SOLAR TODAY - Get Started 2009

ASk kEN

Continued from page 62

organization studied the anticipated driving patterns of people who lived and

worked in the village. Because of the proximity of shopping and other services,

the typical household here will use 61 percent less energy for driving than the

national average, saving money, time and carbon emissions. The village encour-

ages residents to work from home to further cut down on the costs of driving

and time spent commuting.

Hundreds of other developments around the country offer similar benefits.

They share a general philosophy: Build efficient homes very close to services

and community facilities. Homes in these “traditional neighborhood” or “new

urban” developments, which are built in suburbs but offer the convenience of

living in a city center, usually feature passive solar homes that use considerably

less energy than standard homes do. You can live in a place like this and enjoy

the benefits of an energy-efficient home while greatly reducing the need (and

cost) to drive to work, shopping, school, restaurants and many other services,

using pedestrian-friendly paths and bike trails instead of the old Buick.

I think this is a logical next step in the widespread implementation of true

zero-energy homes. Thanks to the many state and local rebates and incentives

available today, along with federal tax credits, near-zero-energy homes and

even totally zero-energy homes are much more affordable and are being built

and lived-in today. Imagine coupling a home with minimal energy operating

costs with a location that greatly reduces vehicle operating costs, while giving

Advertiser Index

AEE Solar 800.777.6609 aeesolar.com............................................................................ 2

Beijing Sunda Solar Energy Technology

+86.10.62001008 ..........................................................................................................61

Conergy 888.396.6611 conergy.us................................................................................ 11

Fronius USA LLC 810.220.4414

fronius-usa.com ......................................................................................................... 32-33

groSolar 800.476.6527 grosolar.com ............................................................................ 23

Heliodyne Inc. 888.878.8750 heliodyne.com ................................................................ 15

Ivan Labs Inc. 561.747.5354

ivandelsol@bellsouth.net ............................................................................................... 25

REC Group .................................................................................................................... 4-5

SCHOTT Solar Inc. us.schott.com/solar .......................................................................... 64

SMA America 888.476.2872 sma-america.com ..................................................... 7, 9, 19

SOLAR 2009 solar2009.org............................................................................................ 47

SOLAR TODAY solartoday.org ....................................................................................... 14

SolarRoofs.Com Inc. 916.481.7200 .............................................................................. 37

Solectria Renewables 978.683.9700 solren.com .......................................................... 27

Solmetric Corp. 877.263.5026 solmetric.com ............................................................... 25

Stiebel Eltron 800.582.8423

stiebel-eltron-usa.com .................................................................................................... 63

SunEarth Inc. sunearthinc.com....................................................................................... 51

Surrette/Rolls 800.681.9914 rollsbattery.com............................................................... 37

Trina Solar trinasolar.com ........................................................................................ 17, 31

US Dept of Energy eere.energy.gov/solar ...................................................................... 21

Valentin EnergieSoftware GmbH

+ 49. 30.588.439.0 valentin.de ....................................................................................... 53

Xantrex Technology Inc. xantrex.com............................................................................ 13

This low-energy home is part of the reduced-traffic “traditional
neighborhood” at Oshara Village in Santa Fe, n.M.

you a world of conveniences just moments from your front door.

Get online and put words like “new urbanism” and “traditional neighborhood

design” into a search engine, and get ready to be amazed at this growing
trend in new home developments. r

Got questions about home energy usage and renewable energy? Send them to ken@ases.org. Ken has been working in renewable energy for 25 years and knows where to find the answers to your questions. Not all questions can be answered personally, but watch for yours in this column and his syndicated column, “Home Energy Source,” appearing in hundreds of newspapers nationwide.