Home builders, researchers and government officials are hoping that a new house built in Bel Air will show other builders and consumers how energy-saving construction and gadgetry can be built into a home, helping to save money and cut down on power consumption.
At first, the house looks like any other recently built, moderately priced home: garage, sunroom, wide windows on a front entry hall ? but solar panels built into the roof hint at the high-tech systems below the surface.
“A person could walk up to the front of this house and think, ?This is like all the other houses I?ve built,? ” said Joe Wiehagen, a research engineer with the National Association of Home Builders Research Center.
NAHB worked with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Maryland Energy Administration to adapt a design by builder Bob Ward Companies for use with the energy-saving technologies, which a Bob Ward spokesman said were easy to integrate into a typical home.
Two solar panels on the roof use sunlight to heat water to 110 degrees, supplementing a small electric water heater in the basement.
Water is pumped through small hoses that have higher pressure, less volume and fewer leaks than traditional pipes and fittings.
The house is encased in foam insulation, and foam spray seals up spaces where air could leak.
Special windows keep outside temperatures or sunlight from affecting the interior, and extra insulation is squeezed everywhere possible.
The sum effect is a synergy between all the components, Wiehagen said. The extra insulation means the air conditioning system works less; more rooftop solar panels keep electricity costs low ? and can even “roll back” the meter when the house produces more power than it consumes, Wiehagen said.
However, most home builders won?t take up all the new gadgets at once, said Thomas Kenney, vice president of contract research for the NAHB Research Center.
“A lot of builders take steps,” he said. “Not all will go to this extent right away.”
Most of the builders touring the home Friday were interested in the less-dramatic changes, like the foam insulation or the subtle differences in framing that allow more insulation to be put in with less wood.
Overall, the cost of the extra energy-saving touches, if factored into the mortgage on the home, would cost just as much as the energy bills for a regular house ? about $159 per month, Wiehagen said.
“People will have the option now ? you can have something like granite countertops, or you can have a more efficient water heater,” said NAHB spokeswoman Kim Warren.
Buyers, builders and school groups can tour the house before it is put on the market in six months.
