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Bulletin Board
2007 Solar Decathlon BLOOMhouse Offered For Sale
From the School of Architecture at UT Austin:
The School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin's entry into the 2007 Solar Decathlon, BLOOMhouse, is being offered for sale. Proceeds from the sale will go to help fund the school's next Solar Decathlon entry in 2009.
The team developed a 6.6 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic array with a skin-based design strategy that responds to orientation, climate, and culture. This modular house has a streamlined design that is 14 feet by 50 feet. The energy saving features of the house integrate strategically-placed shading devices, cross ventilation, day lighting, advanced energy star appliances, equipment and fiber optic and LED lighting prototypes, as well as the use of an evacuated tube solar hot water heating system with hydronic floor heating and a 6.6 kW-roof mounted photovoltaic powered system. Because the house was made using lightweight metal-faced R-30 Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) as a single envelope, the infiltration load is reduced to less than one-half of air change per hour and an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) is incorporated into the house to ensure adequate amounts of fresh air.
Additional information, a detailed spec book, plans, and renderings are available to interested parties by contacting the School of Architecture's Assistant Dean for Administration Jeff Evelyn at jeffevelyn@austin.utexas.edu.
Visit the UT web site for more details.
The Survey Says...
Percent of green home buyers who are college-educated |
79 |
Percent of green homes purchased in the South and West |
74 |
Percent of green home owners who learned about green homes through word of mouth |
28 |
Percent of green home owners who learned about green homes from television |
20 |
Percent of green home owners who learned about green homes learned from the Internet |
14 |
Other Highlights
The survey found that the highest percentage of green home buyers are women in their mid-forties.
The main incentive for buying a green home is lower utility costs. Other factors that influence the decision to buy a green home include concern for the environment, concern for family’s health and the potential for greater home resale value.
The main obstacle to buying a green home is lack of education and awareness about green homes.
Other obstacles are the higher cost of green homes and the lack of green homes to purchase.
Respondents believe that knowledge and awareness of green home building is at or near a critical mass and poised to move rapidly to the adoption stage
View the complete McGraw-Hill survey results.
Another recent survey by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development has found that green construction costs are often overestimated by up to 300 percent.
A 1,400-person global survey estimated the additional cost of building green to be 17 percent above conventional construction. This estimate is more than triple the true cost difference of about 5 percent. At the same time, survey respondents put greenhouse gas emissions by buildings at 19 percent of world total, while the actual number is 40 percent, more than double the respondents estimates. Clearly, more education is needed in these two areas.
The study also found that about 20 percent of architects, engineers and developers have been involved in green building projects.
The complete findings are available here: Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Business Realities and Opportunities (1.7 MB pdf).
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