Introducing British Columbia's First Zero Net Energy Home

British Columbia's First Zero Net Energy Home (Source: The Globe and Mail)

Perched high on a hill in a Whistler neighborhood named Rainbow is a home with all the luxuries you'd expect from a new development in a popular resort -- and the eco-friendly bells and whistles that make it the first zero net energy home in British Columbia, Canada.

Built by Whistler's RDC Fine Homes, the 2,200-square-foot, three-level house features a solar photovoltaic system with six hundred square feet of steep solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity, to ensure the home creates as much energy as it consumes. With structural insulated panel walls, which use less lumber than wood-framed construction and help keep conditioned air in, less energy is required for heating and cooling.

Other attributes include spray foam insulation made from recycled plastics and vegetable oil to eliminate air leakage; high-efficiency, triple-glazed fiberglass windows that enhance energy performance; a hydronic pipe layot to keep floors warm in winter and cool in summer; and an energy-efficient HVAC system that recaptures the heat out of water going down the drain and recovers exhausted warm air from the dryer.

Learn more about British Columbia's first ZNE home here.  

Meet CHIP, the iPad and Kinect Controlled Zero Net Energy Home

The CHIP home (source: SCI-Arc/Caltech)

Can you imagine a zero net energy house that actually feeds power into the grid using a bank of solar panels and exterior insulation, without sacrificing style? Students from the Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology did, and they call it CHIP (Compact Hyper-Insulated Prototype).

Created as an entry for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, CHIP led the SCI-Arc/Caltech team to the next stage of the competition, which culminated in a display of the most progressive new building and energy projects on the Mall in Washington, D.C. last year.

Up to 45 solar panels can be mounted on CHIP's roof, providing three times the energy than the home actually requires. LED lighting and wireless switches mean less power and fewer bulbs, while HVAC energy use is reduced by using a large water storage tank.

The house is high tech as well, with wireless lighting controlled and power consumption monitored with an iPad. The thick thermal envelop around the house is controlled by a Kinect sensor bar using gestures and pointing, meaning CHIP can turn on specific hardware when you sit in certain chairs, close blinds when it's bright, and automatically lower shutters to avoid passive heating.

Read more about CHIP here.

Keeping up with ZNE News

Want to keep up on the latest ZNE news? Check out the ZNE Action Bulletin that keeps you up to date on the California Public Utility Commission's efforts toward a clean, green energy future for California.