Green Builders, Inc. Coming Soon?

Written by Joel Bittle

Austin, Texas builder Clark Wilson has been in the homebuilding industry for over twenty five years, serving as president of Doyle Wilson Homebuilder, Inc. and then as CEO of Clark Wilson Homes, Inc. before retiring in 2002. Eager to get back into home building and aware of the growing demand for green homes, Mr. Wilson took over a small company named Green Builders, Inc. in 2007 with the goal of turning it into the largest builder and developer of green homes and communities in the United States. Only a year old, Green Builders, Inc. has already won the award for 2008 Single Family Affordable Home of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders.

When considering his return to home building in 2007, Mr. Wilson decided that the world did not need another behemoth home builder. “Austin is a hotbed of green,” said Mr. Wilson. “We’ve had green building programs since the 80s. With Green Builders, Inc., we wanted to bring green building to the masses.” By shifting building priorities toward saving money through energy and water savings, and by seeking out environmentally friendly products that don’t drive up the price of the home, green building has made traditional non-green building, in Mr. Wilson’s estimation, obsolete. “We’re priced competitively to non-green builders. They’re going to have to catch up. Green building needs to be widespread. We want to position ourselves as the Whole Foods of homes.”

While Mr. Wilson admits that the interest in green homes is for green as a whole – energy savings, earth-friendly products, and indoor air quality – at the end of the day the energy savings, with the obvious money savings, is the main factor in convincing someone to buy a green home. But that doesn’t mean a green builder should give up on offering earth-friendly products. “It’s our job as builders to find those green products that don’t drive up the price of the home. That would be like asking people to pay extra for seatbelts.”

Green Builders, Inc. homes are built to ENERGY STAR and NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines and range from 1600 to 3300 square feet. Each of the homes is solar ready, meaning the owner can easily upgrade to solar power if they choose. The attics are sealed with icynene foam, increasing the efficiency of the A/C unit. As Mr. Wilson puts it, “The house is an igloo cooler.” Windows are placed higher on the wall and the roof is built with larger overhangs to help keep the house cool in the Austin summer. Tankless water heaters save water and energy. Water used in landscaping is reduced through the use of drought resistant sod and plants, and the lawn’s topsoil requires only 1″ of water a week. The downspouts lead to 53 gallon water recycling barrels.

Evidence of recycling or minimizing waste can be found throughout the houses. The lumber may be finger-jointed, which allows for smaller pieces to be used together, limiting waste. Oriented strand board is used, which is environmentally preferable to particle board or plywood. The floors throughout the houses can be bamboo or carpet made from recycled plastic soda bottles. The metal siding on the houses is made from recycled metal. “The siding might have been a 1978 Chevy Nova,” jokes Mr. Wilson.

In addition to using low-VOC paints, stains, and adhesives, Mr. Wilson points to the HVAC system and the use of an Aprilaire ventilation system for the increased air quality of Green Builders, Inc. homes: “Too many builders put in massive, oversized A/C units that kick on and off all day, wasting energy. If the system is sized properly, the A/C unit is running longer at a lower power, saving energy and cleaning and dehumidifying the air, resulting in much healthier air.”

Mr. Wilson sees consumers, rather than lawmakers, as the driving force for green building. “If people like us can offer green homes at an affordable price then consumers will choose green.”

The New Economy

Written by Reenita Malhotra

Published on October 27th, 2008

Posted in Energy

‘Renewable‘ seems to be the main tag of the new energy economy. In spite of the fact that funding seems to be drying up for green businesses (Reuters), the new energy economy is showing remarkable signs of progress.

“As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging in the United States,” says Lester R. Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, in a recent release, “New Energy Economy Emerging in the United States” . “The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced by one powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy. The transition is moving at a pace and on a scale that we could not have imagined even a year ago.

• » Read more on Energy

Many states are gearing up to be energy super powers by focusing on the large scale development of wind, solar and geothermal energy resources. The government will need to step up and keep pace with industry by developing a strong national grid. Although private investors are investing in long-distance high-voltage transmission lines, these need to be incorporated into a carefully planned national grid in order to unleash the full potential of renewable energy wealth.

