Prefab Homes Strive for Zero Energy Costs

[john]

San Francisco-based company, Zeta Communities, is working on pre-fabricated home construction that creates as much energy as they use, which will work to offer zero energy bills for the consumer. The company is near completion on its first ‘zero energy’ town-home in Oakland, CA and is currently working with a green home builder on a proposed 30 unit studio apartment building in Berkeley.

The home’s energy efficient attributes consist of solar panels to produce energy, thick windows and insulation, energy-efficient appliances and a temperature and ventilation monitoring system which also tracks electricity use. Heat trapped inside the home is employed through a complicated system to heat incoming air for cold months and hot water is recycled through a harvesting system to provide warm sink and shower water. “What allows us to build housing at a competitive cost with zero energy bills is that we’re doing it in a factory where we have very efficient design and production and cut down on waste,” stated Zeta’s CEO, Naomi Porat.

The average home takes up about 22 percent of annual energy use in the United States, which prompted the U.S. Department of Energy and California Public Utilities Commission to implement a plan which will require new homes being constructed to be zero-energy by the year 2020. However, there are still environmental issues associated with pre-fabricated homes; as sections of the home are usually shipped separately to the property for assembly, usually by truck. “Having to ship housing works pretty well if you don’t have to go far, but shipping can take too long and cost too much and negate some of the (environmental benefits of the) building’s design,” said Ren Anderson, head of the residential research group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Standing for Zero Energy Technology and Architecture, Zeta has received millions of dollars in venture capital funding and is in the works to create more potential green new homes in Northern California. A Zeta pre-fabricated two bed town-home with shipping, installation, mechanical systems and appliances are sold to developers for about $258,000 per unit; placing the company as a stiff competitor in the green market.

[TerryMswain]

First time posting here.
I'm interested in getting some useful info, I hope this is the right place.
Looking to meet new people to exchange info with.

Later,

Originally Posted by TerryMswain

First time posting here.
I'm interested in getting some useful info, I hope this is the right place.
Looking to meet new people to exchange info with.

Later,

[B]Welcome to EnviroCitizen ! There are lots of people in the "green" know here !!! [/B]

[patpatrick88]

My neighbor has a pre-fab home and its beautiful!

[Shally]

That sounds very interesting! So I am assuming that if you had one of these eco-friendly homes, then you would be paying nothing for your energy and water bills, correct? I mean obviously if you had cable you would be paying for that, but you wouldn't have to pay anything to SDG&E right?

That would be awesome!! The price seems fair, but would the price go up depending on the size of the home?

[Green Scene]

I admire people who are gutsy enough to take matters into their own hands and who produce something people need that proves we CAN do the right thing for the environment, and still earn a living.