Home Ec 101: A Lesson in Frugality

Courage and frugality, the Town of Greenwich CT motto, are qualities necessary to meet the double challenge of energy cost hikes and global warming. Courage to break free from habitual thinking that fossil fuels are necessary to live. Courage to take local action in reducing our global carbon footprint to live healthier lives and conserve the environment for future generations. A sense of frugality to save money and strategically invest in a brighter future.

Growing scarcity of oil and natural gas means rising costs to keep warm, and since most electricity is generated by natural gas, electricity's cost follows suit, so it costs more to air condition. While crude oil prices are reaching record highs, renewable energy from the sun and earth's internal heat storage supply not only cost-competitive electricity and clean, non-polluting heating and cooling for our homes. Electricity for your home is available from clean energy sources delivered by your local utility. See gocleanenergy.com to learn more on programs and rates.

Integrating renewable energy systems is a courageous and frugal way to meet today's energy and economic challenges. A combination of systems such as insulated building envelopes, geothermal, and photovoltaics can create super energy efficient homes while enhancing the architecture and most importantly creating a smaller carbon footprint to help reverse global warming.

The easiest way to heat and cool a home is by preventing heat loss through an energy efficient envelope. New soy-based polyurethane foam insulation is an environmentally friendly product that can conserve 50% more energy than pink bats of fiberglass. In less than four years, it pays for itself. Half the heat loss requires half as much new equipment and electricity needed to heat and cool your home.

Geothermal heating has been used locally over thirty years and is experiencing enthusiastic interest. New equipment on the market is more efficient then ever before. Equipment inquiries for geothermal systems in the past two years rose over five-fold each year, resulting in approximately 30% increase per year in installations, Coupled with a polyurethane foam system, you can achieve reductions in energy costs of 75% or better.

When designed well, photovoltaic solar modules can look elegant and classy, dressing up a home with a seamless glass roof, while at the same time selling the electricity back to the utility during the day when away. This electricity generated during the day will cancel out your electricity purchased for use at night. The payback is about twelve years at today's prices of 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. Today, being the operative word here. Those who know electricity's price projections, have created a solar market that has seen a 40% increase in installations in each of the last three years in Connecticut.

We don't need a crystal ball to read into the energy future. Like stocks and bonds renewable energy systems are investments that gain value over time. The only difference is that their value never falls.

Darek Shapiro is an environmental architect, building biologist, and principal of Energy Independence Now LLC, a local design build energy integration company.