House of Future Takes Green to Extreme

Sometime in the early 2000s, when I was a Los Angeles-based national correspondent at the Chicago Tribune, I was assigned to cover the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. What was most interesting to me was the product designers’ vision of the house of the future.

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The big idea then was accessing music, movies, sports, photos and the Internet from the TV. They were pushing the concept of having multiple screens throughout the house — including one embedded into the door of the refrigerator — so you wouldn’t have to miss a moment of that important game if you didn’t want to wait for the commercial to grab a snack.

Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/where-we-live/post/editors-column-house-of-future-takes-green-to-extreme/2012/06/15/gJQAF2U5eV_blog.html

That idea, of course, is long outdated, conceived before the widespread use of smart phones, which now allow you to do all that without spending thousands of dollars to rewire your house. Today’s house of the future focuses not on entertainment, but conservation.

For this week’s cover story, I got an exclusive look at a model home in Waldorf built by KB Home that is aimed at saving owners big bucks in electricity and water costs. The solar-powered, “net-zero” house is designed to produce more energy than it uses and save up to 50,000 gallons of water a year.

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Make a Home from Shipping Containers

Tim Bessell has spent the last 25 years crafting surfboards for world-class athletes out of his understated shop near La Jolla’s Windansea Beach.

The 54-year-old Bessell, who grew up in La Jolla, says the thinning custom surfboard market in the United States and a lifelong appreciation for architecture have pushed him toward another passion: sea-container home building.

The idea is to take discarded, yet still-sturdy steel containers found at ports and convert them into habitable spaces. Container home advocates say this type of construction is more “green,” and over time, can be more cost-effective.

Bessell and business associate Claude Anthony Marengo hope to break ground soon on their first custom project in Pacific Beach, believed to be the city of San Diego’s first certified factory-made home constructed from steel shipping container material. The closest structure to that is the Periscope Project in downtown San Diego that hosts art shows and serves as office space.

Bessell spoke with the U-T San Diego about his current project, a three-story home slated to be done by September, how it will be built and the costs involved.

Read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/07/tp-container-enthusiasm/

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10 Ways Toward a Zero-Energy Home

1. Install low-flow fixtures. Most low-flow showerheads and faucets aerate water, which means you use less energy heating it. There is often no need to replace an entire sink — the important part is the aerator (the screw-on tip of the faucet), which determines maximum flow. This simple, cheap part could save you a bundle on hot water costs. See the hot water info page on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) site for more on this topic.

Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for questions if this will add value to your home.

2. Turn off lights, computers and appliances. This simple habit doesn’t cost a dime and could make a big difference in your energy consumption, depending on how consistent you are. Teach children and other members of the household to follow this rule: If no one’s in the room, it doesn’t need to be on. In other words, shut off TVs, computers and lights before leaving a room, every single time. It’s a habit that requires a bit of diligence in the beginning but will soon become second nature.

Read more at: http://sfgate.houzz.com/ideabooks/2607763/list/Easy-Green–10-Ways-Toward-a-Zero-Energy-Home/w/sid=1

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