE cost per square foot of your home go down.

Appraisers are starting to recognize the added value of certified Energy Efficient Homes. Depending on the Zero Energy Home features that you select, some things may cost less, and others will surely cost more. You may not need a conventional central air conditioner, which can save thousands of dollars. If you require an auxiliary back up air conditioner, it will of smaller size than those used on conventional homes. If you want an absorption chiller, there will be a price to be paid for the innovative nature of a low-volume product, until production volumes increase significantly. If you want solar hot water, or photovoltaic solar electric power for off-the-grid living, there will be several thousand dollars of additional capital investment required.

You may qualify for tax credits, government subsidies and an ( EEM) Energy Efficient Mortgage, which can help offset thousands of dollars of Zero Energy Home active solar energy equipment expense. It will not be free, but the incremental cost will be less than the cost of conventional home monthly utility bills (which average roughly $2,000 year and up for larger homes). And remember, mortgage interest is tax deductible, whereas energy bills are not. This precise construction cost difference will probably be a small increased percentage for a high-quality Zero Energy Home, but typically not more than very roughly $10,000 to $20,000 (perhaps 5%), for a medium 3 bedroom home (with utility company backup), compared to a conventional home with similar amenities, like a swimming pool, etc.

On the very lowest end, we are targeting $60 per sq .ft. for one to two bedroom low income housing for people with disabilities, with significantly reduce utility bill requirements (but not including everything that we can do with Zero Energy Design® unless explicitly requested at slightly higher cost). Total off-the-grid living, full ZERO ENERGY Homes require a bit more storage batteries and contingency plans for long periods with cloudy days, etc. The precise incremental price difference for a near-Zero Energy Home Design will depend on us getting to know you, and making some suggestions that can meet your budget and lifestyle goals. It can even include the ability to sell excess electric power back to the utility company, when your batteries are fully charges and you have unused system capacity on sunny days. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

WE HAVE FINITE ZED RESOURCES, AND WE ARE RAPIDLY BECOMING MORE POPULAR, SO SCHEDULING OUR TIME REQUIRES PLANNING ON OUR PART. Please let us know how we can help you, your friends, and the politicians who represent you.

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Zero Energy Home Design – Information Request Questionnaire

 

Thank you for your interest in information from Zero Energy Home Designs.

Please cut and paste this form into an email to:

ZEDmaster@ZeroEnergyDesign.com

 

Fill in only the information you would like us to have. Nothing is “required.” We are glad to provide information about what our ZED experience can do for you.

 

Your first consultation is always free, but we would like to know more about you. This questionnaire is just a starting point guideline for our early discussions.

The more you tell us about your interests, the more productive your first free consultation phone call will be.

 

All information is confidential – We will NOT share it with anyone for any reason. We will not add you to a mailing list (unless you explicitly ask us to).

You will not receive any irritating spam from us. We only respond to your requests.

 

There is no obligation in filling out any portion of this questionnaire, but please be honest with any information you provide, so we can assist with what you request.

 

Please add any comments that will help us understand how we can help you.

 

We will appreciate you telling others about www.ZeroEnergyDesign.com