Affordable, well designed homes combined with energy efficient green home systems, such as solar power, solar thermal and rainwater harvesting, have to be economically efficient to be successful and accepted by the home purchasing community.
At Las Casas Verdes the way we accomplish the combined goal of both energy and economical efficiency is through the architectural design of the home and the quality of construction, the goal of which is to reduce one’s impact on the earth, but more importantly on one’s pocketbook through lower utili
ty bills. We estimate we can provide annual savings on a home’s water, waste water and electric bills from between $3,000 to $3,600 per year. (my disclaimer: we cannot promise any future savings but read on and see if this makes sense!)
$85,714! That is the present value of the future savings, based on certain assumptions!
I calculated the present value of saving $3,000 per year, using a Cap Rate of 3.5 because that could be a typical after-tax mortgage interest rate (Summer of 2010), so….. $3,000/.035= $85,714.29. And remember that this calculation does not factor in the likelihood that utility rates will rise yearly into the future, so the present value is likely to be much higher.
One could argue that an individual applying for a home with materially lower operating cost would qualify for a larger mortgage or that a home that cost less to operate would be worth more and appraised for a higher value. So a home that cost less to operate is worth more than a home that has higher utility expenses. Savvy?
How do we do it at Las Casas Verdes? The most important energy efficient feature of a Las Casas Verdes home is in the design of the home itself. Each home includes a vertical ventilation tower. For a home to be considered a true Green Home, high quality translates from air tightness combined with design features such as a vertical ventilation tower.
Vertical ventilation towers have been used in homes to drive natural ventilation for centuries (American Indian teepees come to mind). But with the rather recent advent of today’s air conditioning systems, passive energy efficient features that drive natural ventilation have almost become of thing of the past in today’s homes. At Las Casas Verdes, this architectural design feature is incorporated into each of the homes, incorporated in an aesthetically pleasant way.
Air transfer ducts, while not exclusive to Las Casas Verdes homes, are rare to find in homes today but are becoming more common as the popularity of energy efficient green homes grows. Warm air is pressed to the top of the home’s vaulted ceilings where it is passively transferred from the room, using air transfer ducts to move the warm air into the vertical ventilation tower.
Once captured in the tower, the warmer air is pulled into the air conditioning system through the return air vent, or on days when the Texas sun is not too hot, operable windows can be opened in the top of the tower to let the hot air remove itself, causing cooler air to be pulled in from lower windows on the first floor. During the cooler winter months, the warm air in the home is once again drawn to the top of the tower and reheated by the A/C system before being circulated again into the home. Well duh, that is how an AC system is supposed to work right? Yes, but in so many of today’s homes, warm air is trapped in rooms when it should be moved out of rooms, treated and then re-circulated.
Over the next several months we will begin to collect more information about what the actual utilities bills are so stay tuned. For the billing cycle ending in July 2010, the electric bill for the 1,800 (more or less) square foot model home located at 8306 Longview in Austin Texas 78745 was $90.76 (917 kWh). And we had not connected our home up to the solar power yet!
Call us to learn more about the other features and systems (3KW Photovoltaic Solar Panels, Solar Thermal Water Heating, and a 2,000 gallon Rainwater Harvesting System) that we use in our Las Casas Verdes homes to minimize utility cost and reduce carbon footprints!
Jeffrey Dochen, Broker
Shelton Properties
512-328-2500
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Design and construction are key in energy efficiency and I was very impressed with the whole package that Las Casas Verdes has to offer. Just wish it was on 30+ acres in the country for me!
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