New Homes in California will be Energy Self Reliant by 2020
This is something that I have been touting all along to everyone I have been conversing with over the issues of energy. I always asked myself why all new homes built couldn't already come with solar panels on the roofs, and why couldn't they come already installed with energy efficient appliances? Well California is taking a giant leap forward and truly is taking a leadership role in the efficient energy market.
California energy regulators adopted a new rule a few days ago mandating that all new homes built after 2020 will have to supply as much energy as it consumes. The concept is practical, logical, and by all means efficient. Is this idea so radical? Not in my minds, why haven't we started rules like these earlier in all the states? The reason is because we don't have a strong leadership role (a president who cares) in the federal government concerned enough about our environment and our energy consumption.
This new mandate will give construction builders incentives to think of new ways to attain the net zero energy rule. The innovation in California will lead to other states adopting the same rules and thus spreading their energy efficient ways. This is really exciting news for all of us, although I wish the net zero energy rule would be applied a lot sooner than by 2020. We have the technology to attain this goal and it would not take very much more but new building methods and construction methods such as passive solar heating and better insulation techniques to conserve the amount of energy consumed in the first place.
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2 COMMENTS, ADD YOURS HERE:
Good news.
Wish we could get this started in Australia. We have sunshine and wind. A house with a wind turbine (small) and solar panels would have excess energy to put back into the grid.
Chris Pash
http://thelastwhale.blogspot.com
Its funny, I am such a die hard fan of alternative energy and any and everything green, but I am actually opposed to this type of law.
Unfortunately this manditory law will make it virtually imposible for middle class and especially lower class individuals to actually own a home. Although I love solar panels, they are very expensive and the fact is, the average person doesnt have enought roof space to generate enough electricity for their entire house.
This type of law would make better sence on a comunity level or neighborhood level. Think about he guy whos house is oriented north to south making it hard for him to generate electricity with his panels, while the guy down the street is right next to a large hill that generates huge updrafts perfect for a wind turbine. These people should work together to generate the electricity for the neighborhood and split the cost.
Peace,
http://www.NeutralExistence.com
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