For full report go to http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update77.htm

It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change gon’ come.

From Low Impact Living:

You’ve probably seen the commercials – actually, they’re sort of impossible to miss.  T. Boone Pickens, looking folksy in his chambray shirt, talking about how he has been an Oil Man for over 50 years and how he’s got a real plan to break our dependence on foreign oil.  I love these ads because I want to believe Mr. Pickens with all my heart.  I want to believe that the answer to our oil addiction might be as simple as switching our cars over to clean natural gas to buy us time to develop renewable alternatives that will eventually get us off of oil completely.  But I’m skeptical.  We’ve been fooled before.  So I decided to take a deeper look at this man and his plan…

Is The Pickens Plan really as good as it seems?

The Man

T. Boone Pickens is indeed a former oil man – in fact, he is worth at least 3 billion dollars and made most of that fortune in the oil business. He started as a geologist for Phillips Petroleum in the early 1950’s, and then went on to create Mesa Petroleum and Petroleum Exploration. Pickens’ belief in acquisition rather than further exploration in the 1980s, lead to his notoriety as a take-over giant and his ranking as Forbes 117th-richest person in America. Pickens was also known for his hefty financial support of George W. Bush, the Republican Party and the 2004 Swift boat ads that helped derail John Kerry’s bid for the presidency.

But today, T. Boone is all about clean tech energy and he has renounced his Republican affiliations in order to pursue his passion for changing the hearts and minds of Americans to the belief that natural gas and renewable sources like wind and solar are our best and most possible hope for a better future.

The Washington Post verbally scratched its head at Pickens new persona: “The billionaire speculator as energy wise man, an oil-and-gas magnate as champion of wind power, and a lifetime Republican who has become a fellow traveler among environmentally minded Democrats.” I say, good for you T. Boone!  Now let’s look at the Plan.

The Plan

Mr. Pickens feels that world oil production has reached its peak and can no longer meet the demands of global consumption.  In fact, he feels that it is on the decline and we’ll be out of oil before we have an alternative if we don’t do something now.  The Plan proposes that we replace the natural gas currently being used for grid power (electricity) with wind power (which he has invested heavily in) and then take the excess natural gas and use that for transportation fuel, replacing gasoline wherever possible until technology catches up with a renewable fuel source for our cars.

Pickens believes that by doing this, we can reduce our yearly foreign oil imports from $700 billion down to $400 billion in the next ten years.  That sounds pretty good.  Another thing that raises my hopes is that the Plan has been endorsed by Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, who is usually quite vocal about things that are bad for the environment.  To read the entire plan: The Pickens Plan

The Verdict

Pickens has been criticized for creating a plan from which he might stand to gain quite a bit, having already invested nearly 12 billion dollars in wind technology.  His standard rebuttal to this accusation is: “I’m 80 years old, and I’m worth $4 billion. I have plenty of money.  I think it shows leadership that I’m putting my money into the wind business, and I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.”  He testified in front of congress in July of this year that his plan would not only reduce our foreign oil consumption by switching cars to natural gas, it would create new jobs in clean technology throughout the wind corridor of the United States, an area in the middle of the country that stretches from the Canadian border, through the Great Plains and into Texas.

The biggest impediment to the Plan, however, seems to be the number of hurdles that need to be gotten over in order for the Plan to succeed.  They include:

+  The monetary and environmental costs of building enough wind turbines to meet our power needs
+  The assumption that wind power will adequately replace the natural gas proposed for transportation fuel
+  Connecting that power to large cities through approximately 40,000 miles of transmission lines
+  Switching millions of drivers over to natural gas vehicles
+  Creating enough natural gas filling stations to support all of those cars
+  Over-coming a gridlocked political system
+  Navigating a severely weakened economy

Mr. Pickens is quick to point out that his plan isn’t a complete solution, it is “a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buy us time to develop even greater new technologies.”  With gas prices so high and the economy teetering on the edge, the Plan does seem like a real challenge and yet better than some other ideas floating around out there.  We all know that something has to change and it might mean that we have to make some short-term sacrifices to gain long-term benefits.

