The Net Zero Energy Home Coalition wants all homes to create as much energy as they use
Marty Hope
Sun
CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun A net zero home would produce at least as much electricity as it uses.
Housing that actually creates at least as much energy as it uses, saving homeowners money while cutting greenhouse gases, is the goal of a national group.
The Net Zero Energy Home Coalition wants every dwelling in Canada to meet the target by 2030 by incorporating such renewable sources as solar power and geothermal energy into homes.
“I like the idea and I believe it can be done,” says David Bengert, president of the Calgary-based BuiltGreen Society of Canada. “Oil and gas prices are never going to come down and, ultimately, we’re going to have to find cheaper sources of home energy.”
One of the first companies in Canada to announce it will construct such homes is Calgary-based Avalon Master Builder.
Starting in Red Deer, but eventually including Calgary, Avalon plans to build and test homes during the next decade that use elements of net zero design, says company CEO Ryan Scott.
A national group consisting of industry and non-government groups, the Net Zero Energy Home Coalition aims to create housing able to generate its own electricity.
Traditional sources outside the home, such as the existing power grid system of generating stations and electrical lines, would also be available for use as needed.
But a net zero home would, throughout the course of a year, produce at least as much electricity as it takes from the grid.
“In many cases, all of the heating, cooling and electrical of a net zero home can be provided by renewable energy sources,” says Simon Knight, vice-president of Climate Change Central, referring to the coalition’s vision statement. “Through the combined use of on-site renewable energy generation and energy-efficient technologies and appliances, new home construction design by 2030 will meet a net-zero energy standard.”
The Net Zero Energy Home Coalition is located within the Edmonton headquarters of Climate Change Central, which is a private-public partnership formed by the provincial government to deal with such things as greenhouse gases. The coalition sees net zero housing as the next step from existing programs like BuiltGreen, which reduces power consumption through the creation of more energy-efficient housing.
Progress will likely be made gradually over the next 25 years, says Knight.
“An incremental approach is anticipated through an optimal combination and integration of electrical and thermal technologies such as photovoltaics, ground-source heat pumps, solar thermal, passive solar and floor heating with integrated storage,” he says.
Avalon Master Builder sees its net zero housing as something that will “continually be a work in progress,” says Scott, who adds that homeowners potentially could sell excess electricity.
“The homes will include some solar panel features, battery storage, an inverter to buy and sell energy to the grid, a pre-heating system for the water, a tankless hot water system and as many water-conservation items as possible,” says Scott.
Avalon Master Builder plans to start its first net zero home in Red Deer — a single-family bi-level measuring about 1,600 square feet.
During the next decade, the company plans to alternate construction of these homes between Red Deer and Calgary.
The ongoing development of the homes will allow Avalon Master Builder to test new and different products as well as finding ways to reduce costs.
Like BuiltGreen and the federal R-2000 program, Net Zero ultimately aims to save homeowners money by reducing energy use, says Kevin Gunn, executive director of Enervision, a non-profit Alberta organization dedicated to promoting energy efficiency and healthy housing.
“The uptake has been substantial in some areas of the United States, with large builders dedicating 10 per cent — or whole subdivisions — to the zero-energy concept,” he says.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005