I just heard from a friend whose dream is to one day build an eco-friendly home in the country. I’d like that, too.
A lucky family in New Brunswick, Canada, is getting one courtesy of Bosch, a technology company. The Kenny family will move into the “Eco Plus Home,” which supposedly will enable them to live for a year — including the Canadian winter — without consuming any fossil fuels for energy. (So, of course, this doesn’t count things like the fossil fuels used in the manufacture of plastics and other items they might use.)
The family — father Brian, mother Renee and their kids Tyler, 14; Grayson, 12; Shane, 8, and Olivia, 6 -- plan to move into the house, being built in Bathurst, on Sept. 13. If a family of six can do it -- just think of all the electronics the kids must have! -- well, perhaps there's hope for the rest of us, too.
Energy balances of the household consumptions will regularly be published on www.ecoplushome.com. The website will also allow the family to share their experience with the public.
Here’s a description of the house from the company: It will use an electric heat pump, a solar thermal system, a photovoltaic system as well as energy-efficient home appliances including an oven, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, a coffee maker, a washing machine and a dryer.
The solar thermal system will generate heat and hot water from free solar radiation, while the heat pump uses geothermal energy. While the heat pump needs electricity to run, the photovoltaic system will generate much more CO2-free electricity in the course of the year than the heat pump will consume. It is even planned to operate an electric car.
Excess electricity will be fed into the public grid and withdrawn when needed. This way, it will be possible for the family to live comfortably in the house even through the harsh Canadian winter, when temperatures may drop to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit or less, and still achieve a positive energy balance. CO2 emissions from the Eco Plus Home will be close to zero, whereas a conventional home produces an average of eight tons of CO2 per year.
Stay tuned.
GreenSpace - her column about how to reduce your carbon footprint in everyday life - appears every other Monday in Health & Science.
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