If Mr. Pickens has enough energy at 80 to commit to an idea that will take that much money, hard work and tenacity, then I say let him try.  Maybe it’s just the Game Changer we need to take a serious step in the right direction.

(Almost) Free Solar!!! Tax credit/rebate madness!!!

Attached to the latest bailout plan passed by the Fine Folks on Capitol Hill, was an extension and amendment of the federal solar tax credit.  The tax credit is extended for an additional 8 years.  Before this renewal, there was a cap at $2000 for the tax credit.  No more!  The federal tax credit is now up to 30% and can be applied alongside other state and local incentives to go solar.

San Francisco is leading the way by encouraging homeowners and landlords to go solar.  In additon to being the first city to pass stringent green building ordinances, Gavin championed this little number below.

From dsireusa.org:

“The City and County of San Francisco, through the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), are providing rebates to residents and businesses who install photovoltaic (PV) systems on their properties. Systems must be at least one kilowatt (kW) in capacity, and there is no maximum size limit to participate. There are four distinct funding levels for residential installations. First, basic installations of systems are eligible for rebates of $3,000. Residential systems installed by a local installer qualify for a higher incentive of $4,000. Residential installations in lower income and racially diverse neighborhoods considered “environmental justice districts” because of their proximity to industrial sites and major highways are eligible for an even higher incentive of $5,000. Systems installed by individuals trained through the city’s workforce development system can receive an incentive of $6,000.

Commercial, non-profit and industrial installations receive a capacity-based incentive of $1,500 per kW, up to a maximum amount of $10,000. Multi-unit residential buildings that are operated by a non-profit may receive up to $4,500 per kW (depending on the number of units) up to a maximum of $30,000.

The San Francisco rebates can be combined with the state-level California Solar Initiative, in addition to the federal tax credit. To simplify the application process, San Francisco will approve of any system which qualifies for the California Solar Initiative.

The San Francisco Solar Energy Incentive Pilot Program is funded with $3 million from the SFPUC renewable energy fund, which comes from the sale of power generated by the Hetch Hetchy dam. The renewable energy funds previously provided funding just for solar installations on city buildings, which is expected to continue with a portion of the fund.”

So, if the Fed, Sacramento, and The City are all willing to pitch in, why wouldn’t you go solar?  It increases the value of your home, decreases your dependence on carbon-emitting fossil fuels, and give your home the certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ of cool, green cache.

I happen to know a few solar outfits here in The Bay.  If you’re curious about solar for your home or office, give me a call and I can set you up with the right folks to get the ball rolling.

Moon Powered!

World’s Largest Tidal Turbine to be Installed in Northern Ireland.  I just wonder about the fate of sea critters when pitted against this physical challenge…

From Treehugger:

A company called Marine Current Turbines will be installing a 1.2 megawatt tidal turbine in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough in August. The SeaGen turbine will be the world’s largest ever tidal current device by a significant margin. It will generate clean electricity for approximately 1000 homes. The turbine is a prototype to be replicated on a large scale over the next few years. The rotors on the SeaGen turbine turn slowly: about 10 to 20 revolutions per minute. A ship’s propellers, by comparison, typically run 10 times as fast. The risk of impact from SeaGen rotor blades is small, because the marine creatures that swim in strong currents tend to be agile, and can avoid slow-moving underwater obstructions.

Future turbines will generally be rated at from 750 to 1500 kilowatts (kW), and will be grouped under the sea, at places with high currents, in much the same way that wind turbines in a wind farm are set out in rows to catch the wind.

Commenting on the future prospects for tidal current energy, Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines said: “We will build on the success of SeaGen to develop a commercial tidal farm, of up to 10MW in UK waters, within the next three years. With the right funding and regulatory framework, we believe we can realistically achieve up to 500MW of tidal capacity by 2015 based on this new SeaGen technology.”